Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Structural Optimization”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,279 records · Page 71

Synthesis and structural characterization of the Zintl phases Na{sub 3}Ca{sub 3}TrPn{sub 4}, Na{sub 3}Sr{sub 3}TrPn{sub 4}, and Na{sub 3}Eu{sub 3}TrPn{sub 4} (Tr=Al, Ga, In; Pn=P, As, Sb)

15 new quaternary Zintl phases have been synthesized by solid-state reactions from the respective elements, and their structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Na{sub 3}E{sub 3}TrPn{sub 4} (E=Ca, Sr, Eu; Tr=Al, Ga, In; Pn=P, As, Sb) crystallize in the hexagonal crystal system with the non-centrosymmetric space group P6{sub 3}mc (No. 186). The structure represents a variant of the K{sub 6}HgS{sub 4} structure type (Pearson index hP22) and features [TrPn{sub 4}]{sup 9–} tetrahedral units, surrounded by Na{sup +} and Ca{sup 2+}, Sr{sup 2+}, Eu{sup 2+} cations. The nominal formula rationalization [Na{sup +}]{sub 3}[E{sup 2+}]{sub 3}[TrPn{sub 4}]{sup 9–} follows the octet rule, suggesting closed-shell configurations for all atoms and intrinsic semiconducting behavior. However, structure refinements for several members hint at disorder and mixing of cations that potentially counteract the optimal valence electron count. - Graphical abstract: The hexagonal, non-centrosymmetric structure of Na{sub 3}E{sub 3}TrPn{sub 4} (E=Ca, Sr, Eu; Tr=Al, Ga, In; Pn=P, As, Sb) features [TrPn{sub 4}]{sup 9–} tetrahedral units, surrounded by Na{sup +} and Ca{sup 2+}, Sr{sup 2+}, Eu{sup 2+} cations. - Highlights: • 15 quaternary phosphides, arsenides, and antimonides are synthesized and structurally characterized. • The structure is a variant of the hexagonal K{sub 6}HgS{sub 4}-type, with distinctive pattern for the cations. • Occupational and/or positional disorder of yet unknown origin exists for some members of the series.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Computational synthesis of a new generation of 2D-based perovskite quantum materials

Perovskite-based optoelectronic devices have emerged as a promising energy source due to their potential for scalable production. This study introduces “perovskene,” a novel class of 2D materials derived from the ABC3-like perovskites, synthesized via a data-driven, high-throughput computational strategy. We harness machine learning and multitarget deep neural networks to systematically investigate the structure–property relations, paving the way for targeted material design and optimization in fields such as renewable energy, electronics, and catalysis. The characterization of over 1500 synthesized structures shows that more than 500 structures are stable, revealing properties such as ultra-low work function and large magnetic moment, underscoring the potential for advanced technological applications.

2D materials↗

Fundamental Relationship of Microstructure and Ionic Conductivity of Amorphous LLTO as Solid Electrolyte Material

All-solid-state Li-ion batteries (ASSLiB) attracted lots of attention mainly due to their higher safety compared with commercial Li-ion batteries. The research of solid electrolyte is critical for the development of ASSLiB, and among all the candidates of solid electrolyte materials, amorphous Lithium Lanthanum Titanate Oxide (LLTO) is promising because of its outstanding electrochemical stability up to 12V. However, the fundamental relationship among the ionic conductivity, microstructure, and mechanism of Li ion transport is still unrevealed. In this study, both amorphous LLTO thin film and LLTO powder were successfully prepared by sol-gel process. In order to determine the relationship between microstructure and ionic conductivity, various annealing time at 500°C were applied. This work shows that the ionic conductivity increases from 2.32 × 10 -8 S/cm to 9.01 × 10 -6 S/cm with the annealing time before LLTO starts to crystallize and decreases back to ~1.6 × 10 -9 S/cm after the formation of crystal phase. The absolute value of difference is close to 3 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the morphology of the thin film changes accordingly, solvent evaporation, surface refinement and crystallization phases would occur sequentially, and this indicates that there is an optimal synthesis condition for the LLTO film. However, the changes of structure, morphology and ionic conductivity does not affect activation energy. This will help researchers to find optimized synthesis condition of amorphous LLTO and potentially search for and design other solid electrolyte materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Rapid Laser Reactive Sintering of Garnet Li 6.1 La 3 Zr 2 Al 0.3 O 12 Solid-State Electrolyte

