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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 1,369 records · Page 76
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of a Knotted Electron Diffusion Region in Earth's Magnetotail Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that alters the magnetic field topology and releases magnetic energy. Most numerical simulations and spacecraft observations assume a two‐dimensional diffusion region, with the electron diffusion region (EDR) embedded in the same plane as the ion diffusion region (IDR) and a uniform guide field throughout. Using observations from Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we report a non‐coplanar, knotted EDR in Earth's magnetotail current sheet. The reconnection plane of the knotted EDR deviates by approximately 38° from that of the IDR, with the guide field exhibiting both a 38° directional shift and a twofold increase in amplitude. Moreover, the Hall magnetic field is bipolar in the EDR but quadrupolar in the IDR, indicating different Hall current structures at electron and ion scales. These observations highlight the importance of three‐dimensional effects and illustrate the complexity of multiscale coupling between the EDR and IDR during reconnection studies.

diffusion region↗
DOE OSTI2017

Biphase Cobalt-Manganese Oxide with High Capacity and Rate Performance for Aqueous Sodium-Ion Electrochemical Energy Storage

Manganese-based metal oxide electrode materials are of great importance in electrochemical energy storage for their favorable redox behavior, low cost and environmental-friendliness. However, their storage capacity and cycle life in aqueous Na-ion electrolytes is not satisfactory. In this paper, we report the development of a bi-phase cobalt-manganese oxide (Co-Mn-O) nanostructured electrode material, comprised of a layered MnO 2 .H 2 O birnessite phase and a (Co 0.83 Mn 0.13 Va 0.04 )tetra(Co 0.38 Mn 1.62 ) octa O 3.72 (Va: vacancy; tetra: tetrahedral sites; octa: octahedral sites) spinel phase, verified by neutron total scattering and pair distribution function analyses. The bi-phase Co-Mn-O material demonstrates an excellent storage capacity towards Na-ions in an aqueous electrolyte (121 mA h g -1 at a scan rate of 1 mV s -1 in the half-cell and 81 mA h g -1 at a current density of 2 A g -1 after 5000 cycles in full-cells), as well as high rate performance (57 mA h g -1 a rate of 360 C). Electro-kinetic analysis and in situ X-ray diffraction measurements further confirm that the synergistic interaction between the spinel and layered phases, as well as the vacancy of the tetrahedral sites of spinel phase, contribute to the improved capacity and rate performance of the Co-Mn-O material by facilitating both diffusion-limited redox and capacitive charge storage processes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1999

Soot Formation in Laminar Premixed Flames

Soot processes within hydrocarbon-fueled flames affect emissions of pollutant soot, thermal loads on combustors, hazards of unwanted fires and capabilities for computational combustion. In view of these observations, the present study is considering processes of soot formation in both burner-stabilized and freely-propagating laminar premixed flames. These flames are being studied in order to simplify the interpretation of measurements and to enhance computational tractability compared to the diffusion flame environments of greatest interest for soot processes. In addition, earlier studies of soot formation in laminar premixed flames used approximations of soot optical and structure properties that have not been effective during recent evaluations, as well as questionable estimates of flow residence times). The objective of present work was to exploit methods of avoiding these difficulties developed for laminar diffusion flames to study soot growth in laminar premixed flames. The following description of these studies is brief.

Xu, F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Progress in indium phosphide solar cell research

Progress, dating from the start of the Lewis program, is reviewed emphasizing processing techniques which have achieved the highest efficiencies in a given year. To date, the most significant achievement has been attainment of AM0 total area efficiencies approaching 19 percent. Although closed tube diffusion is not considered to be an optimum process, reasonably efficient 2cm x 2cm and 1cm x 2cm InP cells have been produced in quantity by this method with a satellite to be launched in 1990 using these cells. Proton irradiation of these relatively large area cells indicates radiation resistance comparable to that previously reported for smaller InP cells. A similar result is found for the initial proton irradiations of ITO/InP cells processed by D. C. sputtering. With respect to computer modelling, a comparison of n/p homojunction InP and GaAs cells of identical geometries and dopant concentrations has confirmed the superior radiation resistance of InP cells under 1 MeV electron irradiations.

Weinberg, Irving↗
NASA NTRS1976

A status of progress for the Laser Isotope Separation (LIS) process

An overview of the Laser Isotope Separation (LIS) methodology is given together with illustrations showing a simplified version of the LIS technique, an example of the two-photon photoionization category, and a diagram depicting how the energy levels of various isotope influence the LIS process. Applications were proposed for the LIS system which, in addition to enriching uranium, could in themselves develop into programs of tremendous scope and breadth. These include the treatment of radioactive wastes from light-water nuclear reactors, enriching the deuterium isotope to make heavy-water, and enriching the light isotopes of such elements as titanium for aerospace weight-reducing programs. Economic comparisons of the LIS methodology with the current method of gaseous diffusion indicate an overwhelming advantage; the laser process promises to be 1000 times more efficient. The technique could also be utilized in chemical reactions with the tuned laser serving as a universal catalyst to determine the speed and direction of a chemical reaction.

