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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Pack Density Limitations of Hybrid Parachutes

The development and testing of the Orion crew capsule parachute system has provided a unique opportunity to study dense parachute packing techniques and limits, in order to establish a new baseline for future programs. The density of parachute packs has a significant influence on vibration loads, retention system stresses, and parachute mortar performance. Material compositions and pack densities of existing designs for space capsule recovery were compared, using the pack density of the Apollo main parachutes as the current baseline. The composition of parachutes has changed since Apollo, incorporating new materials such as Kevlar , Vectran , Teflon and Spectra . These materials have different specific densities than Nylon, so the densities of hybrid parachute packs cannot be directly compared to Nylon parachutes for determination of feasibility or volume allocation. Six parachute packs were evaluated in terms of weighted average solid density in order to achieve a non-dimensional comparison of packing density. Means of mitigating damage due to packing pressure and mortar firing were examined in light of the Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) and Apollo experience. Parachute design improvements including incorporation of modern materials and manufacturing processes serves to make CPAS the new knowledge base on which future spacecraft parachute systems will be built.

Zwicker, Matthew L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Updated Numerical Analysis Benchmarks for Meteoroid Relevant Materials

Proposal for update of numerical analysis benchmark for meteoroid relevant materials. - Two recently performed shots are proposed to be numerical analysis benchmarks for numerical simulations of impacts of high-density meteoroids (Al 2 O 3 surrogate) and low-density meteoroids (Nylon surrogate). - A pair of general Whipple shields have been studied: - Bumper and rear walls are the same material and thickness between shields - Separation is 4.5 cm for Al 2 O 3 and 1.5 cm for Nylon - Information gathered includes high speed (1 MHz) shadowgraphs of debris cloud, bumper hole size and rear wall hole area.

Orbital Debris↗
DOE OSTI2024

The effect of stretching on polyamide – 6: assessment of crystallinity, mechanical properties, and surface roughness

Polyamide-6 (PA6), or nylon-6, is a widely used low-cost polymer material for various applications. Manufacturing PA6 into fibers involves a spinning process such as melt extrusion, which orients the polymer chains into a semicrystalline structure. When stretching the produced fibers to high strains, the PA6 fibers transition the metastable gamma phase back into the stable gamma phase. The effects of these large stretches on mechanical properties have not been explored after the stretch has been released. In this study, the effects on mechanical properties were studied by stretching the PA6 fibers from 10% to 50% tensile strain and subsequently releasing the fibers. The stretched fibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy to determine the changes to the crystal structure and surface roughness. The stretched fibers were then tensile tested to failure and the tensile properties were examined. The stress-strain curves on the post-stretched PA6 fibers showed clear softening in the fibers with lower initial moduli after 30% stretching. Furthermore, these results may hold a clue to softening of fibers in applications with repeated loading and have implications for mechanical stability and fatigue of this polymeric material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Upcycling waste polystyrene to adipic acid through a hybrid chemical and biological process

Oxidative catalytic depolymerization of polystyrene (PS) can produce benzoic acid, but the annual consumption of benzoic acid is ~40 times lower than PS. For this catalytic oxidation method to be a viable means to manage PS waste, benzoic acid should be converted to higher-volume chemicals. We demonstrate a hybrid chemical and biological process that uses PS as feedstock for production of adipic acid, a high-volume co-monomer for nylon 6,6 via benzoic acid. Mn/Br co-catalyzed autoxidation of PS to benzoic acid proceeds with a yield of up to 94% in a solvent mixture of benzoic acid and water. The PS-derived benzoic acid undergoes bioconversion at near-quantitative yield to muconic acid, which is readily converted to adipic acid through catalytic hydrogenation. Process modeling, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment estimate an adipic acid minimum selling price of $3.18/kg, with a 61% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions relative to production from fossil fuels.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Lignin to adipic acid in a high-yield chemical and biological redox process

Viable manufacturing pathways to produce bio-based chemicals from renewable feedstocks, such as lignin derived from plant biomass, are needed to decarbonize the chemicals manufacturing sector. Converting the recalcitrant lignin polymer to valuable bioproducts remains a longstanding challenge in biorefining, with the highest reported single-product yield from lignin currently around 20 wt%. Most existing lignin depolymerization strategies target aryl–ether bond cleavage, which can produce aromatic monomers in yields of only about 30 wt%, and still as complex mixtures with C–C-linked dimers and oligomers. The recalcitrance of these C–C linkages between aromatic moieties fundamentally limits single-product yields from lignin, prompting the development of strategies to efficiently cleave these C–C bonds. Here, in this study, we show how reductive processing of lignin from poplar accesses a hydrocarbon mixture of alkyl-aromatic monomers and oligomers that is privileged for oxidative conversion to monomeric aromatic carboxylic acids, comprising mostly benzoic acid and phthalic acid isomers in up to 73 wt% monomer yields, using a Co/Mn/Br catalyst. The soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440 was engineered to convert this mixture of aromatic carboxylic acids to muconolactone, a precursor to bio-based nylons, enabling final adipic acid yields up to 26 wt% (gram adipic acid per gram lignin) with a maximum theoretical yield of 57 wt%. This pairing of reductive and oxidative steps with lignin resembles processes in petrochemical refining and shows how lignin may be converted into a single, valuable bioproduct in high yields.

