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687 records · Page 31

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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The HEROIX Broadband X-Ray Space Telescope Mission Concept

The High EneRgy Observatory for Imaging X-rays (HEROIX) Medium-Class Mission concept envisions a next-generation broadband X-ray observatory designed to meet the astrophysics community’s need for high-angular-resolution studies of the Cosmic X-ray Background. Building on the science legacy of NASA’s NuSTAR mission and more than 30 years of advances in replicated NiCo shell technology at NASA Marshall, HEROIX proposes a space observatory comprising four co-aligned telescopes achieving 5 arcsecond half-power diameter (HPD) angular resolution. This capability, approached by the resolution demonstrated in the FOXSI-4 sounding rocket mission and under development through the SuperHERO balloon mission, will be extended to energies up to 80 keV through multilayer coatings. Marshall’s inhouse precision optics manufacturing enables an integrated effective area of 380 cm² at 30 keV, which, combined with high-resolution optics, opens new windows into extreme astrophysical non-thermal processes.

Nick Thomas↗

DOE OSTI2026

Development and Validation of Low-Cost, High-Reflectance Composite CSP Facets: SIPS Final Report

This work investigates the various challenges associated with developing heliostat structural composite facets using 1 mm glass mirrors. Such facets are desirable for Concentrating Solar Power because 1 mm glass mirrors provide an absolute increase in reflectivity of 2-3 % over the industry standard of 4 mm glass mirrors. Prototypes of paraboloid composite facets with 1 mm glass mirrors were constructed that have a root mean square slope error on the order of 2 mrad while achieving greater than 96% reflectivity. These facets were constructed using a low-quality aluminum mold and a bill of materials that show potential to achieve cost parity with existing 4 mm glass mirrors supported by structural steel. The facets produced were able to survive up to 50 mm hail ball impacts and were robust against accelerated environmental cycling designed to expose durability concerns. Further work is needed to develop a scalable and cost-effective manufacturing process with a similar bill of materials.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

A Review of the Influence of Processing Parameters on ODS Steels Produced via Additive Manufacturing Techniques

Abstract This paper reviews current observations regarding processing conditions for oxide dispersion-strengthened steels consolidated through additive manufacturing techniques. Variations in ODS steels observed across process parameters include changes in grain size, grain texture, oxide size, density of oxides, porosity, melt pool characteristics, and mechanical properties. These properties were then compared across techniques to understand which techniques and processing conditions lead to the highest strength, ductility, and oxide density. Current literature suggests that a mix of grain types, in the form of either morphology or phase, can significantly increase the strength of printed ODS steels. Meanwhile, the most ductile samples, regardless of consolidation technique or matrix material, were made from feedstock with oxide additions located on the powder surface. Reported grain and oxide sizes were plotted against the ratio of laser power to scan speed, volumetric energy density, and normalized enthalpy. No strong correlation between these values and microstructural features was observed. The plots that were made suggest that a larger data set, more in-depth representative equations, and more defined material properties as a function of specific feedstock used are necessary to determine a value that can be correlated to the printed ODS steel microstructure.

deJong, Matthew↗

DOE OSTI2026

Low-Temperature Gold Deposition Improves CdTe Back Contacts

Improved back contacts can benefit CdTe photovoltaics (PV). In this work, Cd(Se,Te) PV absorbers are cooled during Au evaporation to thermally quench a chemical reaction occurring between gold and CdTe and the generation of a reaction product that lowers device efficiency. Reducing substrate temperature enhances PV power conversion efficiency via open-circuit voltage and fill factor increases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that lower temperature also reduces chemical perturbations of the CdTe, potentially linking back contact formation to a CdTe degradation product that hinders PV performance. Comparing reaction enthalpy and substrate heating energy shows that back contact formation by sputtering elemental metals onto ZnTe may exhibit a degradation pathway analogous to that of CdTe/Au reported here. Degradation-diminishing contact formation processes are therefore of general interest for optoelectronic devices, and the reduced substrate temperature in this study is one example.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Direct regeneration of degraded LiFePO4 cathodes via a separator-enabled prelithiation strategy

