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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 901 records · Page 50
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Few-body magneto-absorption in prolate ellipsoidal quantum dot

In this paper, the behavior of the few-body electron gas localized in a strongly prolate ellipsoidal quantum dot with the presence of the uniform external magnetic field has been investigated. Due to the specific geometry of the quantum dot it has been shown that the motion of the particles in the considered system can be separated into fast and slow, in the XOY plane and along the OZ direction respectively. Based on the adiabatic approach it has been shown that in the direction of the slow motion the electron gas is localized in the one-dimensional parabolic quantum well. If a long-wavelength radiation falls on the system, then due to the parabolic form of the confining potential, conditions occur to implement the generalized Kohn theorem for this system.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Targeted Particle Fractionation Technologies: Proof of Concept

Most methods of particle-size analysis involve particle fractionation which, is often done by filtration or the use of screens. This paper provides proof of concept testing for new in-pipe particle fractionation technologies that can be used at laboratory to industrial scales. These technologies are extensions of recent advancements in bump arrays as well as testing of new inline angled-to-the-flow slats, and advanced boycott-based Avalanche separation technologies. Experiments were conducted for three targeted particle fractionation technologies to evaluate the in-pipe removal of oversized sands in Newtonian slurries prior to the introduction of bump arrays. The mesofluidic system uses an array of staggered posts as configured in a bump array for Newtonian slurry conditions. The methods and results of these experiments are described in this paper. This information could be applied in most industrial and laboratory systems to rapidly remove oversized particles from a flowing slurry.

slurry, solids removal, particle fractionation, bu↗
NASA NTRS1982

Advanced inorganic separators for alkaline batteries

A flexible, porous battery separator comprising a coating applied to a porous, flexible substrate is described. The coating comprises: (1) a thermoplastic rubber-based resin which is insoluble and unreactive in the alkaline electrolyte; (2) a polar organic plasticizer which is reactive with the alkaline electrolyte to produce a reaction product which contains a hydroxyl group and/or a carboxylic acid group; and (3) a mixture of polar particulate filler materials which are unreactive with the electrolyte, the mixture comprising at least one first filler material having a surface area of greater than 25 meters sq/gram, at least one second filler material having a surface area of 10 to 25 sq meters/gram, wherein the volume of the mixture of filler materials is less than 45% of the total volume of the fillers and the binder, the filler surface area per gram of binder is about 20 to 60 sq meters/gram, and the amount of plasticizer is sufficient to coat each filler particle. A method of forming the battery separator is also described.

Sheibley, D. W.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tribo-charging properties of waste plastic granules in process of tribo-electrostatic separation

Highlights: • The cyclone charging was more effective and stable than vibrating charging. • The small particle size was better changed than large ones and was more suitable recycled by TES. • The drying pretreatment is good for improving the short-term charging effect. - Abstract: Plastic products can be found everywhere in people’s daily life. With the consistent growth of plastic consumption, more and more plastic waste is generated. Considering the stable chemical and physics characteristics of plastic, regular waste management methods are not suitable for recycling economic strategy of each government, which has become a serious environmental problem. Recycling plastic waste is considered to be the best way to treat it, because it cannot only deduce the waste but also save the energy to produce new virgin plastic. Tribo-electrostatic separation is strongly recommended for plastic separation as it can preserve the original properties of plastic and has little additional pollution. In this study, plastic granules are generated by crushing plastic waste in waste electric and electronic equipment. The tribo-charging properties of plastic waste were studied by vibrating tribo-charging and cyclone tribo-charging. The triboelectric series obtained by vibrating was: (−)-PE–PS–PC–PVC–ABS–PP-(+), while the triboelectric series obtained by cyclone was (−)-PE–PS–PC–PVC–ABS–PP-(+). Further, the cyclone charging was more effective and stable than vibrating charging. The impact factors experiments showed that small particle size was better changed than large ones and were more suitable recycled by tribo-electrostatic separation. High relative humidity was identified as impede charging effect. The results of this study will help defining the operating parameters of subsequent separator.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of performance of the ATLAS transition radiation tracker in run 1 of the LHC: Tracking characteristics

The ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) contains more than 350000 large straw tubes and it is the outermost of the three subsystems of the ATLAS Inner Detector (ID). The TRT contributes substantially to the ATLAS ID resolution for the tracks of high-energy particles, providing excellent particle identification capabilities and electron-pion separation. Basic performance parameters of the TRT related to its tracking function are described in this paper. The data used in this study were collected during the first period of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) operation in 2012 with a proton collision energy of 8 TeV. The tracking performance of the TRT has been studied in the case of operating with a Xe-based gas mixture and as a function of the straw occupancy. Special attention was paid to investigation of tracking parameters inside hadronic jets. The experimental data and simulation are in reasonable agreement, even within the dense cores of the most energetic jets.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Alpha Radiolysis of Nuclear Solvent Extraction Ligands Used for An(III) and Ln(III) Separations

This document is the final report for the Nuclear Energy Universities Program (NEUP) grant 10-910 (DE-AC07-05ID14517) “Alpha Radiolysis of Nuclear Solvent Extraction Ligands used for An(III) and Ln(III) Separations”. The goal of this work was to obtain a quantitative understanding of the impacts of both low Linear Energy Transfer (LET, gamma-rays) and high LET (alpha particles) radiation chemistry occurring in future large-scale separations processes. This quantitative understanding of the major radiation effects on diluents and ligands is essential for optimal process implementation, and could result in significant cost savings in the future.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Formation of dark matter tori around supermassive black holes via the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism

We explore the effects of long-term secular perturbations on the distribution of dark matter particles around supermassive black hole (BH) binaries. We show that in the hierarchical (in separation) three-body problem, one of the BHs and a dark matter particle form an inner binary. Gravitational perturbations from the BH companion, on a much wider orbit, can cause the dark matter particle to reach extremely high eccentricities and even get accreted onto the BH by what is known as the eccentric Kozai-Lidov (EKL) mechanism. We show that this may produce a torus-like configuration for the dark matter distribution around the less massive member of the BH binary. We first consider an intermediate BH (IMBH) in the vicinity of our galactic center, which may be a relic of a past minor merger. We show that if the IMBH is close enough (i.e., near the stellar disk) the EKL mechanism is very efficient in exciting the eccentricity of dark matter particles in near-polar configurations to extremely high values where they are accreted by the IMBH. We show that this mechanism is even more effective if the central BH grows in mass, where we have assumed adiabatic growth. Because near-polar configurations are disrupted, a torus-like shape is formed. We also show that this behavior is also likely to be relevant for supermassive BH binaries. We suggest that if the BHs are spinning, the accreted dark matter particles may linger in the ergosphere, and thereby generate self-annihilations and produce an indirect signature of potential interest.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of refractory black carbon-containing particle morphologies using the single-particle soot photometer (SP2)

An important source of uncertainty in radiative forcing by absorbing aerosol particles is the uncertainty in their morphologies (i.e., the location of the absorbing substance on/in the particles). To examine the effects of particle morphology on the response of an individual black carbon-containing particle in a Single-Particle Soot Photometer (SP2), a series of experiments was conducted to investigate black carbon-containing particles of known morphology using Regal black (RB), a proxy for collapsed soot, as the light-absorbing substance. Particles were formed by coagulation of RB with either a solid substance (sodium chloride or ammonium sulfate) or a liquid substance (dioctyl sebacate), and by condensation with dioctyl sebacate, the latter experiment forming particles in a core-shell configuration. Each particle type experienced fragmentation (observed as negative lagtimes), and each yielded similar lagtime responses in some instances, confounding attempts to differentiate particle morphology using current SP2 lagtime analysis. SP2 operating conditions, specifically laser power and sample flow rate, which in turn affect the particle heating and dissipation rates, play an important role in the behavior of particles in the SP2, including probability of fragmentation. This behavior also depended on the morphology of the particles and on the thermo-chemical properties of the non-RB substance. Although these influences cannot currently be unambiguously separated, the SP2 analysis may still provide useful information on particle mixing states and black carbon particle sources.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Analysis of the static magnetic field-dependent optical transmission of Ni nanorod colloidal suspensions