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

Retrobiosynthesis of unnatural lactams via reprogrammed polyketide synthase

Engineered polyketide synthases (PKSs) have great potential as biocatalysts. These unnatural enzymes are capable of synthesizing molecules that are either not amenable to biosynthesis or are extremely challenging to access chemically. PKSs can thus be a powerful platform to expand the chemical landscape beyond the limits of conventional metabolic engineering. Here we employ a retrobiosynthesis approach to design and construct PKSs to produce δ-valerolactam (VL) and three enantiopure α-substituted VL analogues that have no known biosynthetic route. We introduce the engineered PKSs and pathways for various malonyl-CoA derivatives into Pseudomonas putida and use proteomics, metabolomics and culture condition optimization to improve the production of our target compounds. These α-substituted VLs are polymerized into polyamides (nylon-5) or converted into their N-acryloyl derivatives. RAFT polymerization produces bio-derived polymers with potential biomedical applications. Overall, this interdisciplinary effort highlights the versatility and effectiveness of a PKS-based retrobiosynthesis approach in exploring and developing innovative biomaterials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2020

Novel High Barrier Films for Packaging Food and Medicine

Long manned missions require food packaging to maintain food safety, nutrition, and acceptability for the length of 3-5 years1,2 while the shelf life assigned by NASA for current provisions is 18-24 months1. The focus of this design project was to make a polymer film specifically to function as a high oxygen barrier to later be included in an improved multi-layer packaging system of other specialized polymers with capabilities to allow for a 5-year shelf-life. To qualify as a high oxygen barrier film and to be a successful design for the future packaging, the resulting film is required to have an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) less than 0.06 cc/ m2/24 hr/atm, the standard for the current packaging3. This new film was designed to have a decreased permeability by increasing the “tortuous path” a gas molecule travels to permeate through a film. The increase in the “tortuous path” of a gas molecule is accomplished by introducing a 2D material additive. The additive chosen for this project was hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) which exfoliates into boron nitride nanosheets (BNNs). Nylon 6 was chosen as the candidate for the matrix. This project is required to determine the best methods to synthesize the sample film and then to test the OTR of the film to determine if this design was successful. This project examined methods for pulverizing polymer resin pellets, h-BN exfoliation, and film fabrication using a hot press. This report includes the exfoliation and analysis of h-BN, procedural preparations for films, and a modeling study of estimated OTR of the h-BN/Nylon. The work in this report did not yield a high barrier composite film because of the laboratory closure in response to COVID -19 guidance but provides a concise method of the additive preparation and film synthesis. This gives a good starting point for future research in high barrier films by 2D additive composites.

Polymer, Nylon, PET, boron nitride, nanocomposite↗
DOE OSTI2025

Self‐Standing Carbon Nanofibers@Carbon Felt Electrodes to Boost Electrolyzer Productivity: Application to the Electro‐Manufacturing of trans ‐3‐Hexenedioic Acid and Adipic Acid

The industrial implementation of electrosynthesis for chemical manufacturing remains constrained by the limited surface area of conventional electrodes. Herein, this challenge is addressed by designing a carbon nanofiber@carbon felt (CNF@CF) electrode platform that combines the high conductivity, flexibility, and ease of handling of commercial carbon felts (CF) with the large surface area and tunable surface chemistry of carbon nanofibers (CNFs). CNFs are deliberately grown onto the CF scaffold to form a sword-in-sheath structure, where entangled nanofibers wrap the felt macrofibers to provide excellent mechanical stability and electrical conductivity without binders. CNF@CF is evaluated both as an electrode and as a catalyst support for the electrochemical hydrogenation of cis,cis-muconic acid (ccMA), a biobased platform molecule key to the production of performance polyamides and renewable Nylon 6,6. As a noncatalytic electrode for the partial hydrogenation to trans-3-hexenedioic acid, CNF@CF achieves a threefold increase in both cumulative productivity and Faradaic efficiency (FE) compared to bare CF. A similar boost in catalytic activity and energy efficiency is observed using Pd/CNF@CF for the hydrogenation of ccMA to adipic acid. These results highlight the opportunities of the CNF@CF platform for electro-organic synthesis and sustainable chemical manufacturing.

electrochemical hydrogenation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multiscale porosity characterization in additively manufactured polymer nanocomposites using micro-computed tomography

Extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) of polymer composites exhibits complex thermally driven phenomena that introduce severe discontinuities in the internal structure across length scales, especially voids or porosity. This study utilizes a high-throughput porosity characterization technique to analyze large datasets from numerous micro-computed tomography (mu CT) scans to capture the influence of AM print parameters on the size, shape, and location of porosity across multiple print layers (up to a few cm) on fused granular fabrication (FGF) printers. The materials investigated include nanocomposite formulations based on commercially relevant nylon-12 and polyether ketone ketone (PEKK) materials comprising nano- or micro- sized fillers. The estimated global porosity follows an inverse linear correlation against the bulk density of the printed samples. Increasing the extrusion multiplier (EM) and the nozzle temperature while decreasing the print speeds reduces the global porosity. Outlier analyses (local porosity morphology) show that faster print speeds and higher extrusion rates result in long, slender inter-layer voids, while lower nozzle temperatures lead to large, symmetrical, inter-bead voids (at the bead junction). Lack of active chamber temperature increases inter-layer and intra-bead voids with a two-fold increase in global porosity. Overall, the micro filler-reinforced composites exhibit higher global porosity than nanofiller-reinforced composites, which is attributed to the increased mismatch in the thermal expansion coefficient between the filler and the polymers used in the study.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