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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Controllable protein phase separation and modular recruitment to form responsive membraneless organelles

Abstract Many intrinsically disordered proteins self-assemble into liquid droplets that function as membraneless organelles. Because of their biological importance and ability to colocalize molecules at high concentrations, these protein compartments represent a compelling target for bio-inspired materials engineering. Here we manipulated the intrinsically disordered, arginine/glycine-rich RGG domain from the P granule protein LAF-1 to generate synthetic membraneless organelles with controllable phase separation and cargo recruitment. First, we demonstrate enzymatically triggered droplet assembly and disassembly, whereby miscibility and RGG domain valency are tuned by protease activity. Second, we control droplet composition by selectively recruiting cargo molecules via protein interaction motifs. We then demonstrate protease-triggered controlled release of cargo. Droplet assembly and cargo recruitment are robust, occurring in cytoplasmic extracts and in living mammalian cells. This versatile system, which generates dynamic membraneless organelles with programmable phase behavior and composition, has important applications for compartmentalizing collections of proteins in engineered cells and protocells.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

In vitro reconstitution of sortase-catalyzed pilus polymerization reveals structural elements involved in pilin cross-linking

Covalently cross-linked pilus polymers displayed on the cell surface of Gram-positive bacteria are assembled by class C sortase enzymes. These pilus-specific transpeptidases located on the bacterial membrane catalyze a two-step protein ligation reaction, first cleaving the LPXTG motif of one pilin protomer to form an acyl-enzyme intermediate and then joining the terminal Thr to the nucleophilic Lys residue residing within the pilin motif of another pilin protomer. To date, the determinants of class C enzymes that uniquely enable them to construct pili remain unknown. Here, informed by high-resolution crystal structures of corynebacterial pilus-specific sortase (SrtA) and utilizing a structural variant of the enzyme (SrtA 2M ), whose catalytic pocket has been unmasked by activating mutations, we successfully reconstituted in vitro polymerization of the cognate major pilin (SpaA). Further, mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, and biochemical experiments authenticated that SrtA 2M synthesizes pilus fibers with correct Lys–Thr isopeptide bonds linking individual pilins via a thioacyl intermediate. Structural modeling of the SpaA–SrtA–SpaA polymerization intermediate depicts SrtA 2M sandwiched between the N- and C-terminal domains of SpaA harboring the reactive pilin and LPXTG motifs, respectively. Remarkably, the model uncovered a conserved TP(Y/L)XIN(S/T)H signature sequence following the catalytic Cys, in which the alanine substitutions abrogated cross-linking activity but not cleavage of LPXTG. These insights and our evidence that SrtA 2M can terminate pilus polymerization by joining the terminal pilin SpaB to SpaA and catalyze ligation of isolated SpaA domains in vitro provide a facile and versatile platform for protein engineering and bio-conjugation that has major implications for biotechnology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reagent to label proteins via lysine isopeptide bonds

Covalently cross-linked pilus polymers displayed on the cell surface of Gram-positive bacteria are assembled by class C sortase enzymes. These pilus-specific transpeptidases located on the bacterial membrane catalyze a two-step protein ligation reaction—first, cleaving the LPXTG motif of one pilin protomer to form an acyl-enzyme intermediate, and second, joining the terminal threonine to the nucleophilic lysine residue residing within the pilin motif of another pilin protomer. Informed by the high-resolution crystal structures of corynebacterial pilus-specific sortase (SrtA) and by developing structural variants of the sortase enzyme whose catalytic pocket has been unmasked by activating mutations, we have developed new reagents capable of forming isopeptide bonds in vitro. The reagents disclosed herein can catalyze ligation of isolated SpaA domains in vitro provide a facile and versatile new platform for protein engineering and bio-conjugation that has major implications for biotechnology.

