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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Polyquinoxalines

This paper reviews the properties of different substituted and unsubstituted polyquinoxalines (PQs) and polyphenylquinoxalines (PPQs), a family of high-performance high-temperature polymers that exhibit high potential for functional and structural applications, and discusses the synthesis of these polymers. Tables are presented of data on the apparent glass-transition temperatures of various PQs and PPQs and on their mechanical properties. Particular consideration is given to the laminate properties of PQ and PPQ composites with glass, boron, and carbon-graphite fibers. Also discussed are the structures and the properties of ladder- and step-ladder-type polymers.

Hergenrother, Paul↗
DOE OSTI2012

Conductive Rigid Skeleton Supported Silicon as High-Performance Li-Ion Battery Anodes

A cost effective and scalable method is developed to prepare a core-shell structured Si/B 4 C composite with graphite coating with high efficiency, exceptional rate performance and long-term stability. In this material, conductive B 4 C with high Mohs hardness serves not only as micro-/nano- millers in the ball-milling process to break down micron-sized Si but also as the conductive rigid skeleton to support the in-situ formed sub-10 nm Si particles to alleviate the volume expansion during charge/discharge. The Si/B 4 C composite is coated with a few graphitic layers to further improve the conductivity and stability of the composite. The Si/B4C/graphite (SBG) composite anode shows excellent cyclability with a specific capacity of ~822 mAh∙g -1 (based on the weight of the entire electrode, including binder and conductive carbon) and ~94% capacity retention over 100 cycles at 0.8C rate. This new structure has the potential to provide adequate storage capacity and stability for practical applications, and good opportunity for large scale manufacturing using commercially available materials and technologies.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Conversion of lignin precursors to carbon fibers with nanoscale graphitic domains

Lignin is one of the most abundant and inexpensive natural biopolymers. It can be efficiently converted to low cost carbon fiber, monolithic structures or powders that could be used directly in the production of anodes for lithium-ion batteries. In this work, we report processing parameters relevant for the conversion of lignin precursors into electrochemically active carbon fibers, the impact of lignin precursor modification on melt processing and the microstructure of the final carbon material. The conversion process encompasses melt spinning of the lignin precursor, oxidative stabilization and a low temperature carbonization step in a nitrogen/hydrogen atmosphere. To assess electrochemical performance, we determined resistivities of individual carbon fiber samples and characterized the microstructure by scanning electron microscopy and neutron diffraction. The chemical modification and subsequent thermomechanical processing methods reported here are effective for conversion into carbon fibers while preserving the macromolecular backbone structure of lignin. Modification of softwood lignin produced functionalities and rheological properties that more closely resemble hardwood lignin thereby enabling the melt processing of softwood lignin in oxidative atmospheres (air). Structural characterization of the carbonized fibers reveals nanoscale graphitic domains that are linked to enhanced electrochemical performance.

carbon fiber↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ultrahigh strength, modulus, and conductivity of graphitic fibers by macromolecular coalescence

Theoretical considerations suggest that the strength of carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers be exceptional; however, their mechanical performance values are much lower than the theoretical values. To achieve macroscopic fibers with ultrahigh performance, we developed a method to form multidimensional nanostructures by coalescence of individual nanotubes. The highly aligned wet-spun fibers of single- or double-walled nanotube bundles were graphitized to induce nanotube collapse and multi-inner walled structures. These advanced nanostructures formed a network of interconnected, close-packed graphitic domains. Their near-perfect alignment and high longitudinal crystallinity that increased the shear strength between CNTs while retaining notable flexibility. The resulting fibers have an exceptional combination of high tensile strength (6.57 GPa), modulus (629 GPa), thermal conductivity (482 W/m·K), and electrical conductivity (2.2 MS/m), thereby overcoming the limits associated with conventional synthetic fibers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ferric chloride graphite intercalation compounds prepared from graphite fluoride

