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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 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Visible-light H 2 evolution using dye-sensitized TiO 2 : effects of physicochemical properties of TiO 2 on excited carrier dynamics and activity

Dye-sensitized photocatalysts have emerged as promising materials for solar-driven water splitting due to their ability to utilize visible light, in contrast to conventional wide-band-gap semiconductors. However, the relationship between semiconductor properties and charge carrier dynamics remains insufficiently understood. In this study, we investigated Pt/TiO 2 systems sensitized with a visible-light-absorbing Ru(II) polypyridyl complex (RuP), focusing on how the crystal phase and specific surface area of TiO 2 influence excited carrier dynamics and H 2 evolution activity. To isolate the effects of TiO 2 properties, Pt and RuP loadings were standardized across samples. Emission lifetime analysis showed similarly efficient electron injection from RuP to TiO 2 in all cases, suggesting that injection efficiency does not account for observed differences in activity. Transient absorption measurements revealed that back electron transfer (BET) rates depended strongly on the TiO 2 phase, with anatase and P25 exhibiting slower BET and higher activity for H 2 evolution than rutile. The highest apparent quantum yield for H 2 evolution was 12.0% at 450 nm. Among anatase samples, larger surface areas correlated with higher activity, while smaller-area samples exhibited slower BET rates but still low H 2 evolution activity, implying a role for RuP dye–dye interactions in performance loss. This was further supported by improvements in H 2 evolution activity by lowering RuP loading or adding co-adsorbents. Overall, these results demonstrate that both BET suppression and control over RuP dye aggregation are essential for designing efficient dye-sensitized photocatalytic systems.

Harada, Kakeru [Institute of Science Tokyo (Japan)↗
DOE OSTI2017

Self-Healing Nanomaterials: Multimillion-Atom Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Organometal halide perovskites are attracting great attention as promising material for solar cells because of their high power conversion efficiency. The high performance has been attributed to the existence of free charge carriers and their large diffusion lengths, but the nature of carrier transport at the atomistic level remains elusive. Here, nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulations elucidate the mechanisms underlying the excellent free-carrier transport in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 . Pb and I sublattices act as disjunct pathways for rapid and balanced transport of photoexcited electrons and holes, respectively, while minimizing efficiency-degrading charge recombination. On the other hand, CH 3 NH 3 sublattice quickly screens out electrostatic electron-hole attraction to generate free carriers within 1 ps. Together this nano-architecture lets photoexcited electrons and holes dissociate instantaneously and travel far away to be harvested before dissipated as heat. As a result, this work provides much needed structure-property relationships and time-resolved information that potentially lead to rational design of efficient solar cells.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

CURRENT SHEETS FORMATION IN TANGLED CORONAL MAGNETIC FIELDS

We investigate the dynamical evolution of magnetic fields in closed regions of solar and stellar coronae. To understand under which conditions current sheets form, we examine dissipative and ideal reduced magnetohydrodynamic models in Cartesian geometry, where two magnetic field components are present: the strong guide field B{sub 0}, extended along the axial direction, and the dynamical orthogonal field b. Magnetic field lines thread the system along the axial direction that spans the length L and are line-tied at the top and bottom plates. The magnetic field b initially has only large scales, with its gradient (current) length scale of the order of l{sub b}. We identify the magnetic intensity threshold b/B{sub 0} {approx} l{sub b}/L. For values of b below this threshold, field-line tension inhibits the formation of current sheets, while above the threshold they form quickly on fast ideal timescales. In the ideal case, above the magnetic threshold, we show that current sheets thickness decreases in time until it becomes smaller than the grid resolution, with the analyticity strip width {delta} decreasing at least exponentially, after which the simulations become underresolved.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Superior photo-carrier diffusion dynamics in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites revealed by spatiotemporal conductivity imaging