All solid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASSLIBs) have gained significant interest in recent years due to their wide range of applications, including mobile devices, electric vehicles, and grid storage. Garnet-type Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO) solid-state electrolyte (SSE) continues to be a significant player in the fabrication of ASSLIBs with excellent ionic conductivity on the order of 10 -3 S•cm -1 with the integration of dopants and sintering aids to assist conductivity and structural evolution during the sintering procedure. Traditional sintering techniques, such as solid-state sintering (SSS), have been proven to yield desirable crystal structures. However, the low ionic conductivity results from inferior microstructure, and lithium loss is a significant challenge. Recently, a relatively novel sintering process called rapid laser reactive sintering (RLRS) has shown great potential for achieving fully dense solid oxide electrolytes with less surface element loss, resulted in high ionic conductivity. Here, we applied the same RLRS method to fabricate LLZO dense electrolyte with different amounts of aluminum dopants. We hope the rapid high-temperature sintering can densify the electrolyte and avoid the lithium loss for achieving high lithium-ion conductivity. In this work, we optimized multiple combinations of laser parameters (speed, power, and defocus distance), initial precursor composition, and controlled atmospheres to discover the optimal conditions for reaching the efficacious crystal structure, microstructure, and ionic conductivity.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Quantifying similarity of pore-geometry in nanoporous materials

In most applications of nanoporous materials the pore structure is as important as the chemical composition as a determinant of performance. For example, one can alter performance in applications like carbon capture or methane storage by orders of magnitude by only modifying the pore structure. For these applications it is therefore important to identify the optimal pore geometry and use this information to find similar materials. But, the mathematical language and tools to identify materials with similar pore structures, but different composition, has been lacking. We develop a pore recognition approach to quantify similarity of pore structures and classify them using topological data analysis. This then allows us to identify materials with similar pore geometries, and to screen for materials that are similar to given top-performing structures. Using methane storage as a case study, we also show that materials can be divided into topologically distinct classes requiring different optimization strategies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Agentic framework for programmatic crystal structure generation using a fine-tuned worker–supervisor large language model

Platinum group metals (PGMs) underpin many catalytic technologies but face severe supply constraints, motivating the search for alternative materials and computational methods to accelerate discovery. While atomistic simulation tools such as Pymatgen and ASE have streamlined structure manipulation, they require detailed inputs, limiting accessibility for experimentalists and slowing early-stage exploration. Here, in this study, we present an AI-driven agentic framework that orchestrates worker–supervisor large language models (LLMs). The worker translates natural-language prompts of varying abstraction into valid crystallographic structures using a compact LLM fine-tuned with low-rank adaptation on a curated text–code–CIF dataset, emphasizing energy-efficient training. Benchmarking against the baseline CodeGen-350M-mono model shows that fine-tuning reduces hallucination rates from 100% to as low as 5% and improves structural match accuracy to up to 82% for fully specified inputs. Accuracy declines with decreasing prompt detail but remains nontrivial even when only stoichiometry and space group are provided, underscoring the LLM’s capacity for crystallographic inference. The supervisor Claude LLM evaluates the outputs and triggers iterative refinement through the worker’s built-in structure manipulation capabilities (e.g., supercell scaling, strain, vacancy, and substitution operations). We further demonstrate use cases for technologically relevant catalysts, including IrO 2 , pyrochlore Pb 2 Ir 2 O 7 , Ni 2 FeO 4 , and Ni 3 Mo, where the framework generates physically consistent structures that can be refined via geometry optimization. This work introduces a low-energy, language-driven pathway for integrating human and machine intelligence in materials design, paving the way for AI-assisted synthesis planning and high-throughput screening of complex oxides.

