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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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Solar plus: Optimization of distributed solar PV through battery storage and dispatchable load in residential buildings

As utility electricity rates evolve, pairing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with battery storage has potential to ensure the value proposition of residential solar by mitigating economic uncertainty. In addition to batteries, load control technologies can reshape customer load profiles to optimize PV system use. The combination of PV, energy storage, and load control provides an integrated approach to PV deployment, which we call 'solar plus'. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Renewable Energy Optimization (REopt) model is utilized to evaluate cost-optimal technology selection, sizing, and dispatch in residential buildings under a variety of rate structures and locations. The REopt model is extended to include a controllable or 'smart' domestic hot water heater model and smart air conditioner model. We find that the solar plus approach improves end user economics across a variety of rate structures - especially those that are challenging for PV - including lower grid export rates, non-coincident time-of-use structures, and demand charges.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enhancing flexibility for climate change using seasonal energy storage (aquifer thermal energy storage) in distributed energy systems

Long-term energy storage is expected to play a vital role in the deep decarbonization of building energy sectors, while enhancing the flexibility of buildings to withstand future climate variations. However, it is challenging to design distributed multi-energy systems (DMES) while taking into account the uncertainties introduced by climate change, since stochastic optimization of such systems is difficult. The present study introduces a stochastic optimization model to address this bottleneck, taking into account DMES including aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) as the long-term thermal storage. For the first time, a novel optimization algorithm links ATES with the DMES optimization model with the support of a simplified geotechnical model. Subsequently, a case study was conducted, focusing on a residential district in Chicago where the impact of future climate condition, energy demand, and solar and wind energy potentials were evaluated using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) data (up to 2080) and the EnergyPlus model. The study revealed that ATES is an attractive way to improve the renewable energy penetration level and minimize the dependence on fossil fuels with reasonable support from the grid to assist the fluctuations in both demand and generation. Furthermore, ATES notably reduces fuel consumption and dependence while greatly enhancing the flexibility of the energy system to withstand fluctuations in demand and renewable energy generation brought by future climate variations. These qualities will make ATES an important part of distributed energy systems, even though it is not currently the lowest cost alternative due to lack of technology maturity. Furthermore, the design platform introduced in the present study can be used to design DMES enhancing flexibility to accommodate future climate variations.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Surface functionality and formation mechanisms of carbon and graphene quantum dots

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and Carbon dots (C-dots) have been widely studied in recent years due to their structural and optoelectrical properties. These properties have prompted the exploration of the role of these carbon-based materials in many potential applications. This includes solar cells, photodetectors, bioimaging, sensors, batteries and drug delivery. These properties and applications of GQDs and C-dots are highly dependent on their size, shape and surface functionality. In this work, GQDs and C-dots mixtures have been synthesized by an inexpensive wet chemical method by varying the synthesis temperature from 85°, 100° to 115 °C. The surface functionalities of the synthesized carbon-based materials were investigated by several analytical methods. We discovered a higher degree of oxidation at higher temperatures. The mechanism of formation of different sized GQDs and C-dots with different functionalities have been explained with the help of XPS and NEXAFS analysis. The influence of size and surface functionalities on the optical properties of these nanomaterials is analyzed by UV–Vis and PL spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that physicochemical properties of GQDs and C-dots can be controlled by changing the synthesis temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Step Toward Efficient Panchromatic Multi-Chromophoric Sensitizers for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Panchromatic dyes with absorption profiles extending into the near infra-red are of interest to researchers in the field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as they offer potential access to a wide energy range of photons necessary to enhance solar to electric power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). In this report, a porphyrin with a Soret band absorbing at high energy is combined with a squaraine absorbing at low energy $via$ an acetylene linker to form a bichromophoric sensitizer with molar extinctions on the order of 10 5 M -1 cm -1 and an incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) onset of ~850 nm. Various bulky substituents were installed on both the porphyrin and squaraine moieties, and conjugation was increased with π-bridge spacers to achieve a PCE of 7.6%, which is up to 15% higher than a comparable squaraine-only dye. For the most part, charge injection dynamics indicate slower charge injection rates and lower injection quantum yields for these bichromophoric sensitizers compared to non-porphyrin squaraine-based DSSC sensitizers. Nevertheless, higher PCE was observed for most porphyrincontaining dyes due largely to increased panchromaticity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Plasma-Initiated Graft Polymerization of Acrylic Acid onto Fluorine-Doped Tin Oxide as a Platform for Immobilization of Water-Oxidation Catalysts