Clubb, Robert T.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Potential Economic Values of Low-Vapor-Pressure Gasoline-Range Bio-Blendstocks: Property Estimation, and Blending Optimization

Adding non-traditional blendstocks derived from biomass into gasoline has gained renewed interest since it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially enhance fuel properties and boost engine efficiencies. A competitive bio-blendstock candidate should have either lower prices or superior properties or both relative to conventional gasoline blending components. Gasoline is a mixture of hundreds compounds specified by properties rather than compositions. The addition of bio-blendstocks, most likely oxygenates, will modify the property mixing rules due to the non-ideal interactions between polar and nonpolar components. This paper presents an equation-of-state-based model for predicting Reid vapor pressure, reduced order non-linear property blending models for computing key properties of final gasoline products, and a blending optimization approach to identify key economic drivers. This paper also evaluates the economic values of bio-blendstocks to petroleum refiners using those models. In additional to ethanol, six low-vapor-pressure bio-blendstock candidates were evaluated: i-propanol, n-propanol, i-butanol, diisobutylene, cyclopentanone, and a mixture of furans. Reid vapor pressure, distillation temperatures, and octane numbers were identified as the key economic drivers of adding bio-blendstock. The economic values of those bio-blendstocks range from 2.22 to 4.00 US dollar per gasoline gallon equivalent in 2013 to 2017 5-year averaged price basis. The bio-blendstocks with higher octane numbers may have higher economic values. The uncertainties in property predictions may lead to roughly 15% deviation in the economic value evaluation.

Jiang, Yuan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Bio-inspired Broadband Acoustic Absorber: Experiences at the 2021 FedTech Startup Studio

Motivated by the need to reduce aircraft engine noise, NASA’s Bio-inspired Broadband Acoustic Absorber (“Bioliner”) is patented technology that can be developed into multifunctional structures that can absorb sound and might also transfer heat and/or carry a load. Bioliner was one of 12 technologies from federal and university labs that were selected for the FedTech Startup Studio 2021:1 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),2,3 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),4 National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),5 and Northeastern University.6 From August to December 2021, FedTech coached teams of entrepreneurs who explored the commercial potential of the bioliner by performing customer discovery interviews. Results of that investigation supported the claim that the bioliner might have broad commercial potential, beyond aerospace use

acoustic absorber, noise, liner↗
DOE OSTI2017

Gas Engine-Driven Heat Pump with Desiccant Dehumidification

About 40% of total U.S. energy consumption was consumed in residential and commercial buildings. Improved air-conditioning technology has by far the greatest potential impact on the electric industry compared to any other technology that uses electricity. This paper describes the development of an innovative natural gas, propane, LNG or bio-gas IC engine-driven heat pump (GHP) with desiccant dehumidification (GHP/DD). This integrated system has higher overall efficiencies than conventional equipment for space cooling, addresses both new and existing commercial buildings, and more effectively controls humidity in humid areas. Waste heat is recovered from the GHP to provide energy for regenerating the desiccant wheel and to augment heating capacity and efficiency. By combining the two technologies, an overall source COP of greater that 1.5 (hot, humid case) can be achieved by utilizing waste heat from the engine to reduce the overall energy required to regenerate the desiccant. Moreover, system modeling results show that the sensible heat ratio (SHR- sensible heat ratio) can be lowered to less 60% in a dedicated outdoor air system application with hot, humid cases.

dessicant coupled air conditioning system↗
DOE OSTI2018

A framework for the identification of promising bio-based chemicals

Recent progress in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology enables the use of microorganisms for the production of chemicals (“bio-based chemicals”). Yet, it is still unclear which chemicals have the highest economic prospect. Because of this, we develop a framework for the identification of such promising ones. Specifically, we first develop a genome-scale constraintbased metabolic modeling approach, which is used to identify a candidate pool of 209 chemicals (together with the estimated yield, productivity and residence time for each) from the intersection of the High-Production-Volume (HPV) chemicals and the KEGG and MetaCyc databases. Second, we design three screening criteria based on a chemical’s profit margin, market volume and market size. The total process cost, including the downstream separation cost, is systematically incorporated into the evaluation. Third, given the three aforementioned criteria, we identify 32 products as economically promising if the maximum yields can be achieved, and 22 products if the maximum productivities can be achieved. The breakeven titer that renders zero profit margin for each product is also presented. Comparisons between extracellular and intracellular production, as well as E. coli and S. cerevisiae systems are also discussed. The proposed framework provides important guidance for future studies in the production of bio-based chemicals. It is also flexible in that the databases, yield estimations, and criteria can be modified to customize the screening.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Top Ten Blendstocks For Turbocharged Gasoline Engines: Bioblendstocks With Potential to Deliver the for Highest Engine Efficiency