A persistent challenge in lithium-ion batteries is the loss of active lithium due to the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and associated side reactions. While prelithiation employing lithium replenishment separator (LRS) has been proven effective in compensating for lithium loss, previous studies have largely been accompanied by gas evolution or solid residue formation during the prelithiation process. To surmount this challenge, we present a LRS based on 4-fluoro-1,2-dihydroxybenzene lithium salt (LiDF), capable of mitigating lithium loss while producing decomposition products that integrate directly into the electrolyte as functional additives which can assist with the stability of the SEI, free from gas or solid formation, thus establishing a sustainable and environmentally benign strategy for lithium compensation. Incorporation of the LRS enables the pristine LiFePO4||graphite (Gr) full cell to achieve 10.8% higher capacity than the cell with a polypropylene separator (PPS) after 200 cycles at 0.5C. Remarkably, the degraded LiFePO4 (D-LFP)||Gr full cell with the LRS exhibits a 135.8% capacity improvement over the PPS-based cell after 500 cycles. These findings establish the LRS as a powerful approach for both boosting high-performance lithium-ion batteries and recovering the capacity of degraded batteries.

Tao, Fujun↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems Program - Recent and Upcoming Technology Demonstrations and Development Efforts

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) program strengthens U.S. ability to conduct unique missions by rapidly developing and demonstrating capabilities for SmallSat exploration, science, and commercial space. In collaboration with NASA Centers, other government agencies, commercial industry, and academia, SSDS advances next generation SmallSat technologies like power, processing, propulsion, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures (swarms), and applications (AI/ML/Edge Computing)—to extend missions beyond LEO into cislunar and planetary space. Various investment mechanisms exist for SSDS to select and fund projects that will ultimately advance NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture. Presented here are the latest achievements and findings from recently completed SSDS projects, along with updates from ongoing efforts and planned future work. Successful missions like Starling and CAPSTONE continue to demonstrate their capability after several years on-orbit. Advancements in next generation swarm configurations are being implemented by Starling for space traffic monitoring and management applications. Findings from recent SSDS flight projects are discussed: DiskSat, a unique SmallSat platform alternative to canisterized nanosatellites, launched December 2025 and is gathering data; the PTD series of missions concluded in December 2025. Current SSDS efforts are focused on addressing NASA Shortfalls relating to rendezvous and proximity operations, neuromorphic computing, and space situational awareness.

Roger C Hunter↗

DOE OSTI2026

Analysis and Overview of Hybrid Wired and Wireless Bi-Directional EV Charger Systems

Here, this paper analyzes and overviews hybrid wired and wireless bi-directional Electric Vehicle (EV) charging systems with a primary focus on resonant compensation methods that enable a unified power conversion architecture. Four compensation configurations based on series–series and LCC–LCC resonant networks are systematically evaluated for both wired transformer-based and wireless coupler-based operation. The analysis examines how coupling conditions, resonant component selection, and auxiliary compensation tuning influence voltage gain characteristics, resonant tank current magnitude and phase, and operating frequency requirements. Normalized frequency-domain results are presented to directly compare reactive current behavior and voltage regulation capability under wired and wireless operating conditions. A 60 kW bi-directional charger case study is used to demonstrate the feasibility of retaining a common hardware platform while accommodating distinct coupling scenarios through compensation tuning rather than structural modification. The presented results provide design-oriented insights into resonant network selection and compensation strategies for scalable and flexible hybrid EV charging systems.

