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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 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Direct Observation of Two-Step, Stratified Crystallization and Morphology in Conjugated Polymer Thin Films

A two-step stratified crystallization process has been directly observed during cooling of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin films of thickness h = 20-250 nm: a thin (<20 nm) layer at the free surface crystallizes ~25 °C higher than the bulk crystallization temperature (T C,bulk ), whereas the rest of the film (i.e. the underlayer) crystallizes near T C,bulk . In-situ measurements of films with and without a free surface unequivocally ascribe the high-temperature crystallization to a surface-induced process, which correlates with the formation of large birefringent structures and highly oriented edge-on crystallites at the air–polymer interface. In contrast, crystallization of the bulk-like underlayer leads to mostly edge-on-oriented crystallites in thinner films and becomes increasingly isotropic in thicker films. For h < 20 nm, free-surface effects dominate and only high-temperature crystallization is observed. These results highlight the potential of melt crystallization to tailor morphology and orientation across thin film thickness for specific electronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1992

Application of engineering codes to the assessment of spacecraft charging induced hazards

One of the major hurdles to developing a better understanding of the environmentally induced interactions in spacecraft systems (spacecraft charging) is the lack of simple tools to analyze the behavior of the spacecraft in a sub-storm environment. The available tool, NASA Charging Analyzer Program (NASCAP), is expensive to use and treats only half of the problem - surface effects only. In response to this need, we have developed, under our IRAD Program, a set of engineering tools that operate on personal computers and addresses both the surface and bulk charging aspects of the interactions. These engineering codes utilize circuit analysis techniques and model simplifications to allow rapid computations. The codes were compared to both NASCAP predictions and to bulk charging data with excellent agreement for both phenomena. The models used in our engineering codes are shown, and in the engineering codes, the models are defined in terms of plates or triangles in an unconfined space. The predictions are based upon current balances to each plate. The code has routines to allow interactions between the plates to simulate 'barrier' effects. The agreement for the predicted differential surface voltages for the model is given. In conducting the comparison of engineering codes to NASCAP predictions, it was found that some inconsistencies existed in the NASCAP code that are not obvious to the user. The use of the grid imposes constraints that voltage gradients exist between the grid points. This allows the existence of voltage gradients in conductors and influences surface resistivity predictions. These points are discussed along with the predictions for treating these inconsistencies properly. The model predictions for a variable intensity substorm is also presented.

Stevens, N. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tailoring the Reaction Heterogeneity for Robust Li‐Rich Cathodes

The practical application of Li-rich Mn-based layered oxides (LLO) cathode is hindered by severe capacity and voltage degradation resulting from severe oxygen release and irreversible phase transition. In this work, the reaction heterogeneity, which describes the spatially resolved electrochemical divergence within individual cathode particles, is engineered through compositional gradient design to couple Li + transport kinetics and the anion redox activity between particle interiors and surfaces. It is revealed that Co/Mn concentration gradient within particles creates heterogeneous phase content distribution and structural ordering, inducing surface-bulk reaction heterogeneity that significantly impacts the overall electrochemical performance. Specifically, Li 2 MnO 3 -poor and Co-enriched surface effectively mitigates the oxygen loss and enhances electrochemical reaction kinetics, benefited from the reduced surface redox reactivity and induced highly ordered intra-layered cationic arrangement. Meanwhile, the Li 2 MnO 3 -enriched core with slight Li/Ni intermixing provides high reversible capacity and strong mechanical stability. Consequently, the greatly enhanced anion redox reversibility, Li + diffusion dynamics, and structure stability endow LLO with exceptional electrochemical properties, showing a capacity retention of 86.0% and a reduced voltage decay of 0.518 mV per cycle after 500 cycles at 1 C. This work provides a valuable strategy to tailor the redox chemistry and achieve robust LLO.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Surface Crater Thermal Effects on Lander Radiator Performance

Lunar surface craters smaller than the spatial resolution of surface meshes used in typical Lunar surface thermal models (10 to 60 meters per pixel) may impact the accuracy of thermal model extrema predictions. The goal of this study is to investigate the thermal sensitivity of representative lander systems with realistic thermal surface orientations in bare and cratered terrain environments at relevant Artemis mission locations. This thermal analysis task investigates the impact of lunar surface craters on lander radiator performance by comparing heat rejection capability results between bare and cratered terrain environments. This study examines external body-mounted lander radiator thermal performance across varying lander heights (5.5m, 20m, 50m) and radiator orientations (horizontal, 45º tilted, and vertical) at two representative Artemis mission latitudes (-89.5ºS and -82.5ºS), spanning from the Shackleton Connecting Ridge to Mons Mouton Plateau.