The discovery of new and versatile strategies for the immobilization of molecular water-oxidation catalysts (WOCs) is crucial for developing clean energy conversion devices [e.g., (photo)electrocatalytic cells for water splitting]. The traditional approach for surface attachment to transparent conductive oxides [e.g., fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO)] is via synthetic modification of the ligand architecture to incorporate functional groups such as carboxylic acids (-COOH) or phosphonates (-PO 3 H 2 ) prior to immobilization. However, challenges arising from desorption and the cumbersome derivatizations steps have limited the scope and applications of surface-bound WOCs. Herein, we report the successful immobilization of underivatized Ru(II)-based WOCs (Ru–Cat1 = [Ru(tpy) (bpy) (H 2 O)] 2+ (tpy = 2,2':6'2"–terpyridine and bpy = 2,2;-bipyridine) and Ru–Cat2 = [Ru(Mebimpy) (bpy) (H 2 O)] 2+ (Mebimpy = 2,6-bis(1-methylbenzimidazol-2-yl) pyridine)) and the Ru(II) polypyridyl chromophore Ru–C3 = [Ru(bpy) 3 ] 2+ onto a FTO plasma-grafted poly(acrylic acid) surface (PAA|FTO). Various characterization techniques such as attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry measurements provide evidence for the plasma-induced grafted PAA|FTO film and immobilization. Surface stability and electrocatalytic properties of these new hybrid composite films upon cycling were investigated at different pH values. Immobilized Ru–Cat1 and Ru–Cat2 onto PAA|FTO displayed pH-dependent (RuIII/RuII) couples and onset potentials indicative of PCET (proton-coupled electron transfer) reactions. Based on cyclic voltammetry results and spectroscopic monitoring, the immobilized WOCs Ru–Cat1 and Ru–Cat2 exhibited a higher surface stability in neutral aqueous solutions relative to Ru–C3 upon electrochemical oxidation. Furthermore, we attribute the surface PCET and stability to the presence of a water ligand in the coordination sphere of immobilized Ru–Cat1 and Ru–Cat2 which can H-bond with negatively charged carboxylate groups of the cross-linked PAA brushes. Our findings demonstrate that the plasma-grafted polymeric network onto FTO offers a versatile platform to directly anchor unmodified homogeneous WOCs or chromophores for potential applications in solar-to-fuel energy conversion.

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

Hybrid Dion–Jacobson 2D Lead Iodide Perovskites

The three-dimensional hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites have shown huge potential for use in solar cells and other optoelectronic devices. Although these materials are under intense investigation, derivative materials with lower dimensionality are emerging, offering higher tunability of physical properties and new capabilities. Here, we present two new series of hybrid two-dimensional (2D) perovskites that adopt the Dion–Jacobson (DJ) structure type, which are the first complete homologous series reported in halide perovskite chemistry. Lead iodide DJ perovskites adopt a general formula A'A n–1 PbnI 3 n +1 (A' = 3-(aminomethyl)piperidinium (3AMP) or 4-(aminomethyl)piperidinium (4AMP), A = methylammonium (MA)). These materials have layered structures where the stacking of inorganic layers is unique as they lay exactly on top of another. With a slightly different position of the functional group in the templating cation 3AMP and 4AMP, the as-formed DJ perovskites show different optical properties, with the 3AMP series having smaller band gaps than the 4AMP series. Analysis on the crystal structures and density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the origin of the systematic band gap shift is the strong but indirect influence of the organic cation on the inorganic framework. Fabrication of photovoltaic devices utilizing these materials as light absorbers reveals that (3AMP)(MA) 3 Pb 4 I 13 has the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.32%, which is much higher than that of the corresponding (4AMP)(MA) 3 Pb 4 I 13 .

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Hole Transport in Nonstoichiometric and Doped Wüstite

We propose ways to enhance the conductivity of wustite (i.e., naturally p-type FeO), a visible-light-absorbing, inexpensive, abundant, and nontoxic potential alternative material for solar energy conversion devices. Unfortunately, the conversion efficiency of FeO is inhibited by its low hole conductivity. Increasing the iron vacancy concentration or adding p-type dopants improves FeO conductivity by increasing the number of holes; however, it is not known which strategy introduces larger energy traps that would hinder hole conductivity. Here we employ the small polaron model along with ab initio calculations on electrostatically embedded clusters to analyze the local trapping effects of iron vacancies and several substitutional p-type dopants that are soluble in FeO, including copper, nitrogen, lithium, and sodium, and also hydrogen as an interstitial dopant for comparison. We find that vacancies create stronger traps than dopants and that copper and nitrogen dopants form deeper traps than lithium, sodium, or hydrogen. Furthermore, hydrogen repels the hole and substantially decreases the trap formed by an iron vacancy. Because of the shallower traps formed compared to vacancies, lithium-, sodium-, or hydrogen-doped, nanostructured or alloyed FeO may be worth evaluating as a p-type semiconductor for solar energy conversion applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