AI agent↗

Autonomous Nanoparticle Synthesis Guided by In Situ Multiscale Structural Characterization

Autonomous synthesis platforms promise rapid exploration of vast parameter spaces; yet, integrating in situ structural characterization in closed-loop synthesis optimization remains challenging. We demonstrate a realization of such a closed-loop platform coupled with a droplet-flow microreactor, in situ X-ray scattering methods (SAXS/WAXS), and Gaussian process optimization to synthesize citrate-reduced Au nanoparticles with targeted characteristics. The system efficiently explored ∼19,000 synthesis recipes through 365 experiments, achieving precise control over size (4–60 nm) and polydispersity (σ < 0.11) across large citrate/gold ratios, exceeding traditional synthesis boundaries (1–10). Beyond confirming classical Turkevich–Frens trends, partial-dependence analysis revealed strong nonlinear coupling among precursor, citrate, and pH effects. Combining quantitative SAXS/WAXS analysis with electron microscopy characterization, we uncovered that crystallite size (d c ) and particle size (d) follow d c = 0.18d + β, where synthesis chemistry controls the intercept β while maintaining a universal slope. This parallel-band structure enables independent tuning of crystallite domain size at fixed particle diameter through a combination of chloride, gold precursor, citrate, and pH contributions (cross-validated Spearman ρ = 0.7 ± 0.1). High-resolution electron microscopy shows multiple lattice-fringe orientations within single particles, directly confirming polycrystalline domains and the ability to tune d c at the fixed d. The platform’s validation includes indistinguishable static versus flowing measurements, stable droplet transport at 100 °C, and <5% run-to-run variation, establishing a robust framework for mapping and controlling multiscale nanoparticle structure across expansive chemical spaces. In conclusion, the developed closed-loop platform can be applied to a borad range of nanosyntheis processes.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

A quantitative assessment of the model form error of friction models across different interface representations for jointed structures

Hysteretic models are widely used to model frictional interactions in joints to recreate experimental behavior. However, it is unclear which models are best suited for fitting or predicting the responses of structures. Here, the present study evaluates 26 friction model/interface representation combinations to quantify the model form error. A Quasi-Static Modal Analysis approach (termed Rayleigh Quotient Nonlinear Modal Analysis) is adopted to calculate the nonlinear system response, and a Multi-Objective Optimization is solved to fit experimental data of the first mode of the Brake-Reuß Beam. Optimized parameters from the first mode are applied to the second and third bending modes to quantify the predictive ability of the models. Formulations for both tracing full hysteresis loops and recreating hysteresis loops from a single loading curve (Masing assumptions) are considered. Smoothly varying models applied to a five patch representation showed the highest flexibility (for fitting mode 1) and good predictive potential (for modes 2 and 3). For a second formulation, which uses 152 frictional elements to represent the interface, the physically motivated spring in series with a Coulomb slip model (elastic dry friction) has high error for fitting mode 1 and performs near the middle for predicting higher modes. For both interface representation, the best fit models are not the most physical, but rather the ones with the most parameters (as expected); however, the more physical models perform somewhat better for predicting the higher modes.

42 ENGINEERING↗

ORNL_AISD-Ex: Quantum chemical prediction of UV/Vis absorption spectra for over 10 million organic molecules

