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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 1,297 records · Page 72
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Oxygen- and Nitrogen-Enriched 3D Porous Carbon for Supercapacitors of High Volumetric Capacity

Efficient utilization and broader commercialization of alternative energies (e.g., solar, wind, and geothermal) hinges on the performance and cost of energy storage and conversion systems. For now and in the foreseeable future, the combination of rechargeable batteries and electrochemical capacitors remains the most promising option for many energy storage applications. Porous carbonaceous materials have been widely used as an electrode for batteries and supercapacitors. To date, however, the highest specific capacitance of an electrochemical double layer capacitor is only ~200 F/g, although a wide variety of synthetic approaches have been explored in creating optimized porous structures. Here, we report our findings in the synthesis of porous carbon through a simple, one-step process: direct carbonization of kelp in an NH 3 atmosphere at 700 °C. The resulting oxygen- and nitrogen-enriched carbon has a three-dimensional structure with specific surface area greater than 1000 m 2 /g. When evaluated as an electrode for electrochemical double layer capacitors, the porous carbon structure demonstrated excellent volumetric capacitance (>360 F/cm 3 ) with excellent cycling stability. In conclusion, this simple approach to low-cost carbonaceous materials with unique architecture and functionality could be a promising alternative to fabrication of porous carbon structures for many practical applications, including batteries and fuel cells.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Degradation of Ionic Pathway in PEM Fuel Cell Cathode

The degradation of the ionic pathway throughout the catalyst layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cells was studied under an accelerated stress test of catalyst support (potential hold at 1.2 V). Electrochemical behaviors of the cathode based on graphitic mesoporous carbon supported Pt catalyst were examined using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Impedance data were plotted and expressed in the complex capacitance form to determine useful parameters in the transmission line model: the double-layer capacitance, peak frequency, and ionic resistance. Electrochemical surface area and hydrogen crossover current through the membrane were estimated from cyclic voltammogram, while cathode Faradaic resistance was compared with ionic resistance as a function of test time. It was observed that during an accelerated stress test of catalyst support, graphitic mesoporous carbon becomes hydrophilic which increases interfacial area between the ionomer and the catalyst up to 100 h. However, the ionic resistance in the catalyst layer drastically increases after 100 h with further carbon support oxidation. The underlying mechanism has been studied and it was found that significant degradation of ionic pathway throughout the catalyst layer due to catalyst support corrosion induces uneven hydration and mechanical stress in the ionomer.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2011

Representation of Arctic Mixed-Phase clouds and the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen Process in Climate Models: Perspectives from a Cloud-Resolving Study

Two types of Arctic mixed-phase clouds observed during the ISDAC and M-PACE field campaigns are simulated using a 3-dimensional cloud-resolving model (CRM) with size-resolved cloud microphysics. The modeled cloud properties agree reasonably well with aircraft measurements and surface-based retrievals. Cloud properties such as the probability density function (PDF) of vertical velocity (w), cloud liquid and ice, the regime of ice growth at the expense of liquid water (i.e., Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) process), and the inherent relationships among cloud properties/processes in the mixed-phase layers are examined to gain insights for improving the representation of the mixed-phase processes in General Circulation Models (GCMs). We find that, the WBF process only occurs in about 50% of the mixed-phase regime with the vast majority occurring in the downdrafts. In updrafts both liquid and ice grow simultaneously. But in GCMs, it is not necessary to treat the WBF process at the subgrid scale. Our CRM results produce a w distribution well represented by a Gaussian normal function, validating, at least for arctic clouds, the subgrid treatment used in GCMs. Our CRM results also support the assumption frequently used in GCMs that mixed phase clouds maintain water vapor very near liquid saturation. A Gamma function with a fixed variance does not accurately represent the subgrid variability of cloud liquid. The PDFs of cloud liquid and cloud ice can be fitted with Gamma functions, and a normal function can be used for total water, but the variance should not be fixed. The relationship between the ice depositional growth rate and cloud ice strongly depends on the capacitance of ice particles. The assumption for the capacitance of ice particles (e.g., 1.0 for spheres) used in GCMs could lead to a large deviation in ice depositional growth. At large sales, the maximum overlap assumption looks appropriate.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Low interfacial trap density and sub-nm equivalent oxide thickness in In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As (001) metal-oxide-semiconductor devices using molecular beam deposited HfO{sub 2}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} as gate dielectrics