The magnetic field-dependent optical transmission of dilute Ni nanorod aqueous suspensions was investigated. A series of four samples of nanorods were synthesized using the AAO template method and processed to stable colloids. The distributions of their length and diameter were characterized by analysis of TEM images and revealed average diameters of ∼25 nm and different lengths in the range of 60 nm–1100 nm. The collinear magnetic and optical anisotropy was studied by static field-dependent transmission measurements of linearly polarized light parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. The experimental results were modelled assuming the field-dependent orientation distribution function of a superparamagnetic ensemble for the uniaxial ferromagnetic nanorods in liquid dispersion and extinction cross sections for longitudinal and transversal optical polarization derived from different approaches, including the electrostatic approximation and the separation of variables method, both applied to spheroidal particles, as well as finite element method simulations of spheroids and capped cylindrical particles. The extinction cross sections were compared to reveal the differences associated with the approximations of homogeneous polarization and/or particle shape. The consequences of these approximations for the quantitative analysis of magnetic field-dependent optical transmission measurements were investigated and a reliable protocol derived. Furthermore, the changes in optical cross sections induced by electromagnetic interaction between two nanorods in parallel end-to-end and side-by-side configuration as a function of their separation were studied.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Composite Carbon Molecular Sieve Hollow Fiber Membranes: Resisting Support Densification via Silica Particle Stabilization

Resisting densification of hollow fiber support layers under high-temperature pyrolysis is vital to form carbon molecular sieve hollow fiber membranes with thin separation layer and attractive productivity. In this paper, a new silica particle stabilization approach is introduced to form thin-skinned composite carbon molecular sieve hollow fiber membranes with excellent resistance to support layer densification. By dispersing small-sized silica particles with low bulk density in the support layer of polymer precursor hollow fibers, composite carbon molecular sieve hollow fiber membranes were formed with highly porous supports. The composite carbon molecular sieve hollow fiber membranes exhibited very attractive selectivities and productivities higher than those of monolithic asymmetric carbon molecular sieve hollow fiber membranes formed by the standard sol–gel support stabilization technique.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Important Role of Ion Flux Regulated by Separators in Lithium Metal Batteries

Abstract Polyolefin separators are the most common separators used in rechargeable lithium (Li)‐ion batteries. However, the influence of different polyolefin separators on the performance of Li metal batteries (LMBs) has not been well studied. By performing particle injection simulations on the reconstructed three‐dimensional pores of different polyethylene separators, it is revealed that the pore structure of the separator has a significant impact on the ion flux distribution, the Li deposition behavior, and consequently, the cycle life of LMBs. It is also discovered that the homogeneity factor of Li‐ion toward Li metal electrode is positively correlated to the longevity and reproducibility of LMBs. This work not only emphasizes the importance of the pore structure of polyolefin separators but also provides an economic and effective method to screen favorable separators for LMBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Importance of aerosol composition, mixing state, and morphology for heterogeneous ice nucleation: A combined field and laboratory approach

In this study chemical compositions of background aerosol and ice nuclei were examined through laboratory investigations using Raman spectroscopy and field measurements by single-particle mass spectrometry. Aerosol sampling took place at Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, Colorado (elevation of 3210 m). A cascade impactor was used to collect coarse-mode aerosol particles for laboratory analysis by Raman spectroscopy; the composition, mixing state, and heterogeneous ice nucleation activity of individual particles were examined. For in situ analysis of fine-mode aerosol, ice nucleation on ambient particles was observed using a compact ice nucleation chamber. Ice crystals were separated from unactivated aerosol using a pumped counterflow virtual impactor, and ice nuclei were analyzed using particle analysis by laser mass spectrometry. For both fine and coarse modes, the ice nucleating particle fractions were enriched in minerals and depleted in sulfates and nitrates, compared to the background aerosol sampled. The vast majority of particles in both the ambient and ice active aerosol fractions contained a detectable amount of organic material. Raman spectroscopy showed that organic material is sometimes present in the form of a coating on the surface of inorganic particles. We find that some organic-containing particles serve as efficient ice nuclei while others do not. For coarse-mode aerosol, organic particles were only observed to initiate ice formation when oxygen signatures were also present in their spectra.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Reaction theories for exotic nuclei