The reaction between graphite fluoride and ferric chloride was observed in the temperature range of 300 to 400 C. The graphite fluorides used for this reaction have an sp3 electronic structure and are electrical insulators. They can be made by fluorinating either carbon fibers or powder having various degrees of graphitization. Reaction is fast and spontaneous and can occur in the presence of air. The ferric chloride does not have to be predried. The products have an sp2 electronic structure and are electrical conductors. They contain first stage FeCl3 intercalated graphite. Some of the products contain FeCl2*2H2O, others contain FeF3 in concentrations that depend on the intercalation condition. The graphite intercalated compounds (GIC) deintercalated slowly in air at room temperature, but deintercalated quickly and completely at 370 C. Deintercalation is accompanied by the disappearing of iron halides and the formation of rust (hematite) distributed unevenly on the fiber surface. When heated to 400 C in pure N2 (99.99 vol %), this new GIC deintercalates without losing its molecular structure. However, when the compounds are heated to 800 C in quartz tube, they lost most of its halogen atoms and formed iron oxides (other than hematite), distributed evenly in or on the fiber. This iron-oxide-covered fiber may be useful in making carbon-fiber/ceramic-matrix composites with strong bonding at the fiber-ceramic interface.

Hung, Ching-Cheh↗
DOE OSTI2018

Structural Transformations of Amorphous Carbon (Glassy Carbon) at High Shock Pressures

Amorphous carbon (glassy carbon) samples were shock compressed up to 80 GPa and temperatures up to 1700 K for several microseconds. Glassy carbon samples before and after an explosive action are analyzed by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and electron-probe microanalysis. It is shown that as a result of microsecond shock pressure exposure, glassy carbon is compacted to ρ{sub CG} ≈ 2.3(5) g/cm{sup 3} and is partly transformed into a graphite-like nanomaterial with a cellular structure. At the level of crystallites, the density of glassy carbon increases via a decrease in the interplanar spacings and an increase in the crystallite thickness and width. Spheres from 20 nm to 80 μm in diameter are found to be formed during shock-wave compression of glassy carbon in a copper container and high-temperature shock heating posteffects. Spheres 20 μm in diameter consist of a copper-rich core and a carbon shell.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2004

Soot Nanostructure: Using Fringe Analysis Software on High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Carbon Soot

Using high resolution transmission electron images of carbon nanotubes and carbon particles, we are able to use image analysis program to determine several carbon fringe properties, including length, separation, curvature and orientation. Results are shown in the form of histograms for each of those quantities. The combination of those measurements can give a better indication of the graphic structure within nanotubes and particles of carbon and can distinguish carbons based upon fringe properties. Carbon with longer, straighter and closer spaced fringes are considered graphite, while amorphous carbon contain shorter, less structured fringes.

King, James D.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Scale-up of high specific activity 186g Re production using graphite-encased thick 186 W targets and demonstration of an efficient target recycling process

Production of high specific activity 186g Re is of interest for development of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals. Previous studies have shown that high specific activity 186g Re can be obtained by cyclotron irradiation of enriched 186 W via the 186 W(d,2n) 186g Re reaction, but most irradiations were conducted at low beam currents and for short durations. In this paper, enriched 186 W metal targets were irradiated at high incident deuteron beam currents to demonstrate production rates and contaminants produced when using thick targets. Full-stopping thick targets, as determined using SRIM, were prepared by uniaxial pressing of powdered natural abundance W metal or 96.86% enriched 186 W metal encased between two layers of graphite flakes for target material stabilization. An assessment of structural integrity was made on each target preparation. To assess the performance of graphite-encased thick 186 W metal targets, along with the impact of encasing on the separation chemistry, targets were first irradiated using a 22 MeV deuteron beam for 10 min at 10, 20, and 27 μA, with an estimated nominal deuteron energy of 18.7 MeV on the 186 W target material (after energy degradation correction from top graphite layer). Gamma-ray spectrometry was performed post EOB on all targets to assess production yields and radionuclidic byproducts. The investigation also evaluated a method to recover and recycle enriched target material from a column isolation procedure. Material composition analyses of target materials, pass-through/wash solutions and recycling process isolates were conducted with SEM, FTIR, XRD, EDS and ICP-MS spectrometry. Finally, to demonstrate scaled-up production, a graphite-encased 186 W target made from recycled 186 W was irradiated for ~2 h with 18.7 MeV deuterons at a beam current of 27 μA to provide 0.90 GBq (24.3 mCi) of 186g Re, decay-corrected to the end of bombardment. ICP-MS analysis of the isolated 186g Re solution provided data that indicated the specific activity of 186g Re in this scaled-up production run was 2.6±0.5 GBq/μg (70±10 Ci/mg).