Lunar Surface↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effects of size reduction on microstructural, optical, vibrational, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of ZnO nanocrystals

Highlights: • ZnO nanocrystals of different sizes 4–19 nm, thus different S/V ratios synthesized. • Lattice strain and lattice volume increase with size reduction. • Raman spectra show enhanced surface effects with phonon mode disappearance. • ESR shows exchange interaction; VSM shows surface originated ferromagnetism. • Photocatalysis is less affected with size reduction and surface enhancement. - Abstract: ZnO nanocrystals were synthesized in the size range 4 nm–19 nm by chemical co-precipitation method and extensively characterized by various techniques. Size control was achieved by changing the concentration of ME that acted as the capping agent. Lattice strain and lattice volume were found to increase with the decrease in crystallite size that could be attributed to an enhanced influence of surface atoms. Raman spectroscopy provided evidence of enhancement of surface influence and reduction of crystallinity with the observation of decrease in E{sub 2}{sup high} phonon mode intensity with a decrease in crystallite size. Electron spin resonance spectra revealed the presence of exchange interaction as well as presence of lattice disorder. Vibrating sample magnetometry results showed that M-H curves exhibit hysteresis loops which confirmed the ferromagnetic nature of the nanocrystals and it could be attributed to the interaction between localized electron spins resulting from oxygen vacancies at the surface. Blue shift of the UV–Visible absorption spectra was observed with decrease in crystallite size, which could be attributed to quantum confinement effect. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra were recorded under UV light excitation, which showed emission of different colours (light violet, violet, blue and green) in the visible region, attributable to the presence of various types of defects such as zinc interstitial, zinc vacancy and oxygen vacancy in the ZnO nanocrystals. Photodegradation of aqueous methylene blue by the ZnO nanocrystals was performed under simulated sunlight irradiation. There was a very small increase in efficiency of photodegradation with size reduction, which showed that there was no significant change in surface defects with size reduction in the nanocrystals despite the surface enhancement. A mechanism for photocatalysis involving defect states has been proposed.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1992

The age of the meteorite recovery surfaces of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA

We have obtained minimum age estimates for the sand units underlying the two largest meteorite deflation surfaces in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, USA, using thermoluminescence dating techniques. The dates obtained ranged from 53.5 (+/- 5.4) to 95.2 (+/- 9.5) ka, and must be considered lower limits for the terrestrial ages of the meteorites found within these specific deflation surfaces. These ages greatly exceed previous measurements from adjacent meteorite-producing deflation basins. We find that Roosevelt County meteorites are probably terrestrial contemporaries of the meteorites found at most accumulation zones in Antarctica. The apparent high meteorite accumulation rate reported for Roosevelt County by Zolensky et al. (1990) is incorrect, as it used an age of 16 ka for all Roosevelt County recovery surfaces. We conclude that the extreme variability of terrestrial ages of the Roosevelt County deflation surfaces effectively precludes their use for calculations of the meteorite accumulation rate at the Earth's surface.

Zolensky, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Titania Deposition on PMR-15

The formation, degree of crystallinity and adherence of dense titania (TiO2) thin film coatings on a high-temperature polyimide resin (PMR-15) can be influenced by the chemical composition of the polymer surface. Furthermore, solution deposition conditions can be adjusted to provide additional control over the morphology and crystallinity of the titania films. Recipes for solution-based titania deposition that used a slowly-hydrolyzing titanium fluoride salt in the presence of boric acid as a fluoride scavenger allowed growth of films up to 750 nm thick in 22 h. By adjusting solution pH and temperature, either amorphous titania or oriented crystalline anatase films could be formed. Surface sulfonate groups enhance the adhesion of solution-deposited oxide thin film coatings. While most sulfonation procedures severely damaged the PMR-15 surface, the use of chlorosulfonic acid followed by hydrolysis of the installed chlorosulfonyl groups provided effective surface sulfonation without significant surface damage. In some cases, the oxide deposition solution caused partial hydrolysis of the polymer surface, which itself was sufficient to allow adhesion of the titania film through chelation of titanium ions by exposed benzoic acid groups on the polymer surface.