We performed calculations of electronic excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths based on the time-dependent density-functional tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method [1]. The SMILES (Simplified molecular-input line-entry system) strings of the molecules from the AISD HOMO-LUMO database [2] were converted to a 3D atomistic structure and stored in a PDB file after preliminary geometry optimization using the Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF94) in RDKit [3,4]. The primary information stored in the PDB file archive consists of Cartesian coordinates for each atom of the molecule in their 3D location in space, along with summary information about the structure, sequence, and experiment. We then performed molecular geometry optimization using the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method [5] in the electronic ground state, followed by single-point excited states calculations, as described below. We note that, since RDKit employs a random choice for the generation of molecular conformers, the molecular geometries obtained in this dataset could be different from the ones that were generated when the AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset was generated. The computed excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths can be converted to predict UV/Vis absorption spectra, where excitation energies correspond to absorption peak positions, and oscillator strengths are a good measure of the probability of absorption of visible or UV light in transitions between electronic ground and excited states. The conversion of SMILES strings to 3D Cartesian coordinates of fully DFTB-optimized molecules was successful for 10,502,904 out of 10,502,917 molecules. For these molecules, both geometry optimizations and excited states calculations were successful. The DFTB calculations did not complete for 13 molecules of the original AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset. We still provide information about the geometry of these molecules. The molecules are diverse for chemical compositions (which span 5 non-hydrogen elements: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sulfur) and molecular size (the smallest molecule contains 5 non-hydrogen atoms, and the largest molecule contains 71 non-hydrogen atoms). The DFTB method [5] is an approximation to density functional theory (DFT), utilizing a minimal basis set in conjunction with a two-center approximation to the electronic Hamiltonian and overlap matrix elements. The DFTB total energy is the sum of an electronic and a repulsive energy contribution, and their calculation requires optimized electronic parameters and diatomic repulsive potential energy functions. All DFTB calculations were performed using the DFTB+ code [6] (version 21.2) and the wrapper for DFTB+ in the Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE) (version 3.22.1) [7], which performed an internal conversion of Cartesian coordinates from PDB to the .gen file format. For the geometry optimizations on the electronic ground state potential energy surface of the molecules, we have chosen the third-order DFTB (DFTB3) method [5c] and employed the matching 3ob set of electronic parameters and repulsive potentials [8]. The empirical γ-damping for hydrogen bond correction, and Grimme's D3 empirical dispersion correction with Becke-Johnson damping (D3(BJ)) [9] dispersion correction was included to improve the description of non-covalent interactions. For excited states single-point energy calculations, we employed the TD-DFTB method in conjunction with the DFTB2 method [5b] and the matching mio [5b,10] and halorg [11] parameter sets. We opted to request the simultaneous calculation of 50 excited states for singlet transition to investigate sufficient number of excited states, based on linear response theory using the Casida equation [Ref: T. A. Niehaus, S. Suhai, F. Della Sala, P Lugli, M. Elstner, G. Seifert, and Th. Frauenheim. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 63:085108, 2001] and the ARPACK diagonalizer [R. B. Lehoucq, D. C. Sorensen, and C. Yang. Arpack users guide: Solution of large-scale eigenvalue problems by implicitly restarted arnoldi methods, 1997. 46, 51]. The dataset contains 1001 tar.gz files. Tar files are named as “ornl_aisd_ex_1.tar.gz†through “ornl_aisd_ex_1000.tar.gzâ€. Additionally, the 13 failed molecules are in “ornl_aisd_ex_unprocessed.tar.gzâ€. Except for the tar files listed below, each tar file contains 10,500 molecules. Tar files numbered 34, 121, 128, 352, 360, 429, 495, 509, 518, 627, 676, 668, and 862 contain 10,499 molecules each. The last tar file numbered 1000 contains 13,417 molecules. The total size of the uncompressed dataset is over 283 Gigabytes. The code for calculating the electronic excitation energies and statistical analysis of the dataset is provided at the following GitLab repository: https://github.com/ORNL/Analysis-of-Large-Scale-Molecular-Datasets-with-Python Calculating the UV spectrum of a molecule requires performing 3 main operations: 1. Converting the smiles string representation of a molecule into a geometric structure where each atom is assigned XYZ coordinates. The geometric structure is written to the file smiles.pdb. 2. Using smiles.pdb to compute the relaxed geometry of the molecule, which corresponds with the position of the atoms at the position of equilibrium at the ground state. This generates the files band.out, detailed.out, and geo_end.gen. 3. Using geo_end.gen to calculate the UV spectrum of the molecule which is written into the file EXC.DAT. Every molecule in the dataset has its own directory. The files contained in each molecule directory are as follows: 1. geo_end.gen 2. detailed.out 3. band.out 4. EXC.DAT 5. smiles.pdb REFERENCES [1] Niehaus, T. A.; Suhai, S.; Della Salla, F.; Lugli, P.; Elstner, M.; Seifert, G.; Frauenheim, Th. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 2001, 63, 085108/1-9. [2] Blanchard, A.; Gounley, J.; Metha, K.; Yoo, P.; Irle, S. AISD HOMO-LUMO. DOI: 10.13139/ORNLNCCS/1869409 [3] RDKit: Cheminformatics and Machine Learning Software. 2013, [http://www.rdkit.org] [4] Tosco, P.; Stiefl, N. and Landrum, G. Bringing the MMFF force field to the RDKit: implementation and validation. J Cheminform. 2014, 6, 1–4. [5] a) Porezag, D.; Frauenheim, T.; Kohler, T.; Seifert, G.; Kaschner, Construction of tight-binding-like potentials on the basis of density-functional theory: Application to carbon, R. Phys. Rev. B 1995, 51, 12947-12957; b) Elstner, M.; Porezag, D.; Jungnickel, G.; Elsner, J.; Haugk, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Seifert, G.; Phys. Rev. B 1998, 58, 7260-7268; c) Gaus, M.; Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. DFTB3: Extension of the Self-Consistent-Charge Density-Functional Tight-Binding Method (SCC-DFTB), J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2011, 7, 931-948; d) Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. Density functional tight binding: values of semi-empirical methods in an ab initio era, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 14368-14377. [6] Hourahine, B. et al. DFTB+, a software package for efficient approximate density functional theory based atomistic simulations, J. Chem. Phys. 2020, 152, 124101/1-19. [7] Larsen, A. H. et al. The atomic simulation environment—a Python library for working with atoms. J. Phys.: Cond. Matter 2017, 29, 273002. [8] Kubillus, M.; Kubar, T.; Gaus, M.; Rezac, J.; Elstner, M. Parameterization of the DFTB3 Method for Br, Ca, Cl, F, I, K, and Na in Organic and Biological Systems, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2015, 11, 332-342. [9] Brandenburg, J. G.; Grimme, S. Accurate Modeling of Organic Molecular Crystals by Dispersion-Corrected Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB), J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 1785−1789. [10] a) Niehaus, T. A.; Elstner, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S. Application of an approximate density-functional method to sulfur containing compounds. J. Mol. Struct.: THEOCHEM 2001, 541, 185-94; b) Elstner, M.; Hobza, P.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Kaxiras, E. Hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions of nucleic acid base pairs: A density-functional-theory based treatment. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 5149-55. [11] Kubar, T.; Bodrog, Z.; Gaus, M.; Köhler, C.; Aradi, B.; Frauenheim, Th.; Elstner, M. Parametrization of the SCC-DFTB Method for Halogens. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 2939-49.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Periodic corrugations to increase efficiency of thermophotovoltaic emitting structures