We investigated the passivation of In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As (001) surface by molecular beam epitaxy techniques. After growth of strained In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As on InP (001) substrate, HfO{sub 2}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} high-{kappa} oxide stacks have been deposited in-situ after surface reconstruction engineering. Excellent capacitance-voltage characteristics have been demonstrated along with low gate leakage currents. The interfacial density of states (D{sub it}) of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As interface have been revealed by conductance measurement, indicating a downward D{sub it} profile from the energy close to the valence band (medium 10{sup 12} cm{sup -2}eV{sup -1}) towards that close to the conduction band (10{sup 11} cm{sup -2}eV{sup -1}). The low D{sub it}'s are in good agreement with the high Fermi-level movement efficiency of greater than 80%. Moreover, excellent scalability of the HfO{sub 2} has been demonstrated as evidenced by the good dependence of capacitance oxide thickness on the HfO{sub 2} thickness (dielectric constant of HfO{sub 2}{approx}20) and the remained low D{sub it}'s due to the thin Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} passivation layer. The sample with HfO{sub 2} (3.4 nm)/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (1.2 nm) as the gate dielectrics has exhibited an equivalent oxide thickness of {approx}0.93 nm.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Influence of annealing temperature on electronic and dielectric properties of ZrO{sub 2} thin films on Si

Zirconium oxide (ZrO{sub 2}) films were deposited on (100) silicon substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering of zirconium target at an oxygen partial pressure of 6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -2} Pa. The as-deposited films were annealed in air for 1 hour at different temperatures in the range 773 - 1173 K. The influence of annealing temperature on the structural properties of ZrO{sub 2} films and the electrical properties like Capacitance-Voltage and Current-Voltage of the capacitors of the type Al/ZrO{sub 2}/p-Si were studied. The capacitance and dielectric constant of the capacitors were found to increase with increase in annealing temperature from 773 to 973 K, however, with further increase in annealing temperature to 1173 K they were found to decrease. In addition, the leakage current density was decreased from 1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -6} to 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} A/cm{sup 2} at 1V gate bias voltage and the electrical conduction mechanism was dominated by Schottky emission for all the films in lower electric fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

The simplest equivalent circuit of a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge and the determination of the gas gap charge transfer

The concept of the simplest equivalent circuit for a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is critically reviewed. It is shown that the approach is consistent with experimental data measured either in large-scale sinusoidal-voltage driven or miniature pulse-voltage driven DBDs. An expression for the charge transferred through the gas gap q(t) is obtained with an accurate account for the displacement current and the values of DBD reactor capacitance. This enables (i) the significant reduction of experimental error in the determination of q(t) in pulsed DBDs, (ii) the verification of the classical electrical theory of ozonizers about maximal transferred charge q{sub max}, and (iii) the development of a graphical method for the determination of q{sub max} from charge-voltage characteristics (Q-V plots, often referred as Lissajous figures) measured under pulsed excitation. The method of graphical presentation of q{sub max} is demonstrated with an example of a Q-V plot measured under pulsed excitation. The relations between the discharge current j{sub R}(t), the transferred charge q(t), and the measurable parameters are presented in new forms, which enable the qualitative interpretation of the measured current and voltage waveforms without the knowledge about the value of the dielectric barrier capacitance C{sub d}. Whereas for quantitative evaluation of electrical measurements, the accurate estimation of the C{sub d} is important.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Unusual dielectric response in cobalt doped reduced graphene oxide

Intensive research on cobalt doped reduced graphene oxide (Co-RGO) to investigate the modification in graphene magnetism and spin polarization due to presence of transition metal atom has been carried out, however, its dielectric spectroscopy, particularly, how capacitance changes with impurity levels in graphene is relatively unexplored. In the present work, dielectric spectroscopy along with magneto-dielectric effect are investigated in Co-RGO. Contrary to other materials, here permittivity increases abruptly with frequency in the low frequency region and continues to increase till 10{sup 7} Hz. This unusual behavior is explained on the basis of trap induced capacitance created due to impurity levels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Superior dielectric properties for template assisted grown (100) oriented Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films on Si(100)

We report about the single crystalline growth and dielectric properties of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}(100) thin films on Si(100) surface. Using a two step molecular beam epitaxy growth process, we demonstrate that controlled engineering of the oxide/Si interface is a key step to achieve the atypical (100) oriented growth of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Unusually, high dielectric constant values (∼23–27) were extracted from capacitance voltage measurements. Such effect can be understood in terms of a two dimensional charge layer at the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Si interface (W. Sitaputra and R. Tsu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 222903 (2012)) which can influence the dielectric properties of the oxide layer by forming an additional negative quantum capacitance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-frequency characterization of thermionic charge transport in silicon-on-insulator nanowire transistors