Meador, Mary B.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Jet-Surface Interaction Noise from High-Aspect Ratio Nozzles: Test Summary

Noise and flow data have been acquired for a 16:1 aspect ratio rectangular nozzle exhausting near a simple surface at the NASA Glenn Research Center as part of an ongoing effort to understand, model, and predict the noise produced by current and future concept aircraft employing a tightly integrated engine airframe designs. The particular concept under consideration in this experiment is a blended-wing-body airframe powered by a series of electric fans exhausting through slot nozzle over an aft deck. The exhaust Mach number and surface length were parametrically varied during the test. Far-field noise data were acquired for all nozzle surface geometries and exhaust flow conditions. Phased-array noise source localization data and in-flow pressure data were also acquired for a subset of the isolated (no surface) and surface configurations; these measurements provide data that have proven useful for modeling the jet-surface interaction noise source and the surface effect on the jet-mixing noise in round jets. A summary of the nozzle surface geometry, flow conditions tested, and data collected are presented.

Propulsion Noise↗
DOE OSTI2025

Carbon dots from surface-capping/passivation of small carbon nanoparticles with nanoscale titanium dioxide

Carbon dots are classically defined as small carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) with effective surface passivation, which has been accomplished predominantly by surface organic functionalization. In the current work, the passivation is achieved by the surface coating of CNPs with nanoscale TiO 2 for CNP/TiO 2 core/shell nanostructures, which are analogous to conventional semiconductor core/shell quantum dots (QDs). The TiO 2 capping of CNPs results in substantial enhancements in the fluorescence quantum yields, also analogous to the similar enhancements famously known for the semiconductor QDs. In conclusion, mechanistic implications of the findings, including the associated further validation on the classical definition of carbon dots, are discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of Multiple Exciton Generation with New Multi-dimensional Spectroscopies

Multiple exciton generation is a process that can occur in semiconductor nanocrystals small enough that their electronic properties deviate from that of the bulk semiconductor. Such small nanocrystals are known as quantum dots. At the time this project began, there were reports that multiple exciton generation in quantum dots was far more efficient than the analogous process of charge carrier multiplication in bulk semiconductors. In bulk semiconductors, this effect requires ultraviolet light, but is used for high energy photo-detectors. By exploiting enhanced photocurrent from photons with more than twice the bandgap energy, carrier multiplication is a potential route to more efficient photovoltaics using quantum dots with infrared bandgaps. The reports of enhanced multiple exciton generation in such materials motivated the fundamental investigations of the multiple exciton generation mechanism in this project. These experimental investigations showed that the initial charge carrier dynamics after exciting low bandgap quantum dots with photons far above bandgap are not those of the bound electron-hole pairs known as excitons, but rather those of the rapidly separating charge carriers found in the bulk semiconductor at similar excitation energies. This result was theoretically explained in terms of new fundamental criteria for size dependent changes in the optical properties of semiconductors. This result indicates that any new mechanism for multiple exciton generation must arise from the larger surface area to volume ratio of quantum dots. Several artifacts arising from repetitive excitation, poorly passivated quantum dot surfaces, and oxygen exposure were found. After eliminating these artifacts, investigations of the backward reaction have confirmed that its rate does increase as size decreases, in accord with theory, but were not able to isolate surface effects. Using two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to investigate the influence of the surface upon excitation at the bandgap found no measurable effect. These studies indicate that better control of the quantum dot surface would be required to optimize multiple exciton generation for photovoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1997

Temperature Corrected Bootstrap Algorithm

A temperature corrected Bootstrap Algorithm has been developed using Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer data in preparation to the upcoming AMSR instrument aboard ADEOS and EOS-PM. The procedure first calculates the effective surface emissivity using emissivities of ice and water at 6 GHz and a mixing formulation that utilizes ice concentrations derived using the current Bootstrap algorithm but using brightness temperatures from 6 GHz and 37 GHz channels. These effective emissivities are then used to calculate surface ice which in turn are used to convert the 18 GHz and 37 GHz brightness temperatures to emissivities. Ice concentrations are then derived using the same technique as with the Bootstrap algorithm but using emissivities instead of brightness temperatures. The results show significant improvement in the area where ice temperature is expected to vary considerably such as near the continental areas in the Antarctic, where the ice temperature is colder than average, and in marginal ice zones.

