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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 685 records · Page 38

Kinetics of the Br2-CH3CHO Photochemical Chain Reaction

Time-resolved resonance fluorescence spectroscopy was employed in conjunction with laser flash photolysis of Br2 to study the kinetics of the two elementary steps in the photochemical chain reaction nBr2 + nCH3CHO + hv yields nCH3CBrO + nHBr. In the temperature range 255-400 K, the rate coefficient for the reaction Br((sup 2)P(sub 3/2)) + CH3CHO yields CH3CO + HBr is given by the Arrhenius expression k(sub 6)(T) = (1.51 +/- 0.20) x 10(exp -11) exp(-(364 +/- 41)/T)cu cm/(molecule.s). At 298 K, the reaction CH3CO + Br2 yields CH3CBrO + Br proceeds at a near gas kinetic rate, k(sub 7)(298 K) = (1.08 +/- 0.38) x 10(exp -10)cu cm/(molecule.s).

Nicovich, J. M.↗

Temperature Dependence of the O + HO2 Rate Coefficient

A pulsed laser photolysis technique has been employed to investigate the kinetics of the radical-radical reaction O((sup 3)P) + HO2 OH + O2 over the temperature range 266-391 K in 80 Torr of N2 diluent gas. O((sup 3)P) was produced by 248.5-nm KrF laser photolysis of O3 followed by rapid quenching of O(1D) to O((sup 3)P) while HO2 was produced by simultaneous photolysis of H2O2 to create OH radicals which, in turn, reacted with H2O2 to yield HO2. The O((sup 3)P) temporal profile was monitored by using time-resolved resonance fluorescence spectroscopy. The HO2 concentration was calculated based on experimentally measured parameters. The following Arrhenius expression describes our experimental results: k(sub 1)(T) equals (2.91 +/- 0.70) x 10(exp -11) exp[(228 +/- 75)/T] where the errors are 2 sigma and represent precision only. The absolute uncertainty in k, at any temperature within the range 266-391 K is estimated to be +/- 22 percent. Our results are in excellent agreement with a discharge flow study of the temperature dependence of k(sub 1) in 1 Torr of He diluent reported by Keyser, and significantly reduce the uncertainty in the rate of this important stratospheric reaction at subambient temperatures.

Nicovich, J. M.↗

MALDI TOF MS: An Exobiology Surface-Science Approach for Europa

If Europa is to be of primary exobiological interest, namely as a habitat for extant life, it is obvious that: (i) a hydrosphere must prevail beneath the cryosphere for a long time, (ii) internal energy sources must be present in a sufficient state of activity, and (iii) a reasonable technical means must be available for assessing if indeed life does exist in the hypothesized hydrosphere. This discussion focuses on technological issues, because the compounding evidence about Europa indicates that the first two are highly likely to be true. We present a consideration of time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (TOF MS) conducted in-situ on the cryosphere surface of Europa during a landed robotic mission. We assert that this is a reasonable technical means not only for exploring the composition of the cryosphere itself, but also for locating any biomolecular indicators of extant life brought to the surface through cryosphere activity. We also describe a MALDI (MAtrix Laser Desorption and Ionization) TOF MS system that we are constructing as a proof-of-concept prototype for conducting TOF MS measurements on Europa.

Gerakines, Perry A.↗

Reflectance Experiment Laboratory (RELAB) Description and User's Manual

Spectroscopic data acquired in the laboratory provide the interpretive foundation upon which compositional information about unexplored or unsampled planetary surfaces is derived from remotely obtained reflectance spectra. The RELAB is supported by NASA as a multi-user spectroscopy facility, and laboratory time can be made available at no charge to investigators who are in funded NASA programs. RELAB has two operational spectrometers available to NASA scientists: 1) a near- ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared bidirectional spectrometer and 2) a near- and mid- infrared FT-IR spectrometer. The overall purpose of the design and operation of the RELAB bidirectional spectrometer is to obtain high precision, high spectral resolution, bidirectional reflectance spectra of earth and planetary materials. One of the key elements of its design is the ability to measure samples using viewing geometries specified by the user. This allows investigators to simulate, under laboratory conditions, reflectance spectra obtained remotely (i.e., with spaceborne, telescopic, and airborne systems) as well as to investigate geometry dependent reflectance properties of geologic materials. The Nicolet 740 FT-IR spectrometer currently operates in reflectance mode from 0.9 to 25 Fm. Use and scheduling of the RELAB is monitored by a 4-member advisory committee. NASA investigators should direct inquiries to the Science Manager or RELAB Operator.

