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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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1,706 records · Page 59
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DOE OSTI2024

Integrated Approach to Post-Irradiation Examination of Nuclear Materials at Idaho National Laboratory

Idaho national Laboratory (INL) is the U.S. lead national laboratory for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), providing much of the nuclear research, development and demonstration capability needed to move nuclear innovation forward to deployment. INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex hosts a unique combination of personnel, facilities and infrastructure and offers the ability to perform post-irradiation examinations (PIE) of nuclear materials spanning multiple length scales. The ability to combine engineering-scale analysis and sub-microscopic characterization provides valuable insights into fuel and structural material behavior and degradation mechanisms. The holistic approach is used to accelerate these materials demonstration and deployment. Selected studies will be presented, highlighting the impact of these techniques on improving fuel reliability, safety, and efficiency, thereby advancing the development of sustainable and advanced nuclear energy technologies.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrochemical cells and methods of manufacturing the same

Electrochemical cells and methods of making electrochemical cells are described herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a multi-layer sheet for encasing an electrode material for an electrochemical cell. The multi-layer sheet including an outer layer, an intermediate layer that includes a conductive substrate, and an inner layer disposed on a portion of the conductive substrate. The intermediate layer is disposed between the outer layer and the inner layer. The inner layer defines an opening through which a conductive region of the intermediate layer is exposed such that the electrode material can be electrically connected to the conductive region. Thus, the intermediate layer can serve as a current collector for the electrochemical cell.

Bazzarella, Ricardo↗
DOE OSTI2026

Spectroscopic Demarcation of Emergent Photons and Spinons in a Dipolar-Octupolar Quantum Spin Liquid

The identification of fractionalized excitations in quantum spin liquids (QSLs) remains a central challenge in condensed matter physics. In dipolar-octupolar (DO) pyrochlores, such as Ce 2⁢ Zr 2 ⁢O 7 , the candidate 𝜋-flux quantum spin ice (QSI) state is predicted to host both gapless emergent photons and a continuum of spinons. However, resolving these modes at zero field is complicated by their spectral overlap and the presence of nonmagnetic scattering near zero energy. Here, in this study, we report neutron scattering experiments on Ce 2 ⁢Zr 2 ⁢O 7 under a magnetic field along the [1, 1, 1] direction. In contrast to previous unpolarized studies at zero field that relied on high-temperature subtraction, we use a same-temperature high-field subtraction protocol to isolate the photon and spinon modes. Leveraging the selective coupling of the magnetic field to the dipolar degrees of freedom, we demonstrate the spectroscopic demarcation of these excitations. We observe that weak fields (≈ 0.15 T) suppress the low-energy photon weight while leaving the high-energy spinon continuum robust, albeit hardened. Our results, supported by gauge mean-field theory and exact diagonalization calculations, provide strong evidence for the 𝜋-flux QSI state and introduce a powerful field-tuning protocol for investigating DO-QSLs.

Gao, Bin [Rice University, Houston, TX (United Sta↗
DOE OSTI2024

The first high-redshift cavity power measurements of cool-core galaxy clusters with the International LOFAR Telescope

Radio-mode feedback associated with the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at the cores of galaxy clusters injects a large amount of energy into the intracluster medium (ICM), offsetting radiative losses through X-ray emission. This mechanism prevents the ICM from rapidly cooling down and fueling extreme starburst activity as it accretes onto the central galaxies, and it is therefore a key ingredient in the evolution of galaxy clusters. However, the influence and mode of feedback at high redshifts (z ∼ 1) remains largely unknown. Low-frequency sub-arcsecond-resolution radio observations taken with the International LOFAR Telescope have demonstrated their ability to assist X-ray observations with constraining the energy output from the AGNs (or “cavity power”) in galaxy clusters, thereby enabling research at higher redshifts than before. In this pilot project, we tested this hybrid method on a high-redshift (0.6 < z < 1.3) sample of 13 galaxy clusters for the first time with the aim of verifying the performance of this method at these redshifts and providing the first estimates of the cavity power associated with the central AGN for a sample of distant clusters. We were able to detect clear radio lobes in three out of 13 galaxy clusters at redshifts of 0.7 < z < 0.9, and we used these detections in combination with ICM pressures surrounding the radio lobes obtained from standard profiles to calculate the corresponding cavity powers of the AGNs. Combining our results with the literature, the current data appear to suggest that the average cavity power peaked at a redshift ofz ∼ 0.4 and slowly decreases toward higher redshifts. However, we require more and tighter constraints on the cavity volume and a better understanding of our observational systematics to confirm any deviation of the cavity power trend from a constant level.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy 101 - Wind [Slides]