Abstract The outstanding performance of organic-inorganic metal trihalide solar cells benefits from the exceptional photo-physical properties of both electrons and holes in the material. Here, we directly probe the free-carrier dynamics in Cs-doped FAPbI 3 thin films by spatiotemporal photoconductivity imaging. Using charge transport layers to selectively quench one type of carriers, we show that the two relaxation times on the order of 1 μs and 10 μs correspond to the lifetimes of electrons and holes in FACsPbI 3 , respectively. Strikingly, the diffusion mapping indicates that the difference in electron/hole lifetimes is largely compensated by their disparate mobility. Consequently, the long diffusion lengths (3~5 μm) of both carriers are comparable to each other, a feature closely related to the unique charge trapping and de-trapping processes in hybrid trihalide perovskites. Our results unveil the origin of superior diffusion dynamics in this material, crucially important for solar-cell applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

An RTDS-Based Testbed for Investigating the Impacts of Transmission-Level Disturbances on Solar PV Operation

The increasing penetration of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind via power electronic inverters is challenging grid dynamics, as well as grid planning, operation, and protection. Recently, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has reported a series of similar events of the unintended loss of solar generation in Southern California over a large geographic area following the transmission-level disturbances. These events highlight the importance of understanding the characteristics of the transmission-side disturbances propagating into the distribution systems and their impacts on the operation of inverter-based resources. In this paper, a real-time electromagnetic simulation testbed is constructed for real-time electromagnetic simulations to generate realistic transmission-level disturbances and investigate their impacts on the solar PV operation under different fault types and locations, solar penetration levels, and loading levels. Through the simulation analysis and grid strength assessment, it is found that the grid strength at points of integration (POIs) of solar PVs significantly affects the transient stability of solar generators. Particularly, undesirable transient stability events are more likely to occur at the weak POIs following the transmission-level disturbances. Moreover, undesirable transient stability events become severer when the transmission-level disturbance is closer to the weak POIs or the disturbances become more serious. Additionally, the impact of the transmission-level disturbances on the solar PVs at the weak POIs exacerbate with the increasing solar penetration levels and loading levels. Thus, it is important to study and develop new technologies for grid planning, operation, and protection in weak grid conditions to address the emerging issues of integrating the high penetration of solar PVs and other IBRs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Demonstration of Complete Recycling Processes of Reversible Epoxies Using Solar Energy Conversion

Reversible epoxies using the Diels–Alder chemistry enables recycling processes through depolymerizing the polymer at higher temperature and then repolymerizing upon cooling. Compared to conventional bulk heating, photothermal heating can save time and resource and, consequently, reduce costs to reach an elevated temperature for recycling processes of the reversible epoxies. In previous studies, self‐healing of cracks and reattachments of two broken pieces have been presented using a laser; however, recycling of a sample as a whole is not feasible by using such a point light source. Herein, complete recycling processes are demonstrated utilizing an area light source, i.e., sunlight. Reversible epoxies are incorporated with carbon black and refractory plasmonic titanium nitride nanoparticles (NPs). Under concentrated (10 times) sunlight, they can generate sufficient heat (≈140 °C) to completely liquefy, reprocess, and reshape the samples multiple times. Recycling processes are validated by evaluation of mechanical properties for each cycle. Using an integrated experimental and theoretical approach, photothermal performance is investigated in terms of the dispersion and loading of photothermal NPs in the matrix, as well as the sample thickness. In this study, an insight is provided into the design of polymer/photothermal nanomaterial composites which can be sustainably recycled using abundant solar energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

FIRST IMAGES FROM THE FOCUSING OPTICS X-RAY SOLAR IMAGER

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) sounding rocket payload flew for the first time on 2012 November 2, producing the first focused images of the Sun above 5 keV. To enable hard X-ray (HXR) imaging spectroscopy via direct focusing, FOXSI makes use of grazing-incidence replicated optics combined with fine-pitch solid-state detectors. On its first flight, FOXSI observed several targets that included active regions, the quiet Sun, and a GOES-class B2.7 microflare. This Letter provides an introduction to the FOXSI instrument and presents its first solar image. These data demonstrate the superiority in sensitivity and dynamic range that is achievable with a direct HXR imager with respect to previous, indirect imaging methods, and illustrate the technological readiness for a spaceborne mission to observe HXRs from solar flares via direct focusing optics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Real-time POD-CFD Wind-Load Calculator for PV Systems