This contribution discusses two important dynamical effects in the scattering of exotic beams. The first part deals proton breakup. The Coulomb interactions between the core and the target and the proton and the target are treated to all orders, including also the full multipole expansion of the Coulomb potential. The dynamics of proton Coulomb breakup is compared to that of an equivalent neutron of larger binding energy in order to elucidate the differences with the well understood neutron breakup mechanism. With respect to nuclear breakup it is found that a proton behaves exactly as a neutron of larger binding energy. The extra 'effective energy' is due to the combined core-target Coulomb barrier. In Coulomb breakup we distinguish the effect of the core-target Coulomb potential (called recoil effect), with respect to which the proton behaves again as a more bound neutron, from the direct proton-target Coulomb potential. The latter gives cross sections about an order of magnitude larger than the recoil term. The two effects give rise to complicated interferences in the parallel momentum distributions. They are instead easily separable in the proton angular distributions which are therefore suggested as a very useful observable for future experimental studies. The second part has to do with the dynamics of one-neutron and one-proton removal from unstable nuclei with large asymmetry {Delta}S S{sub n}-S{sub p} in the separation energies and incident energies below 80 MeV/nucleon. Strong non-sudden effects are observed in the case of deeply-bound-nucleon removal. The corresponding parallel momentum distributions exhibit an abrupt cutoff at high momentum that corresponds to an energy threshold occurring when the incident energy per particle is of comparable magnitude as the nucleon separation energy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Observation of Central Exclusive Diphoton Production at the Tevatron

We have observed exclusive γγ production in proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron at √ s = 1.96 TeV. We use data corresponding to 1.11 ± 0.07 fb-1 integrated luminosity taken by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab, with a trigger requiring two electromagnetic showers, each with transverse energy ET > 2 GeV, and vetoing on hits in the forward beam shower counters. We select events with two electromagnetic showers, each with transverse energy ET > 2.5 GeV and pseudorapidity |η| < 1.0, with no other particles detected in -7.4 < η < +7.4. The two showers have similar ET and an azimuthal angle separation Δφ ~ π; we find 34 events with exactly two matching charged particle tracks, agreeing with expectations for the QED process p¯p → p+e+e- + ¯p by two photon exchange; and we find 43 events with no tracks. The latter are candidates for the exclusive process p¯p → p + γγ + ¯p by double pomeron exchange. We use the strip and wire chambers at the longitudinal shower maximum position within the calorimeter to measure a possible exclusive background from IP + IP → π0π0, and conclude that it is consistent with zero and is < 15 events at 95% C.L. The measured cross section is σγγ,excl(|η| < 1, ET (γ) > 2.5 GeV) = 2.48 +0.40 -0.35(stat) +0.40 -0.51(syst) pb and in agreement with the theoretical predictions. This process is closely related to exclusive Higgs boson production pp → p + H + p at the Large Hadron Collider. The observation of the exclusive production of diphotons shows that exclusive Higgs production can happen and could be observed with a proper experimental setup.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electromechanical control of polarization vortex ordering in an interacting ferroelectric-dielectric composite dimer

Using a free-energy based computational model, we have investigated the response of a system comprising two interacting ferroelectric nanospheres, embedded in a dielectric medium, to a static external electric field. The system response is hysteretic and tunable by changing the inter-particle distance and the orientation of the applied field, which strongly modulates the field-driven long-range elastic interactions between the particles that propagate through the dielectric matrix. At small separations, the sensitivity of the system behavior with respect to the electric field direction originates from drastically different configurations of the local vortex-like polarization states in ferroelectric particles. In conclusion, this suggests new routes for the design of composite metamaterials whose dielectric properties can be controlled and tuned by selecting the mutual arrangement of their ferroelectric components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the charged-particle multiplicity inside jets from $$\sqrt{s}=8$$ $${\mathrm{TeV}}$$ pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

The number of charged particles inside jets is a widely used discriminant for identifying the quark or gluon nature of the initiating parton and is sensitive to both the perturbative and non-perturbative components of fragmentation. This paper presents a measurement of the average number of charged particles with p T > 500 MeV inside high-momentum jets in dijet events using 20.3 fb -1 of data recorded with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV collisions at the LHC. The jets considered have transverse momenta from 50 GeV up to and beyond 1.5 TeV . The reconstructed charged-particle track multiplicity distribution is unfolded to remove distortions from detector effects and the resulting charged-particle multiplicity is compared to several models. Lastly, quark and gluon jet fractions are used to extract the average charged-particle multiplicity for quark and gluon jets separately.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