The Energy 101: Wind presentation, developed for the Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP), provides an overview of wind energy. It covers fundamental concepts, technologies, considerations, case studies, and additional resources.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Financial Analysis of the Smallmouth Bass Flows implemented at the Glen Canyon Dam during 2025

The Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) is a Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) power resource that is a component of the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (SLCA/IP). The 2016 record of decision (ROD) for the GCD long-term experimental and management plan (LTEMP) final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) specifies criteria for GCD monthly water releases, daily and hourly operating limits, and experimental releases.

Ploussard, Quentin [Argonne National Laboratory (A↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bridging Additive Manufacturing and Electronics Printing in the Age of AI

Printing techniques have been instrumental in developing flexible and stretchable electronics, including organic light-emitting diode displays, organic thin film transistor arrays, electronic skins, organic electrochemical transistors for biosensors and neuromorphic computing, as well as flexible solar cells with low-cost processes such as inkjet printing, ultrasonic nozzle, roll-to-roll coating. The rise of additive manufacturing provides even more opportunities to print electronics in automated and customizable ways. In this work, we will review the current technologies of printing electronics (including printed batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and sensors), especially with 3D printing. In this age of ongoing AI revolution, the application of AI algorithms is discussed in terms of combining them with 3D printing and electronics printing for a future with automated optimization, sustainable design, and customizable and scalable manufacturing.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2026

Solid neon as a noise-resilient host for electron qubits above 100 mK

Solid neon can be used as a solid host for single-electron qubits. At temperatures of around 10 mK, electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits exhibit long coherence times and high operation fidelities. However, a systematic characterization of the noise features of such systems is needed for the development of scalable quantum information architectures. Here, in this work, we show that solid neon can be used as a noise-resilient host for electron qubits above 100 mK. We examine the resilience of solid neon against charge and thermal noise when electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits are operated away from the charge-insensitive sweet spot and at elevated temperatures. We show that the extracted high-frequency charge noise density of electron-on-solid-neon qubits, projected as voltage fluctuations on nearby electrodes, is between 10 −4 μV 2 Hz −1 and 10 −6 μV 2 Hz −1 at 0.01 MHz to 1 MHz, which is comparable to common semiconductor hosts. We also show that the electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits operating at frequencies of around 5 GHz can maintain echo coherence times of over 1 μs at temperatures up to 400 mK.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Elimination of detrimental grain boundary segregation in garnets

Garnet Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 electrolyte is considered a key enabler of solid-state batteries with Li metal electrodes, but the grain boundaries impair its performance. To date, the understanding of grain boundary structures and its impact on performance remains elusive. Here, we show that element segregation at Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 grain boundaries critically governs Li transport and nucleation. During conventional sintering, Al, Ta, and La segregate at grain boundaries, locally depleting Li and creating space-charge layers that lower total ionic conductivity. Simultaneously, this segregation leads to higher electronic conductivity along grain boundaries, which promotes Li nucleation at grain boundary edges with increased risk of dendrite formation. The underlying mechanism of segregation is governed by both thermodynamic driving forces and diffusion kinetics. Building on this understanding, we develop a strategy to achieve segregation-free grain boundaries through a rapid sintering protocol that utilizes the onset of solid-state softening. This approach yields transparent, polycrystalline Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 with negligible grain boundary impedance and enhanced dendrite tolerance. By elucidating the structural origins and electrochemical consequences of grain boundary segregation, this work provides a guidance for the rational optimization of solid electrolytes.