We report on DC and microwave electrical transport measurements in silicon-on-insulator nano-transistors at low and room temperature. At low source-drain voltage, the DC current and radio frequency response show signs of conductance quantization. We attribute this to Coulomb blockade resulting from barriers formed at the spacer-gate interfaces. We show that at high bias transport occurs thermionically over the highest barrier: Transconductance traces obtained from microwave scattering-parameter measurements at liquid helium and room temperature are accurately fitted by a thermionic model. From the fits we deduce the ratio of gate capacitance and quantum capacitance, as well as the electron temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Impact of contact and access resistances in graphene field-effect transistors on quartz substrates for radio frequency applications

High-frequency performance of graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) has been limited largely by parasitic resistances, including contact resistance (R{sub C}) and access resistance (R{sub A}). Measurement of short-channel (500 nm) GFETs with short (200 nm) spin-on-doped source/drain access regions reveals negligible change in transit frequency (f{sub T}) after doping, as compared to ∼23% f{sub T} improvement for similarly sized undoped GFETs measured at low temperature, underscoring the impact of R{sub C} on high-frequency performance. DC measurements of undoped/doped short and long-channel GFETs highlight the increasing impact of R{sub A} for larger GFETs. Additionally, parasitic capacitances were minimized by device fabrication using graphene transferred onto low-capacitance quartz substrates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Acceptor levels in ZnMgO:N probed by deep level optical spectroscopy

A combination of deep level optical spectroscopy and lighted capacitance voltage profiling has been used to analyze the effect of N into the energy levels close to the valence band of Zn{sub 0.9}Mg{sub 0.1}O. Three energy levels at E{sub V} + 0.47 eV, E{sub V} + 0.35 eV, and E{sub V} + 0.16 eV are observed in all films with concentrations in the range of 10{sup 15}–10{sup 18} cm{sup −3}. The two shallowest traps at E{sub V} + 0.35 eV and E{sub V} + 0.16 eV have very large concentrations that scale with the N exposure and are thus potential acceptor levels. In order to correctly quantify the deep level concentrations, a metal-insulator-semiconductor model has been invoked, explaining well the resulting capacitance-voltage curves.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Epitaxial c-axis oriented BaTiO{sub 3} thin films on SrTiO{sub 3}-buffered Si(001) by atomic layer deposition

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of epitaxial c-axis oriented BaTiO{sub 3} (BTO) on Si(001) using a thin (1.6 nm) buffer layer of SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) grown by molecular beam epitaxy is reported. The ALD growth of crystalline BTO films at 225 °C used barium bis(triisopropylcyclopentadienyl), titanium tetraisopropoxide, and water as co-reactants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals a high degree of crystallinity and c-axis orientation of as-deposited BTO films. Crystallinity is improved after vacuum annealing at 600 °C. Two-dimensional XRD confirms the tetragonal structure and orientation of 7–20-nm thick films. The effect of the annealing process on the BTO structure is discussed. A clean STO/Si interface is found using in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and confirmed by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy. The capacitance-voltage characteristics of 7–20 nm-thick BTO films are examined and show an effective dielectric constant of ∼660 for the heterostructure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dielectric relaxations and alternating current conductivity in manganese substituted cobalt ferrite

Manganese (Mn) substituted cobalt ferrites (CoFe{sub 2-x}Mn{sub x}O{sub 4}, referred to CFMO) have been synthesized by the solid state reaction method and their dielectric properties and ac conductivity have been evaluated as a function of applied frequency and temperature. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that CFMO crystallize in the inverse cubic spinel phase with a lattice constant ∼8.38 Å. Frequency dependent dielectric measurements at room temperature obey the modified Debye model with relaxation time of 10{sup −4} s and spreading factor of 0.35(±0.05). The frequency (20 Hz–1 MHz) and temperature (T = 300–900 K) dependent dielectric constant analyses indicate that CFMO exhibit two dielectric relaxations at lower frequencies (1–10 kHz), while completely single dielectric relaxation for higher frequencies (100 kHz–1 MHz). The dielectric constant of CFMO is T-independent up to ∼400 K, at which point increasing trend prevails. The dielectric constant increase with T > 400 K is explained through impedance spectroscopy assuming a two-layer model, where low-resistive grains separated from each other by high-resistive grain boundaries. Following this model, the two electrical responses in impedance formalism are attributed to the grain and grain-boundary effects, respectively, which also satisfactorily accounts for the two dielectric relaxations. The capacitance of the bulk of the grain determined from impedance analyses is ∼10 pF, which remains constant with T, while the grain-boundary capacitance increases up to ∼3.5 nF with increasing T. The tan δ (loss tangent)-T also reveals the typical behavior of relaxation losses in CFMO.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interface trap density and mobility extraction in InGaAs buried quantum well metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors by gated Hall method