Delionback, L. M.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Assembly of Rabbit Capsules for Irradiation of Pyrolytic Carbon / Silicon Carbide Diffusion Couples in the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Tristructural isotropic (TRISO)–coated particle fuel is a promising advanced fuel concept being considered for several advanced reactor applications and for accident-tolerant fuel for light water reactors. One of the aspects studied in the development of this advanced fuel concept is the release of specific fission products (Ag, Eu, and Sr). The silicon carbide (SiC) layer of TRISO fuel serves as the primary barrier to metallic fission products and actinides not retained in the fuel kernel. The goal of this project is to evaluate the effect of irradiation on the diffusion of these fission products in the SiC layer of the fuel. For this purpose, rabbit capsules containing small slab diffusion couple specimens have been assembled to be irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). The diffusion couple specimens have been fabricated using similar processes and equipment as those used to make TRISO particles; the desired fission products have been implanted in the specimens using an ion accelerator. Moreover, the effect of temperature on the fission products diffusion will be studied separately by performing thermal experiments in the absence of irradiation. This report describes the irradiation experiment design concept, summarizes the irradiation test matrix, and reports on the successful assembly of two rabbit capsules that will be irradiated in the HFIR.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Linking Soil Moisture Variation and Abundance of Plants to Geomorphic Processes: A Generalized Model for Erosion-Uplifting Landscapes

American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The diffusive and advective erosion-created landscapes have similar structure (hillslopes and channels) across different scales regardless of variations in drivers and controls. The relative magnitude of diffusive erosion to advective erosion ( D/K ratio) in a landscape development model controls hillslope length, shape, and drainage density, which regulate soil moisture variation, one of the critical resources of plants, through the contributing area ( A ) and local slope ( S ) represented by a topographic index (TI). Here we explore the theoretical relation between geomorphic processes, TI, and the abundance and distribution of plants. We derived an analytical model that expresses the TI with D, K , and A . This gives us the relation between soil moisture variation and geomorphic processes. Plant tolerance curves are used to link plant performance to soil moisture. Using the hypothetical tolerance curves of three plants, we show that the abundance and distribution of xeric, mesic, and hydric plants on the landscape are regulated by the D/K ratio. Where diffusive erosion is the major erosion process (large D/K ratio), mesic plants have higher abundance relative to xeric and hydric plants and the landscape has longer and convex-upward hillslope and low channel density. Finally, increasing the dominance of advective erosion increases relative abundance of xeric and hydric plants dominance, and the landscape has short and concave hillslope and high channel density.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Diffusive tunneling in an isobaric but non-isothermal fuel-pusher mixture

The hydrodynamic mix of fusion fuel and inert pusher can simultaneously generate smaller fuel pockets and finer pusher layers that separate them. Smaller fuel pockets have greater local Knudsen numbers, which tend to exacerbate the Knudsen layer reactivity reduction. A thinner pusher layer separating the neighboring fuel pockets, on the other hand, can enable the diffusive tunneling of Gamow fuel ions through the pusher layer and hence alleviate the Knudsen layer reactivity degradation. Here in this paper, the diffusive tunneling phenomenon describes a random walk process by which the Gamow fuel ions from one fuel pocket can traverse the inert pusher layer to join a neighboring fuel pocket without losing much of their energy. This is made possible by the much slower collisional slowing down rate compared with the pitch angle scattering rate of light fuel ions with heavier pusher ions. In an isobaric target mixture where fuel and pusher segments can have distinct temperatures, due to their different compressibilities, the temperature effect on the critical pusher layer areal density below which diffusive tunneling can occur, which is a property of the hydrodynamic mix, is understood by computing the ion charge state distribution using a collisional radiative model. This information is fed into the collisionality evaluation, enabling a parametric scan of the diffusive tunneling physics in terms of the target pressure, fuel, and pusher temperatures. It is found that when the gold pusher layer has a temperature above 1 keV, the variation of the pusher temperature has little effect on the critical areal mass density below which diffusive tunneling can occur. If the pusher layer is 1 keV or below, the critical areal mass density rises sharply, indicating that for a stronger fuel-pusher temperature disparity, the onset of diffusive tunneling will be at an earlier stage of the hydrodynamic mix when the fuel-pusher mixing structures are of less reduced size.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Thin-Entrance Window Process for Soft X-Ray Sensors