In this letter we consider the question of designing insulator/metal thermovoltaic structures with periodically corrugated interfaces that give optimal performance based on the metric of useful power density. Using a Monte Carlo approach in a robust, rapid, and high-accuracy numerical simulation strategy, we have identified such interface shapes. Here, we searched among the class of sinusoids and found that a flat-interface configuration could be significantly improved in transverse magnetic polarization. More specifically, we found that (i.) the performance improves with increasing corrugation amplitude (ii.) up to a maximum, (iii.) the shape of the corrugation is largely irrelevant, and (iv.) the period of the corrugation should be chosen in connection to the bandgap energy of the photovoltaic cell. For the latter we provide a simple expression as a starting point for practitioners interested in fabricating such structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Unblocking Oxygen Charge Compensation for Stabilized High‐Voltage Structure in P2‐Type Sodium‐Ion Cathode

Abstract Layered transition‐metal (TM) oxides are ideal hosts for Li + charge carriers largely due to the occurrence of oxygen charge compensation that stabilizes the layered structure at high voltage. Hence, enabling charge compensation in sodium layered oxides is a fascinating task for extending the cycle life of sodium‐ion batteries. Herein a Ti/Mg co‐doping strategy for a model P2‐Na 2/3 Ni 1/3 Mn 2/3 O 2 cathode material is put forward to activate charge compensation through highly hybridized O 2 p TM 3 d covalent bonds. In this way, the interlayer OO electrostatic repulsion is weakened upon deeply charging, which strongly affects the systematic total energy that transforms the striking P2–O2 interlayer contraction into a moderate solid‐solution‐type evolution. Accordingly, the cycling stability of the codoped cathode material is improved superiorly over the pristine sample. This study starts a perspective way of optimizing the sodium layered cathodes by rational structural design coupling electrochemical reactions, which can be extended to widespread battery researches.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Mesocrystallizing Nanograins for Enhanced Li + Storage