Hybrid↗

DOE OSTI2026

Getting Warmer: IceCube Nears Freeze Out

IceCube has recently detected a diffuse population of high-energy neutrinos arising from the Milky Way. We use this high-significance detection to place new limits on dark matter (DM) annihilation to neutrinos with two complementary approaches. The first method uses the background-subtracted Galactic longitude distribution of shower events to place a conservative bound on the DM annihilation cross section that does not rely on any assumed Galactic cosmic ray emission model; the resulting limits on the velocity-averaged annihilation cross section improve upon existing bounds by factors of a few. The second method uses the template-dependent neutrino energy spectra from the Inner Galaxy, inferred under different Galactic cosmic ray emission models. This complementary approach shows that the inferred Galactic neutrino intensities are already sensitive to DM contributions near the thermal-relic benchmark for a range of TeV-scale DM masses, though this comparison is more model-dependent. Our results demonstrate that measurements of diffuse Galactic neutrino emission can be used as a powerful probe of DM annihilation into neutrinos. Future observations with IceCube-Gen2 and KM3NeT will substantially extend this sensitivity, potentially allowing a decisive test of the thermal freeze-out mechanism with Galactic neutrino observations.

Mukhopadhyay, Mainak [Fermilab; Chicago U., KICP; ↗

DOE OSTI2024

Factors Influencing Gas Evolution from High‐Nickel Layered Oxide Cathodes in Lithium‐Based Batteries

Abstract Gas evolution from high‐nickel layered oxide cathodes (>90% Ni) remains a major issue for their practical application. Gaseous species, such as CO 2 , O 2 , and CO, that are evolved at high states of charge (SOC) worsen the overall safety of batteries, as pressure build‐up within the cell may lead to cell rupture. Since these gasses are produced during cathode degradation, tracking the formation of gasses is also important in diagnosing cathode failure. Online electrochemical mass spectrometry (OEMS) is a powerful in situ technique to study gas evolution from the cathode during high‐voltage charge. However, the differences in the OEMS experimental setups between different groups make it challenging to compare results between groups. In this perspective, the various factors that influence gas evolution based on the OEMS results collected in this group are presented. The focus is on the conditions that lead to gas release, with a particular emphasis on reactive oxygen formation and subsequent chemical reactions with the electrolyte. Promising strategies, such as electrolytes, compositional tuning, and surface coatings that are effective at suppressing gas evolution from the cathode are highlighted. Critical insights into mitigating cathode degradation and gas evolution are provided to guide the development of safer, high‐energy batteries.

Chemistry↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Prognostics Framework for Battery Health Monitoring Integrated with Thermal Modeling

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) promises to revolutionize transportation in major cities, offering passenger travel, cargo delivery, and emergency medical services through a network of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. However, the limited range of current eVTOLs, due to the low specific energy of lithium-ion batteries along with a possibility of thermal runaway conditions poses significant safety concerns, leading to potentially compromising operational safety. To address this critical challenge, researchers are actively evaluating the impact of flight and environmental conditions on onboard lithium-ion battery health. This involves carefully assessing the performance of battery packs under laboratory and operational conditions for developing models to estimate future health using prognostics framework. This study examines the effectiveness of evaluating battery degradation leading to catastrophic failures under varying operational conditions in laboratory. These are captured using physics based models of underlying phenomenons and integrated into the prognostics framework. A fully charged battery undergoes controlled discharge cycles at varying C-rates based on the simulated power draw profile, with current and voltage, temperature data recorded throughout the experiment. The observed data provides valuable insights into how different operating conditions and mission profiles affect battery performance. This information is crucial for developing strategies to optimize battery systems, enhance range, and ultimately ensure the safe and reliable operation of UAM vehicles.

Thermal Modeling↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Prognostics Framework for Battery Health Monitoring Integrated with Thermal Modeling

Thermal Modeling↗

DOE OSTI2026

Enter the AHU (36th Chamber of ASHRAE): A Multi-site Field Study of ASHRAE G36

Despite being recognized as the best practice for advanced building controls, ASHRAE Guideline 36 (G36) has seen slow adoption in retrofit cases. Decisionmakers lack credible field evidence to justify the time and person-power investment. Most prior analyses have relied on software simulations, which overlook implementation challenges and fail to persuade owners to move from models to real-world deployment. This paper presents a multi-site field study of G36 performance, drawing on measured results from 17 projects across diverse building types and climate zones. The analysis disaggregates outcomes by the most widely adopted air handling unit (AHU) based G36 strategies, including trim-and-respond approaches to supply air temperature (SAT) and duct static pressure (DSP) reset, and economizer controls. Results for controls re programming implementations are encouraging, with HVAC savings ranging from 2% - 49%, with a median of 18%. The range aligns with simulation study findings showing 1% - 46% savings through these three strategies. These findings show that even without capital investment in control infrastructure upgrades, existing building owners are reaping significant benefits from updating HVAC sequences of operation to industry best-practice solutions. The results give practitioners and decisionmakers a reference point on what to expect, which strategies deliver, and how field performance may compare to simulation.