New insights into the design of conjugated polymers for intramolecular singlet fission

Singlet fission (SF), a multiple exciton generation process which generates two triplet excitons after the absorption of one photon, can potentially enable more efficient solar cell designs, by harvesting energy normally lost as heat. While low-bandgap conjugated polymers are the highly promising candidates for efficient SF-based solar cells, few polymer materials capable of SF have been reported because the SF process in polymer chains is poorly understood. Using transient spectroscopy, we demonstrate a new, highly efficient (triplet yield of 160~200%) isoindigo-based donor-acceptor polymer and show that the triplet pairs are directly emissive and exhibit a time dependent energy evolution. Importantly, aggregation in poor solvents and in films significantly lowers the singlet energy, suppressing triplet formation because the energy conservation criterion is no longer met. These results suggest a new design rule for developing intramolecular SF capable low-bandgap conjugated polymers whereby inter-chain interactions must be carefully engineered.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cyclically conjugated porphyrin trimers linked through benzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1- a ]isoindole bridges

Cyclically conjugated porphyrin trimers were prepared via a concise synthetic method. Zn-Trimer-1 displayed strong exciton coupling, suggesting the presence of effective electronic interactions. UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra obtained through titration studies on the donor–acceptor adduct (Zn-Trimer-1–C60Im) indicate the occurrence of excited state photo-events. Inspired by nature's photosynthetic process of plants and bacteria, electronically interacting multiporphyrinic systems have long been investigated as synthetic models of natural photosynthetic systems. Remarkable successes have been achieved with cyclic porphyrin arrays, where porphyrins are arranged in a wheel-like structure or nanoring as photosynthetic antennae. Considerable efforts have also been devoted to constructing other porphyrin arrays such as molecular wires for potential applications in sensors, solar energy conversion, non-linear optical (NLO) materials, and more. Due to synthetic difficulties, cyclically conjugated porphyrin arrays in which porphyrins are arranged in planar geometry are very rare. Very recently, Anderson and coworkers have reported unprecedented β,β-directly linked porphyrin trimers and tetramers with different geometries, propeller and saddle, respectively, which result in distinct photophysical and electrochemical properties (Fig. 1a). In this paper, we present novel cyclically conjugated porphyrin trimers, which feature planar geometry with porphyrins assembled around the aromatic triphenylene at the center (Fig. 1b).

Han, Ting↗
DOE OSTI2013

Near-infrared InN quantum dots on high-In composition InGaN

We report the growth of InN quantum dots (QDs) on thick InGaN layers with high In composition (>50%) by molecular beam epitaxy. Optimized growth conditions are identified for the InGaN layers at reduced growth temperature and increased active N flux resulting in minimized phase separation and defect generation. The InN QDs grown on top of the optimized InGaN layer exhibit small size, high density, and photoluminescence up to room temperature. The InN/InGaN QDs reveal excellent potential for intermediate band solar cells with the InGaN and InN QD bandgap energies tuned to the best match of absorption to the solar spectrum.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

On the marginal instability threshold condition of the aperiodic ordinary mode

The purely growing ordinary (O) mode instability has recently received renewed attention owing to its potential applicability to the solar wind plasma. Here, an analytical marginal instability condition is derived for counter-streaming bi-Maxwellian plasma particle distribution functions. The derived marginal instability condition as a function of the temperature anisotropy and plasma beta agrees remarkably well with the numerically determined instability condition. The existence of a new instability domain of the O-mode at small plasma beta values is confirmed with the leading A∝β{sub ∥}{sup −1}-dependence, if the counter-stream parameter P{sub e} exceeds a critical value. At small plasma beta values at large enough counter-stream parameter, the O-mode also operates for temperature anisotropies A = T{sub ⊥}/T{sub ∥} > 1 even larger than unity, as the parallel counter-stream free energy exceeds the perpendicular bi-Maxwellian free energy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Role of electron transfer in Ce{sup 3+} sensitized Yb{sup 3+} luminescence in borate glass