Morphology and crystallinity of electrode materials have a major effect on their charge carrier storage properties when applied in rechargeable batteries. While nanosizing electrode particles (with larger surface area) and maintaining electrode integrity are both good for performance enhancement, they seem to contradict each other and can be hardly well-balanced. Herein, we designed electrode particles consisting of numerous nanograins with uniform crystalline orientation to guarantee both high surface area and high structural integrity, allowing the significant improvement of Li + storage kinetics and performance. Applying this “mesocrystallizing” strategy to a NiCo 2 O 4 -based anode, resulting in various degrees of pseudocapacitance response, the long-term cyclability and rate performance of this material have been largely enhanced. Impressively, the mesocrystalline NiCo 2 O 4 electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1403 mAh g -1 after 200 cycles at 1.6 A g -1 (a rate of 1.8 C). The growth mechanism of mesocrystalline materials with different morphologies is identified to be a topotactic strctural transition process featuring a gradual edge-to-core corrasion process. This work presents an important synthetic clue to balance the morpholgy and crystallinity of battery electrode materials for their perforamnce optimization and is expected to inspire future structural design for battery materials beyond the one prototyped here.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Lightweight Metal Stamping Optimization Enabled by Artificial Intelligence

Successfully manufacturing an automotive body structure made via the sheet metal stamping process depends upon simultaneous consideration of component design, tooling design, stamping process control, and material properties. In many cases, introducing lightweight sheet materials (e.g., aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, advanced high strength steels) holds the potential to significantly reduce vehicle weight, but challenges the stamping process by introducing materials with inherently less ductility. Successful and repeatable applications require co-developing the stamping process controls with the varying material properties, including formability. During the stamping process, as soon as the forming limit of the sheet is exceeded, the material shows localized necking which quickly leads to splits. Controlling process variability to avoid these material splits will enable deployment of less formable, lighter, and stronger materials for stamped automotive components. A typical optimization procedure for manufacturing requires an iterative process involving parameter setting, execution of computational simulations, and modifying the parameters. The entire process demands substantial computational time, making it impractical for real-time feedback towards rapid corrective actions required for in-line control for running production processes. To overcome this challenge, artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to determine optimal manufacturing parameters within a single manufacturing cycle time. This research proposes an in-line optimization framework incorporating a trained AI model to predict kidney-shaped die forming. Preliminary results indicate that the AI framework can accurately predict draw-in values based on a given parameter set, a process referred to as forward prediction. Furthermore, the AI framework can also predict the optimal parameter set that leads to the desired draw-in values, referred to as inverse optimization (or backward prediction). This research has been performed in collaborations with USCAR (US Council for Automotive Research) and AutoForm. The members of USCAR are Ford, GM, and Stellantis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Impact of Mg Substitution on the Structure, Stability, and Properties of the Na 2 Fe 2 F 7 Weberite Cathode

Of the few weberite-type Na-ion cathodes explored to date, Na 2 Fe 2 F 7 exhibits the best performance, with capacities up to 184 mAh/g and energy densities up to 550 Wh/kg reported for this material. However, the development of robust structure–property relationships for this material is complicated by its tendency to form as a mixture of metastable polymorphs, and transform to a lower-energy Na y FeF 3 perovskite compound during electrochemical cycling. Our first-principles-guided exploration of Fe-based weberite solid solutions with redox-inactive Mg 2+ and Al 3+ predicts an enhanced thermodynamic stability of Na 2 Mg x Fe 2–x F 7 as the Mg content is increased, and the x = 0.125 composition is selected for further exploration. We demonstrate that the monoclinic polymorph (space group C2/c) of Na 2 Fe 2 F 7 (Mg0) and of a new Mg-substituted weberite composition, Na 2 Mg 0.125 Fe 1.875 F 7 (Mg0.125), can be isolated using an optimized synthesis protocol. The impact of Mg substitution on the stability of the weberite phase during electrochemical cycling, and on the extent and rate of Na (de)intercalation, is examined. Irrespective of the Mg content, we find that the weberite phase is retained when cycling over a narrow voltage window (2.8–4.0 V vs Na/Na+). Over a wider voltage range (1.9–4.0 V), Mg0 shows steady capacity fade due to its transformation to the NayFeF3 perovskite phase, while Mg0.125 displays more reversible cycling and a reduced phase transformation. Yet, Mg incorporation also leads to kinetically limited Na extraction and a reduced overall capacity. These findings highlight the need for the continued compositional optimization of weberite cathodes to improve their structural stability while maximizing their energy density.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Intact mass spectrometry screening to optimize hydroxyl radical dose for protein footprinting

Hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) using synchrotron radiation is a well-validated method to assess protein structure in the native solution state. In this method, X-ray radiolysis of water generates hydroxyl radicals that can react with solvent accessible side chains of proteins, with mass spectrometry used to detect the resulting labeled products. An ideal footprinting dose provides sufficient labeling to measure the structure but not so much as to influence the results. The optimization of hydroxyl radical dose is typically performed using an indirect Alexa488 fluorescence assay sensitive to hydroxyl radical concentration, but full evaluation of the experiment's outcome relies upon bottom-up liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) measurements to directly determine sites and extent of oxidative labeling at the peptide and protein level. A direct evaluation of the extent of labeling to provide direct and absolute measurements of dose and “safe” dose ranges in terms of, for example, average numbers of labels per protein, would provide immediate feedback on experimental outcomes prior to embarking on detailed LC-MS analyses. To this end, we describe an approach to integrate intact MS screening of labeled samples immediately following exposure, along with metrics to quantify the extent of observed labeling from the intact mass spectra. Intact MS results on the model protein lysozyme were evaluated in the context of Alexa488 assay results and a bottom-up LC-MS analysis of the same samples. In conclusion, this approach provides a basis for placing delivered hydroxyl radical dose metrics on firmer technical grounds for synchrotron X-ray footprinting of proteins, with explicit parameters to increase the likelihood of a productive experimental outcome. Further, the method directs approaches to provide absolute and direct dosimetry for all types of labeling for protein footprinting.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Challenges and Optimization of Mu2e Proton Target Design with Radiative Cooling

Mu2e, the Muon-to-Electron Conversion Experiment, aims to identify physics beyond the Standard Model, namely, the conversion of muons to electrons without the emission of neutrinos. The muons are produced from pions generated in a production target when it is hit by an 8 GeV proton beam from the Fermilab Booster/Main Injector. The proton target design space is strongly constrained by a one-year operating lifetime and the need for radiative cooling in a vacuum environment. Uncertainties in the lifetime of the existing baseline design – a monolithic, segmented tungsten target – are large, particularly due to unknown impacts of radiation damage at the very high proton fluences expected in the experiment. We have begun evaluation of a new design utilizing Inconel 718 over the WL10 used in the existing target design. As a result, the structural design of the target has evolved significantly. This evolution focuses on lowering the target temperature, minimizing obstruction to muons, increasing structural stability, maximizing fatigue lifetime, simplifying the fabrication process, and more. The thermal management, structural stability and fatigue lifetime are emphasized here. These optimizations have led to a promising new target design for the Mu2e experiment.

Liu, Z. [Fermilab]↗

Innovative rail transport of a supersized land-based wind turbine blade

Wind turbine blade logistic providers are being challenged with escalating costs and routing complexities as one-piece blade approach lengths of 75 m in various regions of the U.S. land-based market. New lower cost solutions are needed to enable further reductions in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and continued market expansion. In this paper, a novel method of using existing U.S. rail infrastructure to deploy 100-m, one-piece blades to U.S. land-based wind sites is numerically investigated. The study removes the constraint that blades must be kept rigid during transport, and it allows bending to keep blades within a clearance profile while navigating horizontal and vertical curvatures. Novel system optimization and blade design processes consider blade structural constraints and rail logistic constraints in parallel to develop a highly flexible, rail-transportable blade. Results indicate maximum deployment potential in the Interior region of the United States and limited deployment potential in other regions. The study concludes that innovative rail transportation solutions combined with advanced rotor technologies can provide a feasible alternative to segmentation and support continued LCOE reductions in the U.S. land-based wind energy market.

17 WIND ENERGY↗