Deshpande, Reva↗

DOE OSTI2024

Compressed baryon acoustic oscillation analysis is robust to modified-gravity models

Abstract We study the robustness of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) analysis to the underlying cosmological model. We focus on testing the standard BAO analysis that relies on the use of a template. These templates are constructed assuming a fixed fiducial cosmological model and used to extract the location of the acoustic peaks. Such “compressed analysis” had been shown to be unbiased when applied to the ΛCDM model and some of its extensions. However, it has not been known whether this type of analysis introduces biases in a wider range of cosmological models where the template may not fully capture relevant features in the BAO signal. In this study, we apply the compressed analysis to noiseless mock power spectra that are based on Horndeski models, a broad class of modified-gravity theories specified with eight additional free parameters. We study the precision and accuracy of the BAO peak-location extraction assuming DESI, DESI II, and MegaMapper survey specifications. We find that the bias in the extracted peak locations is negligible; for example, it is less than 10% of the statistical error for even the proposed future MegaMapper survey. Our findings indicate that the compressed BAO analysis is remarkably robust to the underlying cosmological model.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Strong Thermoset Regolith UV-Curable Composite Technology (STRUCT) Overview

Future lunar surface missions require construction materials that can be manufactured in situ using lo-cal resources while operating under extreme environmental conditions. Many Lunar material demands can be solved solely with regolith by compacting or sintering. And yet past Lunar missions rely on polymeric materials, and sustained Lunar missions must reduce Earth-supplied polymers dependence. Dual-cure (Ultraviolet (UV) and thermal) polymer-regolith composites offer a promising pathway by leveraging solar UV radiation, moderate thermal in-put, and regolith. Mission mass limits, power availability and energy constraints on the lunar surface further motivate low-energy processing and curing strategies for surface construction materials. The Strong Thermoset Regolith UV-Curable Composite Technology (STRUCT) project has successfully synthesized and demonstrated dual-cure photopolymer resins derivable from in-situ resources [3]. Morphological, thermal, and mechanical characterization show that the newly formulated UV curable resin systems integrates well with lunar regolith simulants. Processing and chemistry changes, and computational analysis advanced the composite design. X-ray CT scanned and computational analysis demonstrate that resin, regolith and additives are well incorporated. The large fraction of regolith, 95% by mass, large char yield (82% mass), low thermal conductivity (0.26 W/m/K), confirm this material as a promising high-performance thermal and structural material.

thermal conductivity↗

DOE OSTI2026

Dynamic control of quantum phases in two-dimensional materials via Floquet engineering

The dynamical engineering of quantum states through periodic optical driving, known as Floquet engineering, has emerged as a powerful frontier in condensed matter physics, offering a pathway to realize material properties inaccessible in static equilibrium. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent theoretical and experimental advances in the optical manipulation of two-dimensional (2D) quantum materials. We begin by systematically reviewing the evolution of the field from its pioneering applications in graphene and twisted moiré superlattices, highlighting the experimental realization of the light-induced anomalous Hall effect (AHE) to the complex spin-valley physics in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Furthermore, we briefly examine recent advances in 2D magnetic materials, demonstrating how optical driving can actively compete with intrinsic magnetism to dynamically switch magnetic orders and topological invariants. Moreover, we discuss the emerging frontiers of multi-frequency driving, quantum optimal control theory (QOCT), and ultrafast lightwave electronics. We highlight how tailored waveforms, such as bicircular light fields, and sub-cycle attosecond control can selectively break spatial symmetries to generate novel nonlinear photocurrents, mitigate dissipation, and extend the boundaries of quantum control well beyond the perturbative steady-state regime. Finally, we summarize the key experimental challenges for Floquet engineering, including effects such as heating and scattering, which limit coherent quantum control.