The primary objective of this project is to create an accurate web-based real-time wind-load calculator. This is of paramount importance for (1) the rapid and accurate assessments of the uplift and downforce loads on a PV mounting system, (2) identifying viable solutions from available mounting systems, and therefore helping reduce the cost of mounting hardware and installation. Wind loading calculations for structures are currently performed according to the American Society of Civil Engineers/ Structural Engineering Institute Standard ASCE/SEI 7; the values in this standard were calculated from simplified models that do not necessarily take into account relevant characteristics such as those from full 3D effects, end effects, turbulence generation and dissipation, as well as minor effects derived from shear forces on installation brackets and other accessories. This standard does not include provisions that address the special requirements of rooftop PV systems, and attempts to apply this standard may lead to significant design errors as wind loads are incorrectly estimated. Therefore, an accurate calculator would be of paramount importance for the preliminary assessments of the uplift and downforce loads on a PV mounting system, identifying viable solutions from available mounting systems, and therefore helping reduce the cost of the mounting system and installation. The challenge is that although a full-fledged three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis would properly and accurately capture the complete physical effects of air flow over PV systems, it would be impractical for this tool, which is intended to be a real-time web-based calculator. CFD routinely requires enormous computation times to arrive at solutions that can be deemed accurate and grid-independent even in powerful and massively parallel computer platforms.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

MAIN-BELT COMET P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)

We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing the main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between 2012 October and 2013 February using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by {approx}60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 {mu}m that could indicate the presence of hydrated minerals, finding an upper limit CN production rate of Q{sub CN} < 1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 23} mol s{sup -1}, from which we infer a water production rate of Q{sub H{sub 2O}}<5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 25} mol s{sup -1}, and no evidence of the presence of hydrated minerals. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2012 T1 is largely dynamically stable for >100 Myr and is unlikely to be a recently implanted interloper from the outer solar system, while a search for potential asteroid family associations reveals that it is dynamically linked to the {approx}155 Myr old Lixiaohua asteroid family.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF THE SOLAR 0.5–5 KEV SOFT X-RAY SPECTRUM

The solar corona is orders of magnitude hotter than the underlying photosphere, but how the corona attains such high temperatures is still not understood. Soft X-ray (SXR) emission provides important diagnostics for thermal processes in the high-temperature corona, and is also an important driver of ionospheric dynamics at Earth. There is a crucial observational gap between ∼0.2 and ∼4 keV, outside the ranges of existing spectrometers. We present observations from a new SXR spectrometer, the Amptek X123-SDD, which measured the spatially integrated solar spectral irradiance from ∼0.5 to ∼5 keV, with ∼0.15 keV FWHM resolution, during sounding rocket flights on 2012 June 23 and 2013 October 21. These measurements show that the highly variable SXR emission is orders of magnitude greater than that during the deep minimum of 2009, even with only weak activity. The observed spectra show significant high-temperature (5–10 MK) emission and are well fit by simple power-law temperature distributions with indices of ∼6, close to the predictions of nanoflare models of coronal heating. Observations during the more active 2013 flight indicate an enrichment of low first-ionization potential elements of only ∼1.6, below the usually observed value of ∼4, suggesting that abundance variations may be related to coronal heating processes. The XUV Photometer System Level 4 data product, a spectral irradiance model derived from integrated broadband measurements, significantly overestimates the spectra from both flights, suggesting a need for revision of its non-flare reference spectra, with important implications for studies of Earth ionospheric dynamics driven by solar SXRs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Jumping-droplet electrostatic energy harvesting