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
NASA NTRS1987

Ray propagation path analysis of acousto-ultrasonic signals in composites

The most important result was the demonstration that acousto-ultrasonic (AU) energy introduced into a laminated graphite/resin propagates by two modes through the structure. The first mode, along the graphite fibers, is the faster. The second mode, through the resin matrix, besides being slower is also more strongly attenuated at the higher frequencies. This demonstration was accomplished by analyzing the time and frequency domain of the composite AU signal and comparing them to the same for a neat resin specimen of the same chemistry and geometry as the composite matrix. Analysis of the fine structure of AU spectra was accomplished by various geometrical strategies. It was shown that the multitude of narrow peaks associated with AU spectra are the effect of the many pulse arrivals in the signal. The shape and distribution of the peaks is mainly determined by the condition of nonnormal reflections of ray paths. A cepstrum analysis was employed which can be useful in detecting characteristic times. Analysis of propagation modes can be accomplished while ignoring the fine structure.

Kautz, Harold E.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Analysis of SEI film on graphitic anode material using NFIR and LIBS

This project accomplished the goal of developing SPM imaging and analysis of local composition of the SEI layer on graphite electrodes in model and composite Li-ion electrodes during charge/discharge process. A scanning probe microscope was used to detect and image chemical composition and structure changes in the SEI layer on graphite electrode at different state of charge.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1974

Carbon composites in space vehicle structures

Recent developments in the technology of carbon or graphite filaments now provide the designer with greatly improved materials offering high specific strength and modulus. Besides these advantages are properties which are distinctly useful for space applications and which provide feasibility for missions not obtainable by other means. Current applications include major and secondary structures of communications satellites. A number of R & D projects are exploring carbon-fiber application to rocket engine motor cases, advanced antenna systems, and space shuttle components. Future system studies are being made, based on the successful application of carbon fibers for orbiting space telescope assemblies, orbital transfer vehicles, and very large deployable energy generation systems. Continued technology development is needed in analysis, material standards, and advanced structural concepts to exploit the full potential of carbon filaments in composite materials.

Mayer, N. J.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis of Ge(O)/(graphitic carbon nitride) nanocomposite powder

Analytical electron microscopy has revealed the structure of particles that were synthesized by chemical reaction of GeO{sub 2} with NaBH{sub 4} in the basic solution including graphitic carbon nitride (g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4}) powders. The g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} was arranged by recrystallization of melamine at 600 °C under N{sub 2} gas atmosphere. The samples were dried at 60 °C or 180 °C for 4 h. The g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} was observed as lamellae of several ten nm or less in size and had an amorphous-like structure with a distorted lattice in an area as small as a few hundred pm in size. The reaction product was Ge(O) particles as fine as several nm in size and composed of Ge and O atoms. Most of the particles must be of GeO{sub 2−x} with the amorphous-like structure that has also a distorted lattice in an area of a few hundred pm in size. In the sample dried at 60 °C, the particles were found to be dispersed in a wide area on the g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} lamella. It is hard to recognize those particles in TEM images. The particles in the sample dried at 180 °C became larger and were easily observed as isolated lumps. Hence, these powders can be regarded as GeO{sub 2}/g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} or Ge/GeO{sub 2}/g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} nanocomposites, and expected to be applicable to anode materials for high energy Li-ion batteries due to Ge catalysis effect, accordingly. - Graphical abstract: STEM analysis of Ge(O)/(graphitic carbon nitride) nanocomposite powder. - Highlights: • Graphitic (g)-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} powder was prepared at 600 °C by recrystallization of melamine. • Ge(O) was prepared by chemical reaction in a solution including the g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} powders. • The products can be regarded as GeO{sub 2}/g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} or Ge/GeO{sub 2}/g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} nanocomposites. • GeO{sub 2} was amorphous several-nm particles and g-C{sub 3}N{sub 4} was amorphous lamella of several 10 nm in size. • We expect them to be applicable for high energy Li-ion battery anode materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1994

Acoustic method of damage sensing in composite materials

The use of acoustic emission and acousto-ultrasonics to characterize impact damage in composite structures is being performed on both graphite epoxy and kevlar bottles. Further development of the acoustic emission methodology to include neural net analysis and/or other multivariate techniques will enhance the capability of the technique to identify failure mechanisms during fracture. The acousto-ultrasonics technique will be investigated to determine its ability to predict regions prone to failure prior to the burst tests. The combination of the two methods will allow for simple nondestructive tests to be capable of predicting the performance of a composite structure prior to being placed in service and during service.