Wang, Wenpeng [Northeastern University, Shenyang, ↗

NASA NTRS2013

Battery Charge Equalizer with Transformer Array

High-power batteries generally consist of a series connection of many cells or cell banks. In order to maintain high performance over battery life, it is desirable to keep the state of charge of all the cell banks equal. A method provides individual charging for battery cells in a large, high-voltage battery array with a minimum number of transformers while maintaining reasonable efficiency. This is designed to augment a simple highcurrent charger that supplies the main charge energy. The innovation will form part of a larger battery charge system. It consists of a transformer array connected to the battery array through rectification and filtering circuits. The transformer array is connected to a drive circuit and a timing and control circuit that allow individual battery cells or cell banks to be charged. The timing circuit and control circuit connect to a charge controller that uses battery instrumentation to determine which battery bank to charge. It is important to note that the innovation can charge an individual cell bank at the same time that the main battery charger is charging the high-voltage battery. The fact that the battery cell banks are at a non-zero voltage, and that they are all at similar voltages, can be used to allow charging of individual cell banks. A set of transformers can be connected with secondary windings in series to make weighted sums of the voltages on the primaries.

Davies, Francis↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

High-Fidelity Modeling Approach for Coupling Thermal, Fluid, and Neutronic Analysis in an NTP Engine

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), with its increased efficiency compared to traditional rocket engines, is a potentially enabling technology for space missions of higher complexity, such as delivering heavy machinery or crew to the moon or other planets. Thus, exploring modeling approaches that can effectively couple the thermal, fluid, and neutronic behaviors of NTP reactors is essential to mitigate cost and schedule challenges with hardware development. This paper details one such approach which utilizes Cardinal to unify reactor physics analysis performed using OpenMC, heat transfer analysis performed using the MOOSE framework, and thermal hydraulic analysis performed using the MOOSE Thermal Hydraulic Module. This approach is demonstrated with a proof of concept that focuses on a legacy reactor geometry from the historic NERVA program. This preliminary model found an overprediction in, when compared to the reference data, axial power peaking and the temperatures of both solids and fluids by roughly 20%. It is clear, however, that the model conserved a number of broad trends, and a few model refinements should reduce the observed error. This approach has definite merit and should enable the production of informative results for more modern NTP systems. This work is a first step in creating a transient reactor model that can be updated across a sequence of time steps based on continually fluctuating, time-dependent boundary conditions.

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Use of Immersion Rigs for High Temperature Hydrogen Exposure Testing Within the Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator (NTREES): NTREES-5 Hydrogen Heat Exchanger (N5HHX-01)

The Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator (NTREES) facility at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) subjects materials and components typically found on nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) systems to non-nuclear simulations of prototypic NTP reactor thermohydraulic environments. With 1.2 MW of inductive power available, the currently employed methods to simulate nuclear heating in NTREES consist of 1) inductively heating a test specimen, which typically cannot be performed on ceramic materials, or 2) heating gas that envelops the test specimen. The latter of these has provided a basis for developing so-called “immersion rigs” to be used in NTREES. Furthermore, immersion rigs are especially useful in the case of smaller, technically challenging test specimens. One such device, the “NTREES-5 Hydrogen Heat Exchanger” (N5HHX-01), designed and deployed to test small material coupons to ~0.5 g/s of 2800 K, 500 psi Hydrogen, is discussed herein. To achieve this desired delivery temperature level, the most suitable material for the N5HHX’s construction was pure tungsten, which imposed budgetary and manufacturing challenges. Also discussed in this paper is the design of the N5HHX rig’s sample container, which became the first iteration of improving NTREES small material coupon test operations by permitting rapid changeout of different material samples.

Reactor Testing↗