Comiso, Joey C.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effective Hamiltonian for surface states of topological insulator thin films with hexagonal warping

The effective Hamiltonian of the surface states on semi-infinite slabs of the topological insulators (TI) Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} require the addition of a cubic momentum hexagonal warping term on top of the usual Dirac fermion Hamiltonian in order to reproduce the experimentally measured constant energy contours at intermediate values of Fermi energy. In this work, we derive the effective Hamiltonian for the surface states of a Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} thin film incorporating the corresponding hexagonal warping terms. We then calculate the dispersion relation of the effective Hamiltonian and show that the hexagonal warping leads distorts the equal energy contours from the circular cross sections of the Dirac cones.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

The effect of dipole-dipole interactions on coercivity, anisotropy constant, and blocking temperature of MnFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic manganese ferrite nanoparticles with mean size of 〈D〉 = 6.5(±1.5) nm were synthesized through a solvothermal method using Tri-ethylene glycol as a solvent. The peak temperature of zero field cooled measurements of magnetization and AC magnetic susceptibility curves shifted toward higher temperatures by applying different pressures from 0 to 1 kbar and increasing the powders compaction. The frequency dependence of AC susceptibility measurements indicated the presence of weak dipole-dipole interactions between nanoparticles. By increasing the powders compaction and interactions strength, the coercive field (H{sub c}) increased and squareness (M{sub r}/M{sub s}) decreased. The obtained effective anisotropy constant (K{sub eff}), by susceptibility measurements, was from 1.72 × 10{sup 6} to 2.36 × 10{sup 6 }ergs/cm{sup 3} for pressure of 0 to 1 kbar. These values are larger than those obtained from hysteresis loops at 5 K (0.14 × 10{sup 6} to 0.34 × 10{sup 6 }erg/cm{sup 3}). Also, the K{sub eff} was two orders of magnitude greater than that of bulk MnFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}. Size, surface effects, and total energy barrier between equilibrium states were reported as the main causes of large anisotropy. Below 75 K, a signature of weak surface spin glass was observed. However, memory effect experiment indicated that there is no collective superspin glass state in the samples. This study suggests the role of powders compaction on properties of a magnetic nanoparticles system. Furthermore, the coercivity, the anisotropy constant, and the blocking temperature are affected by changing nanoparticles compaction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Protein-Glass Surface Interactions and Ion Desalting in Electrospray Ionization with Submicron Emitters

Theta glass electrospray emitters can rapidly mix solutions to investigate fast reactions that occur as quickly as 1 μs, but emitters with submicron tips have the unusual properties of desalting protein ions and affecting the observed abundances of some proteins as a result of protein–surface interactions. The role of protein physical properties on ion signal was investigated using 1.7 ± 0.1 μm and 269 ± 7 nm emitters and 100 mM aqueous ammonium acetate or ammonium bicarbonate solutions. Protein ion desalting occurs for both positive and negative ions. The signal of a mixture of proteins with the 269 nm tips is time-dependent and the order in which ions of each protein is observed is related to the expected strengths of the protein–surface interactions. These results indicate that it is not just the high surface-to-volume ratio that plays a role in protein adsorption and reduction or absence of initial ion signal, but the small diffusion distance and extremely low flow rates of the smaller emitters can lead to complete adsorption of some proteins and loss of signal until the adsorption sites are filled and the zeta potential is significantly reduced. After about 30 min, signals for a protein mixture from the two different size capillaries are similar. These results show the advantages of submicron emitters but also indicate that surface effects must be taken into account in experiments using such small tips or that coating the emitter surface to prevent adsorption should be considered. .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