Pieters, Carle M.↗

Observing Planetary Rings and Small Satellites with the James Webb Space Telescope: Science Justification and Observation Requirements

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will provide unprecedented opportunities to observe the rings and small satellites in our Solar System, accomplishing three primary objectives: (1) discovering new rings and moons, (2) unprecedented spectroscopy, and (3) time-domain observations. We give details on these science objectives and describe requirements that JWST must fulfill in order to accomplish the science objectives.

observational - planets and satellites↗

Composition and Density Stratification Observed by SuperCam in the First 300 Sols in Jezero Crater

The Perseverance rover has traveled > 2.5 km since leaving its Octavia Butler landing site in Jezero crater ~300 sols ago. The SuperCam remote sensing instrument suite has made > 1000 observations of bedrock along the traverse to provide a comprehensive picture of Jezero crater floor’s chemistry and mineralogy. SuperCam combines high resolution imaging, visible and near-infrared (VISIR) reflectance spectroscopy (0.4-0.85, 1.3-2.6 µm), remote time-resolved green-laser Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and acoustic sensing into a single co-boresighted package [1, 2]. Derivation of the major element abundances as oxide wt% for this part of the mission is presented in [3], while calibration of the VIS and IR spectrometers are given in [4-7].

R.C. Wiens↗

Experimental Measurements of the High-Temperature Oxidation of Carbon Fibers

We carried out laboratory experiments to study the decomposition of carbon fibers at high temperature and studied the material used in charring carbon phenolic ablators for planetary probe heatshields. Porous plug samples were exposed to controlled rates of molecular oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide at furnace-heated flow-tube reactor temperatures between 700 and 1500 K and pressures between 2000 and 6200 Pa. We used calibrated mass spectroscopy to make time-resolved quantitative measurements of decomposition products of the gases downstream of the test sample. Absolute and differential pressure measurements were used to determine the high-temperature permeability of the material and to monitor changes during material decomposition, and we characterized the microstructure of the porous sample using scanning electron microscopy. We found substantial carbon fiber oxidation for O2 flows, resulting in increasing CO/CO2 production ratios with increasing temperature. The CO2 was shown to react with carbon fibers following a Boudouard reaction at temperatures above 1200 K.

Francesco Panerai↗

Coordination of Fe, Ga and Ge in high pressure glasses by Moessbauer, Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and geological implications

For some time, it has been recognized that the structure of silicate liquids has a great bearing on such magma properties as viscosity, diffusivity, and thermal expansion and on the extrapolation of thermodynamic quantities outside of the experimentally measurable range. In this connection it is vital to know if pressure imposes changes in melt structure similar to the pressure-induced reconstructive transformations in crystals. In the present study on 1 bar and high pressure glasses, an investigation is conducted regarding the coordination of Fe(3+) in Fe silicate glasses by Moessbauer spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy is employed to explore the coordinations of Ge(4+) in GeO2 glasses and of Ga(3+) in NaGa silicate glasses, while the coordination of Ga(3+) in NaGaSiO4 glasses is studied with the aid of methods of X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Fleet, M. E.↗

Light-Induced Renormalization of the Dirac Quasiparticles in the Nodal-Line Semimetal ZrSiSe

In nodal-line semimetals, linearly dispersing states form Dirac loops in the reciprocal space with a high degree of electron-hole symmetry and a reduced density of states near the Fermi level. The result is reduced electronic screening and enhanced correlations between Dirac quasiparticles. In this study we investigate the electronic structure of ZrSiSe, by combining time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with ab initio density functional theory (DFT) complemented by an extended Hubbard model ( DFT + U + V ) and by time-dependent DFT + U + V . We show that electronic correlations are reduced on an ultrashort timescale by optical excitation of high-energy electrons-hole pairs, which transiently screen the Coulomb interaction. Our findings demonstrate an all-optical method for engineering the band structure of a quantum material.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A time-dependent momentum-resolved scattering approach to core-level spectroscopies

While new light sources allow for unprecedented resolution in experiments with X-rays, a theoretical understanding of the scattering cross-section is lacking. In the particular case of strongly correlated electron systems, numerical techniques are quite limited, since conventional approaches rely on calculating a response function (Kramers-Heisenberg formula) that is obtained from a perturbative analysis of scattering processes in the frequency domain. This requires a knowledge of a full set of eigenstates in order to account for all intermediate processes away from equilibrium, limiting the applicability to small tractable systems. In this work, we present an alternative paradigm, recasting the problem in the time domain and explicitly solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation without the limitations of perturbation theory: a faithful simulation of the scattering processes taking place in actual experiments, including photons and core electrons. We show how this approach can yield the full time and momentum resolved Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering (RIXS) spectrum of strongly interacting many-body systems. We demonstrate the formalism with an application to Mott insulating Hubbard chains using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method, which does not require a priory knowledge of the eigenstates and can solve very large systems with dozens of orbitals. This approach can readily be applied to systems out of equilibrium without modification and generalized to other spectroscopies.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

YSO implantation detector for beta-delayed neutron spectroscopy

A segmented-scintillator-based implantation detector was developed to study the energy distribution of β-delayed neutrons emitted from exotic isotopes. The detector comprises a 34 × 34 YSO scintillator coupled to an 8 × 8 anode Position-Sensitive Photo-Multiplier Tube (PSPMT) via a tapered light guide. The detector was used at RIBF, RIKEN for time-of-flight-based neutron spectroscopy measurement in the 78Ni region. The detector provides the position and timing resolution necessary for ion-beta correlations and time of flight measurements. The detector provides a high ~80% beta-detection efficiency and a sub-nanosecond timing resolution. This contribution discusses the details of the design, operation, implementation, and analysis developed to obtain neutron time-of-flight spectrum and the analysis methods in the context of neutron-rich nuclei in the 78Ni region.