In a Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} system, two mechanisms are proposed so far namely, the quantum cutting mechanism and the electron transfer mechanism explaining Yb{sup 3+} infrared luminescence under Ce{sup 3+} excitation. Among them, the quantum cutting mechanism, where one Ce{sup 3+} photon (ultraviolet/blue) gives rise to two Yb{sup 3+} photons (near infrared) is widely sought for because of its huge potential in enhancing the solar cell efficiency. In present study on Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} codoped borate glasses, Ce{sup 3+} sensitized Yb{sup 3+} luminescence at ∼1 μm have been observed on Ce{sup 3+} 5d state excitation. However, the intensity of sensitized Yb{sup 3+} luminescence is found to be very weak compared to the strong quenching occurred in Ce{sup 3+} luminescence in Yb{sup 3+} codoped glasses. Moreover, the absolute luminescence quantum yield also showed a decreasing trend with Yb{sup 3+} codoping in the glasses. The overall behavior of the luminescence properties and the quantum yield is strongly contradicting with the quantum cutting phenomenon. The results are attributed to the energetically favorable electron transfer interactions followed by Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} ⇌ Ce{sup 4+}-Yb{sup 2+} inter-valence charge transfer and successfully explained using the absolute electron binding energies of dopant ions in the studied borate glass. Finally, an attempt has been presented to generalize the electron transfer mechanism among opposite oxidation/reduction property dopant ions using the vacuum referred electron binding energy (VRBE) scheme for lanthanide series.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ordinary mode instability associated with thermal ring distribution

The purely growing ordinary (O) mode instability driven by excessive parallel temperature anisotropy has recently received renewed attention owing to its potential applicability to the solar wind plasma. Previous studies of O mode instability have assumed either bi-Maxwellian or counter-streaming velocity distributions. For solar wind plasma trapped in magnetic mirror-like geometry such as magnetic clouds or in the vicinity of the Earth's collisionless bow shock environment, however, the velocity distribution function may possess a loss-cone feature. The O-mode instability in such a case may be excited for cyclotron harmonics as well as the purely growing branch. The present paper investigates the O-mode instability for plasmas characterized by the parallel Maxwellian distribution and perpendicular thermal ring velocity distribution in order to understand the general stability characteristics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

The instability condition of the aperiodic ordinary mode for new scalings of the counterstreaming parameters

The aperiodic ordinary (O-) mode instability in homogeneous and collisionless plasmas with kinetic anisotropies has recently received renewed attention due to its potential application in the solar wind, as well as for equal-mass plasmas. The present paper revisits the marginal instability condition of the O-mode derived from the electromagnetic linear dispersion equation for waves propagating perpendicular to the background magnetic field. For a counterstreaming bi-Maxwellian plasma system, this condition is found to be significantly affected by the streaming parameters. New functional dependencies (not studied before) of the counterstreaming parameters on the magnetic field and the other plasma parameters lead to new conditions of this instability for the both equal mass and electron-proton plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

A checkerboard selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity

A selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity is proposed and analyzed. The absorber is based on a germanium (Ge) checkerboard on top of a tantalum (Ta) substrate. At wavelengths shorter than the 1.2 μm cutoff, a very high absorption is achieved due to strong cavity resonances in the Ge nanosquares, and their interactions with adjacent nanocavities and the bottom Ta substrate. At longer wavelengths, absorption is greatly suppressed due to destructive interference between the transparent checkerboard layer and the highly reflective Ta substrate. To better describe the superior selectivity of our configuration, a new figure of merit (FOM) is introduced. We observe a FOM value of 0.88 compared to 0.69 for its planar counterpart. We also conduct a thermal analysis to verify the excellent selectivity of our absorber. A high temperature can be achieved and maintained, promising good potential for applications in solar thermophotovoltaic systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Visible light broadband perfect absorbers

The visible light broadband perfect absorbers based on the silver (Ag) nano elliptical disks and holes array are studied using finite difference time domain simulations. The semiconducting indium silicon dioxide thin film is introduced as the space layer in this sandwiched structure. Utilizing the asymmetrical geometry of the structures, polarization sensitivity for transverse electric wave (TE)/transverse magnetic wave (TM) and left circular polarization wave (LCP)/right circular polarization wave (RCP) of the broadband absorption are gained. The absorbers with Ag nano disks and holes array show several peaks absorbance of 100% by numerical simulation. These simple and flexible perfect absorbers are particularly desirable for various potential applications including the solar energy absorber.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Carrier dynamics of intermediate sub-bandgap transitions in ZnTeO

The incorporation of electronic states in the bandgap, with high radiative efficiency, provides a means for optical up/down conversion and for tuning the carrier lifetime of a material. Such intermediate states in highly mismatched alloys have recently received much attention due to their potential for an efficient solar energy conversion. Understanding the carrier dynamics and pathways for the charge transfer of sub-bandgap transitions is critical for understanding energy conversion processes. In this work, time-resolved photoluminescence of ZnTeO is reported, revealing electron relaxation from the conduction band to the intermediate band and the carrier transfer between intermediate states and the conduction band utilizing two time-delayed optical excitations. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the utility of time-resolved techniques for characterizing energy conversion mechanisms in intermediate band materials, and the ability to use intermediate states to intentionally alter carrier lifetimes in materials for applications such as ultrafast scintillation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