Energy - Storage↗
DOE OSTI2026

Decorated Honeycomb Lattice and Successive Magnetic Transitions of the Delafossite Derivative K 4 Ni 5 Te 3 O 16

Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of the delafossite derivative K 4 Ni 5 Te 3 O 16 , which hosts a decorated honeycomb Ni 2+ lattice. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and neutron diffraction establish a noncentrosymmetric Pmm2 crystal structure that combines regular honeycomb units with elongated motifs formed by Ni 2+ trimers along extended edges. Magnetic susceptibility reveals strong antiferromagnetic interactions, while heat capacity measurements identify two successive magnetic transitions at 30 and 12 K. Neutron diffraction shows that these transitions correspond to a progression from partial to full long-range magnetic order on distinct Ni sites, reflecting competition among the various exchange interactions. The resulting magnetic point group, mm2.1′, inherits the lattice polarity and permits high-order magnetoelectric coupling. Consistent with this symmetry, a quadratic magnetic-field-induced polarization is experimentally observed below the magnetic ordering temperature, likely arising from exchange-driven magnetostriction coupled to the polar lattice. These results establish K 4 Ni 5 Te 3 O 16 as an interesting platform for engineering B-site ordering in delafossite derivatives to realize complex quantum magnetism and functional responses.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dense nuclear matter equation of state from heavy-ion collisions

The nuclear equation of state (EOS) is at the center of numerous theoretical and experimental efforts in nuclear physics. With advances in microscopic theories for nuclear interactions, the availability of experiments probing nuclear matter under conditions not reached before, endeavors to develop sophisticated and reliable transport simulations to interpret these experiments, and the advent of multi-messenger astronomy, the next decade will bring new opportunities for determining the nuclear matter EOS, elucidating its dependence on density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry. Among controlled terrestrial experiments, collisions of heavy nuclei at intermediate beam energies (from a few tens of MeV/nucleon to about 25 GeV/nucleon in the fixed-target frame) probe the widest ranges of baryon density and temperature, enabling studies of nuclear matter from a few tenths to about 5 times the nuclear saturation density and for temperatures from a few to well above a hundred MeV, respectively. Collisions of neutron-rich isotopes further bring the opportunity to probe effects due to the isospin asymmetry. However, capitalizing on the enormous scientific effort aimed at uncovering the dense nuclear matter EOS, both at RHIC and at FRIB as well as at other international facilities, depends on the continued development of state-of-the-art hadronic transport simulations. Furthermore, this white paper highlights the essential role that heavy-ion collision experiments and hadronic transport simulations play in understanding strong interactions in dense nuclear matter, with an emphasis on how these efforts can be used together with microscopic approaches and neutron star studies to uncover the nuclear EOS.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Proteome-wide analysis of protein stability in Escherichia coli under acid stress

Knowledge of protein acid sensitivity remains sparse and is largely derived from low-throughput, enzyme-specific assays. We used a scalable framework to map acid stability across the Escherichia coli proteome to assess the acid stability of 1,675 unique proteins, estimating pH 50 values for over 90% of them. The parameter pH50 was defined as the pH value at which only 50% of the initial protein remains in solution following acid treatment. Proteome-wide pH 50 values ranged from 2.28 to 6.33 (median 5.11). Approximately 9% of detected proteins remained stable across all tested pH conditions. Our results align with published data and the assay of citrate synthase (GltA) performed here. Protein acid stability differed significantly by subcellular localization: periplasmic proteins were relatively more abundant in the acid-stable group, cytoplasmic proteins were abundant at pH 50 values 4.5–5.5, and inner membrane proteins at higher pH 50 between 5.5 and 6.0. Outer membrane proteins were too few to draw strong conclusions regarding enrichment within specific pH 50 groups. Notably, the periplasmic binding protein of the molybdate ABC transporter (ModA), was enriched after incubation at low pH. Estimated pH 50 values showed no correlation with protein isoelectric point and molecular weight. Together, this work provides the first proteome-wide map of protein acid stability and establishes a general framework for studying different chemical stressors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of Advances in Anion Exchange Membranes and Ionomers on Alkaline Fuel Cells