More efficient engines enabled by better fuels derived from biomass could increase the fuel economy of the light duty (LD) fleet by 10% over current technology and planned developments. This report identifies top LD boosted spark ignition (BSI) biofuel candidates for further development and commercialization identified using a fuel property basis. The BSI merit function was used to evaluate the performance of candidate bio-blendstocks in improving engine efficiency. This report is aimed at biofuel researchers looking to better understand the efficiency implications of biofuels under development, as well as engine researchers who are interested in future biofuels with properties that enable more efficient engine design and operation.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transferring Photovoltaic Lessons Learned to Concentrating Solar Power

This presentations outlines the following: 1) Points worth noting in the history of the PV industry, 2) PV benefits from standardization, 3) PV sharing reliability challenges since the 1975, 4) PV projects from an independent engineering (IE) perspective, 5) Site selection (what NOT to do), 6) PV Operations & Maintenance over time, 7) Soiling research (remove the silos), 8) Noting a few relevant PV IEC standards, and 9) PVfleets data sharing.

bio-soiling↗
DOE OSTI2019

Top Ten Blendstocks Derived From Biomass For Turbocharged Spark Ignition Engines

More efficient engines enabled by better fuels derived from biomass could increase the fuel economy of the light duty (LD) fleet by 10% over current technology and planned developments. This report identifies top LD boosted spark ignition (BSI) biofuel candidates for further development and commercialization identified using a fuel property basis. The BSI merit function was used to evaluate the performance of candidate bio-blendstocks in improving engine efficiency. This report is aimed at biofuel researchers looking to better understand the efficiency implications of biofuels under development, as well as engine researchers who are interested in future biofuels with properties that enable more efficient engine design and operation.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Generation, analysis, and transformation of macro-chloroplast Potato (Solanum tuberosum) lines for chloroplast biotechnology

Abstract Chloroplast biotechnology is a route for novel crop metabolic engineering. The potential bio-confinement of transgenes, the high protein expression and the possibility to organize genes into operons represent considerable advantages that make chloroplasts valuable targets in agricultural biotechnology. In the last 3 decades, chloroplast genomes from a few economically important crops have been successfully transformed. The main bottlenecks that prevent efficient transformation in a greater number of crops include the dearth of proven selectable marker gene-selection combinations and tissue culture methods for efficient regeneration of transplastomic plants. The prospects of increasing organelle size are attractive from several perspectives, including an increase in the surface area of potential targets. As a proof-of-concept, we generated Solanum tuberosum (potato) macro-chloroplast lines overexpressing the tubulin-like GTPase protein gene FtsZ1 from Arabidopsis thaliana . Macro-chloroplast lines exhibited delayed growth at anthesis; however, at the time of harvest there was no significant difference in height between macro-chloroplast and wild-type lines. Macro-chloroplasts were successfully transformed by biolistic DNA-delivery and efficiently regenerated into homoplasmic transplastomic lines. We also demonstrated that macro-chloroplasts accumulate the same amount of heterologous protein than wild-type organelles, confirming efficient usage in plastid engineering. Advantages and limitations of using enlarge compartments in chloroplast biotechnology are discussed.