In this work, we are using a gated Hall method for measurement of free carrier density and electron mobility in buried InGaAs quantum well metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor channels. At room temperature, mobility over 8000 cm{sup 2}/Vs is observed at ∼1.4 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2}. Temperature dependence of the electron mobility gives the evidence that remote Coulomb scattering dominates at electron density <2 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −2}. Spectrum of the interface/border traps is quantified from comparison of Hall data with capacitance-voltage measurements or electrostatic modeling. Above the threshold voltage, gate control is strongly limited by fast traps that cannot be distinguished from free channel carriers just by capacitance-based methods and can be the reason for significant overestimation of channel density and underestimation of carrier mobility from transistor measurements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fabrication of NiO thin film electrode for supercapacitor applications

Nanocrystalline NiO electrode is successfully electrosynthesized for supercapacitor application. The nanocrystalline NiO electrode is characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nickel oxide is a highly porous and the film surface looked smooth and composed of fine elongated particles. The supercapacitive performance of NiO electrode is tested using cyclic voltammetry (C-V) technique in 0.5M Na{sub 2}S{sub 2}O{sub 3} electrolyte within potential range of −1.2 to +1.2 V. The effect of scan rate on the capacitance of NiO electrode is studied. The highest specific capacitance of 439 Fg{sup −1} at the voltage scan rate of 50mVs{sup −1} is achieved. Additionally stability and charging–discharging of NiO electrode are studied.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

AC-magnetotransport of a 2DEG in the quantum Hall regime

In this paper we present an ac-magneto-transport study of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime, for frequencies in the range [100Hz, 1MHz]. We present a new approach to understand admittance measurements based in the Landauer-Buttiker formalism for QHE edge channels and taking into account the capacitance and the topology of the cables connected to the contacts used in the measurements. Our model predicts an universal behavior with the a-dimensional parameter RCω where R is the 2 wires resistance of the 2DEG, C the capacitance cables and the angular frequency, in agreement with experiments.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Carrier behavior in special multilayer device composed of different transition metal oxide-based intermediate connectors

The impact of illumination on the connection part of the tandem organic light-emitting diodes was studied by using a special organic multilayer sample consisted of two organic active layers coupled with different transition metal oxide (TMO)-based intermediate connectors (ICs). Through measuring the current density-voltage characteristic, interfacial electronic structures, and capacitance-voltage characteristic, we observe an unsymmetrical phenomenon in current density-voltage and capacitance-voltage curves of Mg:Alq{sub 3}/MoO{sub 3} and MoO{sub 3} composed devices, which was induced by the charge spouting zone near the ICs region and the recombination state in the MoO{sub 3} layer. Moreover, Mg:Alq{sub 3}/MoO{sub 3} composed device displays a photovoltaic effect and the V{sub oc} shifts to forward bias under illumination. Our results demonstrate that the TMO-based IC structure coupled with photovoltaic effect can be a good approach for the study of photodetector, light sensor, and so on.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrical characterization and an equivalent circuit model of a microhollow cathode discharge reactor

This paper reports the electrical characterization and an equivalent circuit of a microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) reactor in the self-pulsing regime. A MHCD reactor was prototyped for air plasma generation, and its current-voltage characteristics were measured experimentally in the self-pulsing regime for applied voltages from 2000 to 3000 V. The reactor was modeled as a capacitor in parallel with a variable resistor. A stray capacitance was also introduced to the circuit model to represent the capacitance of the circuit elements in the experimental setup. The values of the resistor and capacitors were recovered from experimental data, and the proposed circuit model was validated with independent experiments. Experimental data showed that increasing the applied voltage increased the current, self-pulsing frequency and average power consumption of the reactor, while it decreased the peak voltage. The maximum and the minimum voltages obtained using the model were in agreement with the experimental data within 2.5%, whereas the differences between peak current values were less than 1%. At all applied voltages, the equivalent circuit model was able to accurately represent the peak and average power consumption as well as the self-pulsing frequency within the experimental uncertainty. Although the results shown in this paper was for atmospheric air pressures, the proposed equivalent circuit model of the MHCD reactor could be generalized for other gases at different pressures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