Micro- and nanoscale wetting phenomena have been an active area of research due to its potential for improving engineered system performance involving phase change. With the recent advancements in micro/nanofabrication techniques, structured surfaces can now be designed to allow condensing coalesced droplets to spontaneously jump off the surface due to the conversion of excess surface energy into kinetic energy. In addition to being removed at micrometric length scales (~10 μm), jumping water droplets also attain a positive electrostatic charge (~10–100 fC) from the hydrophobic coating/condensate interaction. In this work, we take advantage of this droplet charging to demonstrate jumping-droplet electrostatic energy harvesting. The charged droplets jump between superhydrophobic copper oxide and hydrophilic copper surfaces to create an electrostatic potential and generate power during formation of atmospheric dew. We demonstrated power densities of ~15 pW/cm 2 , which, in the near term, can be improved to ~1 $μ$W/cm 2 . This work demonstrates a surface engineered platform that promises to be low cost and scalable for atmospheric energy harvesting and electric power generation.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

SMART Perovskite Growth: Enabling a Larger Range of Process Conditions

Cost-effective, high-throughput industrial applications of metal-halide perovskites require a highly tolerant method (i.e., wide process window) that produces high-quality materials with a short annealing time. Here, we introduce a Seed Modulation for ARTificially controlled nucleation (SMART) process that enables rapid fabrication of high-quality perovskite films under a wide set of initial input parameters. Additionally, we characterized the thin-film evolution from the perspective of crystallinity, surface potential, diffusivity, surface carrier dynamics, and interfacial recombination. We find that surface and subsurface defects primarily determine the performance of materials and devices. By modulating the seeds for perovskite nucleation, we were able to improve the overall crystallization. We achieved a >20% power conversion efficiency using only a 5 min annealing step, and we found that the annealing window is widened such that differing initial conditions achieve similar quality. Furthermore, we demonstrated reproducibility and performance improvement in larger-area perovskite cells by incorporating the SMART process.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of bar resonances in the velocity–space distribution of the solar neighbourhood stars in a self-consistent N -body Galactic disc simulation

ABSTRACT The velocity–space distribution of the solar neighbourhood stars shows complex substructures. Most of the previous studies use static potentials to investigate their origins. Instead we use a self-consistent N-body model of the Milky Way, whose potential is asymmetric and evolves with time. In this paper, we quantitatively evaluate the similarities of the velocity–space distributions in the N-body model and that of the solar neighbourhood, using Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD). The KLD analysis shows the time evolution and spatial variation of the velocity–space distribution. The KLD fluctuates with time, which indicates the velocity–space distribution at a fixed position is not always similar to that of the solar neighbourhood. Some positions show velocity–space distributions with small KLDs (high similarities) more frequently than others. One of them locates at $(R,\phi)=(8.2\,\,\rm{\mathrm{kpc}}, 30^\circ)$, where R and ϕ are the distance from the galactic centre and the angle with respect to the bar’s major axis, respectively. The detection frequency is higher in the inter-arm regions than in the arm regions. In the velocity maps with small KLDs, we identify the velocity–space substructures, which consist of particles trapped in bar resonances. The bar resonances have significant impact on the stellar velocity–space distribution even though the galactic potential is not static.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Observational Signatures of Transverse Magnetohydrodynamic Waves and Associated Dynamic Instabilities in Coronal Flux Tubes

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves permeate the solar atmosphere and constitute potential coronal heating agents. Yet, the waves detected so far may be but a small subset of the true existing wave power. Detection is limited by instrumental constraints but also by wave processes that localize the wave power in undetectable spatial scales. In this study, we conduct 3D MHD simulations and forward modeling of standing transverse MHD waves in coronal loops with uniform and non-uniform temperature variation in the perpendicular cross-section. The observed signatures are largely dominated by the combination of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI), resonant absorption, and phase mixing. In the presence of a cross-loop temperature gradient, we find that emission lines sensitive to the loop core catch different signatures compared to those that are more sensitive to the loop boundary and the surrounding corona, leading to an out-of-phase intensity and Doppler velocity modulation produced by KHI mixing. In all of the considered models, common signatures include an intensity and loop width modulation at half the kink period, a fine strand-like structure, a characteristic arrow-shaped structure in the Doppler maps, and overall line broadening in time but particularly at the loop edges. For our model, most of these features can be captured with a spatial resolution of 0.″33 and a spectral resolution of 25 km s{sup −1}, although we do obtain severe over-estimation of the line width. Resonant absorption leads to a significant decrease of the observed kinetic energy from Doppler motions over time, which is not recovered by a corresponding increase in the line width from phase mixing and KHI motions. We estimate this hidden wave energy to be a factor of 5–10 of the observed value.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. II. A Joint Analysis of Trans-Neptunian Absolute Magnitudes, Colors, Light Curves and Dynamics