Workman, Gary L.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Understanding the crack formation of graphite particles in cycled commercial lithium-ion batteries by focused ion beam - scanning electron microscopy

Here in this paper, the structure degradation of commercial Lithium-ion battery (LIB) graphite anodes with different cycling numbers and charge rates was investigated by focused ion beam (FIB) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cross-section image of graphite anode by FIB milling shows that cracks, resulted in the volume expansion of graphite electrode during long-term cycling, were formed in parallel with the current collector. The crack occurs in the bulk of graphite particles near the lithium insertion surface, which might derive from the stress induced during lithiation and de-lithiation cycles. Subsequently, crack takes place along grain boundaries of the polycrystalline graphite, but only in the direction parallel with the current collector. Furthermore, fast charge graphite electrodes are more prone to form cracks since the tensile strength of graphite is more likely to be surpassed at higher charge rates. Therefore, for LIBs long-term or high charge rate applications, the tensile strength of graphite anode should be taken into account.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1996

Structural Performance of a Compressively Loaded Foam-Core Hat-Stiffened Textile Composite Panel

A structurally efficient hat-stiffened panel concept that utilizes a structural foam as a stiffener core material has been designed and developed for aircraft primary structural applications. This stiffener concept is fabricated from textile composite material forms with a resin transfer molding process. This foam-filled hat-stiffener concept is structurally more efficient than most other prismatically stiffened panel configurations in a load range that is typical for both fuselage and wing structures. The panel design is based on woven/stitched and braided graphite-fiber textile preforms, an epoxy resin system, and Rohacell foam core. The structural response of this panel design was evaluated for its buckling and postbuckling behavior with and without low-speed impact damage. The results from single-stiffener and multi-stiffener specimen tests suggest that this structural concept responds to loading as anticipated and has excellent damage tolerance characteristics compared to a similar panel design made from preimpregnated graphite-epoxy tape material.

Ambur, Damodar R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Preliminary design of composite wing-box structures for global damage tolerance

A procedure is presented that incorporates the influence of potential global damage conditions into the design process for minimum-mass wing-box structures. The procedure is based on mathematical-programming optimization techniques. Material-strength, minimum-gage, and panel-buckling constraints are introduced by penalty functions, and Newton's method with approximate second derivatives of the penalty terms is used as the search algorithm to obtain minimum-mass designs. A potential global damage condition is represented by a structural model with the damaged components removed. Example minimum-mass designs are obtained that simultaneously satisfy the constraints of the damaged and undamaged configurations of both graphite-epoxy and aluminum wing-box structural models. These examples are designed with and without the influence of potential damage conditions, and results indicate that for equal mass cases the residual strength of a damaged structure is higher when the influence of potential damage is properly included in the design from the outset. Results of these examples also identify the minimum structural mass increase required to increase residual strength levels.

Starnes, J. H., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Microwave plasma CVD of NANO structured tin/carbon composites

A method for forming a graphitic tin-carbon composite at low temperatures is described. The method involves using microwave radiation to produce a neutral gas plasma in a reactor cell. At least one organo tin precursor material in the reactor cell forms a tin-carbon film on a supporting substrate disposed in the cell under influence of the plasma. The three dimensional carbon matrix material with embedded tin nanoparticles can be used as an electrode in lithium-ion batteries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Bound and free self-interstitial defects in graphite and bilayer graphene: A computational study

The role of self-interstitials in the response of layered carbon materials such as graphite, bilayer graphene and multiwalled carbon nanotubes to irradiation has long remained a puzzle. Using density-functional-theory methods with an exchange and correlation functional which takes into account the interlayer van der Waals interaction in these systems without any material-specific empirical parameters, we study the energetics and migration of single- and di-interstitials in graphite and bilayer graphene. We show that two classes of interstitials, ''bound'' and ''free,'' can coexist. The latter are mobile at room and lower temperatures, which explains the experimental data and reconciles them with the results of atomistic simulations. Our results shed light on the behavior of graphite and carbon nanotubes under irradiation and have implications for irradiation-mediated processing of bilayer graphene.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