Implantation detector↗

Tracking the Light-Induced Excited-State Dynamics and Structural Configurations of an Extraordinarily Long-Lived Metastable State at Room Temperature

Time-resolved X-ray (Tr-XAS) and optical transient absorption (OTA) spectroscopy in the pico-microsecond time scale coupled with Density Functional theory calculations are applied to study the light-induced spin crossover processes of a Fe-based macrocyclic complex in solution. Tr-XAS analysis after light illumination shows the formation of a seven-coordinated high spin quintet metastable state which relaxes to a six-coordinated high spin configuration before decaying to ground state. Kinetic analysis of the macrocyclic complex reveals an unprecedented long-lived decay lifetime of ~42.6 µs. Comparative studies with a non-macrocyclic counterpart illustrate a significantly shortened ~568-old decay lifetime of ~75 ns, and highlight the importance of the ligand arrangement in stabilizing the reactivity of the excited state. Lastly, OTA analysis shows the seven-coordinated high spin state to be formed within ~6.2 ps. Finally, these findings provide a complete understanding of the spin crossover reaction and relaxation pathways of the macrocyclic complex, and reveal the importance of a flexible coordination environment for their rational design.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Microneedle-based electrical impedance sensor to monitor plant water status in real time

A sensor uses microneedle electrodes and multi-frequency electrical impedance spectroscopy to monitor plant water status in real time. The microneedle can be between 10 and 1000 microns in length, enabling precise placement in a variety of plant tissues. The impedance behavior can distinguish electrical properties and physiological functions of different plant tissue types. Therefore, impedance measurements can be used to monitor water stress to prevent irreversible damage to a plant and to enable improvement of plant biomass or fruit yield.

Hanson, David T.↗

Real-Time Time-Dependent Electronic Structure Theory

Real-time electronic structure methods provide an unprecedented view of electron dynamics and ultrafast spectroscopy on the atto- and femtosecond time scale with vast potential to yield new insights into the electronic behavior of molecules and materials. Here, we discuss the fundamental theory underlying various real-time electronic structure methods as well as advantages and disadvantages of each. We give an overview of the numerical techniques that are widely used for real-time propagation of the quantum electron dynamics with an emphasis on Gaussian basis set methods. We also showcase many of the chemical applications and scientific advances made by using real-time electronic structure calculations and provide an outlook of possible new directions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Exploring the Photophysics of N-Type Polymer N2200

The polymer interphase is a complex environment comprised of polymer chains, solvent molecules, and electrolyte ions. However, the microenvironments that these ingredients produce is both poorly-understood and difficult to investigate given the system's inherent structural heterogeneity. Nonetheless, a fundamental understanding of the structure, electrochemical behavior, and excited-state dynamics is a key prerequisite to optimizing devices based on such a system - for instance, photoelectrochemical cells for the direct, light-driven production of solar hydrogen, which may minimize efficiency losses compared to sequential light harvesting and electrochemical hydrogen production in separate but linked devices. This work combines transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, which is a powerful tool for the observation of a variety of excited states on a femto- to microsecond timescale, with time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) spectroscopy, which selectively probes the dynamics of free charge carriers (FC), of a blend of a donor polymer (PTB7-Th) and acceptor polymer (N2200) in a bulk heterojunction. Initial results indicate an extension of FC lifetime and homogenization of the microenvironment on a whole-film level, not just at the surface of the polymer; however, many questions are still under active investigation, including the changes in energy of the involved polaron states, effective conjugation length, FC mobility and migration distance, etc. Additional experiments regarding the photoinitiated behavior of the blend in different environments and on different timescales are ongoing.

charge recombination↗

Femtosecond resolution of soft mode dynamics in structural phase transitions

The microscopic pathway along which ions or molecules in a crystal move during structural phase transition can often be described in terms of a collective vibrational mode of the lattice. In many cases, this mode, called a 'soft' phonon mode because of its characteristically low frequency near the phase transition temperature, is difficult to characterize through conventional frequency-domain spectroscopies such as light or neutron scattering. A femtosecond time-domain analog of light-scattering spectroscopy called impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) has been used to examine the soft modes of two perovskite ferroelectric crystals. The low-frequency lattice dynamics of KNbO3 and BaTiO3 are clarified in a manner that permits critical evaluation of microscopic models for their ferroelectric transitions. The results illustrate the advantages of ISRS over conventional Raman spectroscopy of low-frequency, heavily damped soft modes.

Dougherty, Thomas P.↗