Occhialini, Alessandro (ORCID:000000021162798X)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Overview and technology opportunities for thermochemically-produced bio-blendstocks

Global demand for transportation fuels is projected to increase 40% by 2040, and biomass-derived fuels (biofuels) play a crucial role in substituting fossil fuels and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, biofuels are mainly consumed as blendstocks combined with petroleum-based fuels, and effective conversion technologies can address the quality challenges for offering standalone biofuels. Thermochemical conversion process is one of the most promising pathways among existing technologies for biofuel production. However, the major barriers are unwanted characteristics (e.g., thermal instability) of intermediate products, such as bio-oil, and required upgrading treatments for producing compatible fuels. Here, this study highlights the merits and critical challenges of thermochemical conversion and physicochemical upgrading technologies for bio-blendstock production from lignocellulosic biomass. The novelty of this study lies in potential directions for future research through both critical and systematic literature reviews, and the proposed intensified process for lignocellulosic-based fuel blendstocks production. It is concluded that recovery and fractionation strategies (e.g., quenching and stripping) can maximize process yields and add values in the efficient conversion pathways. Effective quenching can stop secondary free radical reactions and improve liquid yields over gas and solid yields. Stripping process can improve process yield, catalyst lifespan, and thermal stability. It is further concluded that physicochemical treatments are not as effective as thermochemical treatments, but have advantages of mild operating conditions and potential for integrated solutions in conjunction with other treatments.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A novel polyimide based micro heater with high temperature uniformity

MEMS based micro heaters are a key component in micro bio-calorimetry, nondispersive infrared gas sensors, semiconductor gas sensors and microfluidic actuators. A micro heater with a uniform temperature distribution in the heating area and short response time is desirable in ultrasensitive temperature-dependent measurements. In this study, we propose a novel micro heater design to reach a uniform temperature in a large heating area by optimizing the heating power density distribution in the heating area. A polyimide membrane is utilized as the substrate to reduce the thermal mass and heat loss which allows for fast thermal response as well as a simplified fabrication process. A gold and titanium heating element is fabricated on the flexible polyimide substrate using the standard MEMS technique. The temperature distribution in the heating area for a certain power input is measured by an IR camera, and is consistent with FEA simulation results. Finally, this design can achieve fast response and uniform temperature distribution, which is quite suitable for the programmable heating such as impulse and step driving.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Fabrication of Paper-Templated Structures of Noble Metals

This manuscript describes a simple and rapid method for fabricating free-standing structures composed primarily (>94% w/w, and 55–80 at%) of noble metals (e.g., gold, silver, platinum, etc.) and having physical morphologies that resemble paper, thread, or fabric. In this method, templates (i.e., pieces of paper, or cotton fabric) are loaded with aqueous solutions of salts of noble metals, and then the cellulosic component is burned off in a furnace held at high temperatures (i.e., from 550 °C to 800 °C, depending on the procedure, in air). Even though the environment in a furnace is ostensibly oxidizing (e.g., hot air), the metal ions are reduced to elemental metal and form paper-templated or fabric-templated structures that have morphologies similar to that of the material from which they were derived (i.e., paper or fabric). Paper-templated structures are fibrous, permeable to gases and liquides, electrically conductive, and in some cases (e.g., paper-templated gold and paper-templated platinum structures), their surfaces are electroactive. The surface areas of paper-templated structures are more than 20 times higher than their projected areas. Finally, paper-templated structures thus have properties that make them potentially useful in catalysis, sensing, and electroanalysis.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Highly Conductive, Lightweight, Low-Tortuosity Carbon Frameworks as Ultrathick 3D Current Collectors

The growing demand for advanced energy storage techniques and devices has driven the energy storage market to strive for higher performance, longer cycling life, and better safety. Thick electrode design enabling more electroactive materials has the potential to significantly improve the energy density on device level yet faces major challenges of slow ion transport and high deformability. In this work, inspired by natural wood materials with aligned channels along the tree growth direction, a highly conductive, lightweight, and low-tortuosity carbon framework (CF) directly carbonized from natural wood as an ultrathick 3D current collector is demonstrated. Benefiting from the uniqueness of the multichanneled CF, an ultrathick 3D electrode of lithium iron phosphate filled carbon framework with a large thickness of 800 µm and active material mass loading of 60 mg cm -2 delivers a rational capacity of 7.6 mAh cm -2 (95 Ah L -1 based on volume), long cycling life, and lower deformability with enhanced mechanical properties. This work presents a design concept for thick electrode toward high performance energy storage devices that are not limited to lithium-ion batteries.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