For the 696 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with absolute magnitudes 5.5 < H r < 8.2 detected in the Dark Energy Survey, we characterize the relationships between their dynamical state and physical properties—namely H r , indicating size; colors, indicating surface composition; and flux variation semiamplitude A, indicating asphericity and surface inhomogeneity. We seek “birth” physical distributions that can recreate these parameters in every dynamical class. We show that the observed colors of these TNOs are consistent with two Gaussian distributions in griz space, “near-infrared bright” (NIRB) and “near-infrared faint” (NIRF), presumably an inner and outer birth population, respectively. We find a model in which both the NIRB and NIRF H r and A distributions are independent of current dynamical states, supporting their assignment as birth populations. All objects are consistent with a common rolling p(H r ), but NIRF objects are significantly more variable. Cold classicals (CCs) are purely NIRF, while hot classical (HC), scattered, and detached TNOs are consistent with ≈ 70% NIRB and the resonance NIRB fractions show significant variation. The NIRB components of the HCs and of some resonances have broader inclination distributions than the NIRFs, i.e. their current dynamics retains information about birth location. We find evidence for radial stratification within the birth NIRB population, in that HC NIRBs are on average redder than detached or scattered NIRBs; a similar effect distinguishes CCs from other NIRFs. We estimate total object counts and masses of each class within our H r range. These results will strongly constrain models of the outer solar system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Dynamical Downscaling of Earth System Model Data for Energy System Analysis

Assessing energy resources (e.g., solar, wind, and hydro) under future scenarios requires datasets with sufficient spatial and temporal detail to capture variability and extreme events. While global-scale Earth System Model (ESM) projections are widely used, their coarse resolution limits direct application to regional energy system analyses. Dynamical downscaling offers a robust approach to generate physically consistent, fine-scale datasets that better represent local atmospheric processes impacting energy resources. In this work, we present a two-stage approach for producing high-resolution historical and future projections over the contiguous United States (CONUS). First, we optimize the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model configuration for energy-relevant variables - solar irradiance, wind speed, and precipitation - by conducting ERA5-driven simulations at 8-km and 28-km resolution. Multiple physics schemes and model configurations within the WRF are evaluated against observational datasets including the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and the Stage IV multi-radar/multi-sensor precipitation product for the CONUS domain. Using the best-performing configuration, we dynamically downscale MPI-ESM1-2-HR simulations for 2000-2060 under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios at 4-km spatial and hourly temporal resolution. This presentation will provide a comprehensive analysis of the results from multiple numerical experiments and high-resolution ESM projections. In addition, we will discuss potential applications of our high-resolution datasets within the energy sector and outline future research avenues dedicated to evaluating how extreme weather events influence system performance and resilience.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Numerical design considerations for vapor transport deposition of metal-halide perovskite thin films

While metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) offer high efficiency and potential application in single junction and tandem solar cells, challenges remain in translating solution-based methods to commercial-scale production. Vapor transport deposition (VTD) offers advantages such as precise control over film composition and purity, as well as the possibility of achieving high thin film deposition rates for scale-up. In this work, a numerical model is developed to simulate the deposition process, analyzing the impact of parameters including source material temperature, carrier gas and dilution gas flow rates, and chamber pressure to optimize deposition rates and film uniformity. Geometrical parameters, such as throw distance, are also found to significantly affect rate and uniformity. Furthermore, the modeling results presented here offer valuable insight for improving the scalability of VTD for the processing of metal-halide perovskites.

Chemical vapor deposition↗