Abstract The operation of low‐temperature electrochemical energy conversion systems (fuel cells, electrolyzers) at high pH values is of perennial interest due to the possibility of moving away from expensive platinum group metal catalysts and reducing cost. Historically, the anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and ionomers have been hampered by performance (ionic conductivity, mechanical strength) and chemical stability issues. In this context, select developments over the past decade in alternate AEM chemistries, water management methods, and production of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) that have enabled a significant leap in performance of alkaline fuel cells are examined. These developments are linked to performance improvements in alkaline H 2 /O 2 fuel cells and also consider developments in alkaline fuel cells using nitrogen‐containing fuels (ammonia, hydrazine), carbon‐containing fuels (alcohols, glycols), and boron‐containing fuels (sodium borohydride, ammonia borane). Finally, current challenges and bottlenecks are identified, and potential solutions are proposed.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hamiltonian switching control of noisy bipartite qubit systems

Abstract We develop a Hamiltonian switching ansatz for bipartite control that is inspired by the quantum approximate optimization algorithm, to mitigate environmental noise on qubits. We demonstrate the control for a central spin coupled to bath spins via isotropic Heisenberg interactions, and then make physical applications to the protection of quantum gates performed on superconducting transmon qubits coupling to environmental two-level-systems (TLSs) through dipole-dipole interactions, as well as on such qubits coupled to both TLSs and a Lindblad bath. The control field is classical and acts only on the system qubits. We use reinforcement learning with policy gradient to optimize the Hamiltonian switching control protocols, using a fidelity objective for specific target quantum gates. We use this approach to demonstrate effective suppression of both coherent and dissipative noise, with numerical studies achieving target gate implementations with fidelities over 0.9999 (four nines) in the majority of our test cases and showing improvement beyond this to values of 0.999 999 999 (nine nines) upon a subsequent optimization by GRadient Ascent Pulse Engineering (GRAPE). We analyze how the control depth, total evolution time, number of environmental TLS, and choice of optimization method affect the fidelity achieved by the optimal protocols and reveal some critical behaviors of bipartite control of quantum gates.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Preparation of iodine-bearing waste forms for hot isostatic pressing

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has prepared a new set of iodine-bearing sorbents. The sorbent materials used for this activity were supplied by IONEX (NexSorb-99) or C&CS (AC6120-7%). Metal canisters were previously prepared by ORNL in 2022. They are 2 in. long by 1.5 in. in diameter and are made of 316 stainless steel.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Radiation-induced alteration of apatite on the surface of Mars: first in situ observations with SuperCam Raman onboard Perseverance

Abstract Planetary exploration relies considerably on mineral characterization to advance our understanding of the solar system, the planets and their evolution. Thus, we must understand past and present processes that can alter materials exposed on the surface, affecting space mission data. Here, we analyze the first dataset monitoring the evolution of a known mineral target in situ on the Martian surface, brought there as a SuperCam calibration target onboard the Perseverance rover. We used Raman spectroscopy to monitor the crystalline state of a synthetic apatite sample over the first 950 Martian days (sols) of the Mars2020 mission. We note significant variations in the Raman spectra acquired on this target, specifically a decrease in the relative contribution of the Raman signal to the total signal. These observations are consistent with the results of a UV-irradiation test performed in the laboratory under conditions mimicking ambient Martian conditions. We conclude that the observed evolution reflects an alteration of the material, specifically the creation of electronic defects, due to its exposure to the Martian environment and, in particular, UV irradiation. This ongoing process of alteration of the Martian surface needs to be taken into account for mineralogical space mission data analysis.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