New free electron lasers, such as SLAC’s LCLS-II, will provide unique scientific imaging opportunities. In order to fully utilize these facilities, we need to develop detectors with shallow entrance windows that will enable detection of soft x-rays from 250 eV to 1.5 KeV. Achieving adequately shallow entrance windows is challenging because the high temperature anneal needed to activate the dopant also drives the dopant profile deeper, growing the region that is insensitive to soft x-rays. A new microwave annealing technology provides an efficient way to achieve shallow entrance windows in fully depleted high-resistivity silicon sensors. The microwave anneal technique can activate dopants at low substrate temperature, with minimal dopant diffusion, and can be used to fabricate both n-type and p-type entrance windows. SRP and SIMS measurements were used to verify dopant activation with negligible dopant diffusion. We then applied the microwave anneal process to a planar sensor wafer, using the new process to create the backside diode contact. Electrical test of the resulting sensors shows good reverse bias characteristics. The sensors have been bump-bonded to a read-out ASIC and used successfully to measure an Fe-55 x-ray spectrum. Process and device simulations were performed to characterize the quantum efficiency of the entrance window for soft x-rays. This technique is useful for other sensor applications requiring a shallow entrance window, including detectors for UV photons, low energy ions and low energy electrons.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1973

Resistive diffusion of force-free magnetic fields in a passive medium.

We consider the resistive diffusion of a force-free magnetic field in a tenuous compressible medium, which is free to move to accommodate the changing magnetic-field configuration. This process is nonlinear, contrary to the usual magnetic field diffusion in a fixed medium. We show that the force-free magnetic field may evolve slowly for an extended period of time, whereupon it abruptly develops steep gradients and passes into an explosive phase. We suggest that it is this process that sets the stage for the onset of solar flares.

Low, B. C.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantitative Morphological Characterization of Carbide Inclusions in Uranium Metal

Uranium carbides (UCs) are prevalent inclusions in U metal that form during melting operations from interactions with crucible walls and the casting chamber atmosphere. Although UCs have been studied extensively since the beginning of U metal foundry operations, there are still unknowns regarding the effects of thermomechanical processing on their sizes and morphology. Here, we present the results of a series of controlled cooling experiments with molten uranium to elucidate the effect of cooling rate on inclusion morphology in a-U. Samples were melted using a vacuum induction melter and manually cooled at rates of 2.5, 1.7, 1.1, 0.8, 0.3 (± 1%) K/s from ~1600 K to <700 K in under 1 hour. Subsequent scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed on cross-sections of the samples, revealing a complex mixture of UC morphologies that are indicative of diffusion and growth influenced by the thermal processing of the U matrix. Image analysis using the Morphological Analysis of Materials (MAMA) software showed that UC sizes generally grew larger with slower cooling rates, and the two slowest cooling rates noticeably impacted the inclusion circularity and ellipse aspect ratio. These results indicate that UC morphology is sensitive to short cooling rates (<1 hour) and could therefore be controlled in the production of metallic nuclear fuels. Additionally, inclusion speciation and morphologies could potentially provide forensic clues about processing history of unknown metal samples. Understanding the driving forces involved in UC morphology evolution is beneficial for evaluating metal fuels for next generation nuclear reactors and for identifying signatures for nuclear forensics.

Athon, Matthew T.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Stabilization of Catalytically Active Surface Defects on Ga-doped La–Sr–Mn Perovskites for Improved Solar Thermochemical Generation of Hydrogen

Solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) production from water splitting typically requires performing redox cycles at temperatures above 1200 °C to reduce and re-oxidize the bulk of a reversible material. Bulk processes such as oxygen vacancy formation and oxygen diffusion energies dictate the viability of a material for STCH. The surface plays an important role in the formation and destruction of vacancies and interacts with gas phase water and surface adsorbed species. These surface processes can lead to surface reconfigurations and even the formation of surface phases with stoichiometry and oxygen content very different from the bulk composition. Understanding in-situ the surface chemical state and its evolution under water splitting is important to design nonstoichiometric oxides capable of longer-lasting STCH generation at lower temperatures. In this work, we describe the water splitting active defect sites in LSM ((La 0.65 Sr 0.35 ) 0.95 MnO 3–δ ) and Ga-doped LSM ((La 0.6 Sr 0.4 ) 0.95 (Mn 0.8 Ga 0.2 )O 3–δ ) perovskites during Operando thermochemical water splitting conditions using ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) experiments at 800 °C under steam. We show that sub-stoichiometric La +3 in the oxygen-vacancy rich surface at operating conditions can be used to correlate surface water splitting activity and the creation of surface hydroxide intermediates. The addition of Ga in LSM is shown to drastically stabilize the surface chemical composition by preventing Sr segregation and stabilizing catalytically active surface defects that promote the binding of adsorbed hydroxides. Here, we use Operando AP-XPS quantification of metastable surface hydroxide intermediates (La(OH) 3 ) to determine the amount of catalytically active surface sites in LSM (2.9%) and in LSMG (7.8–8.1%, depending on the bulk oxidation state).

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Conclusions • Multimaterial and isotopically-labeled specimens were successfully fabricated via FFF-AM • Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and neutron scattering show promise for direct measurements of interlayer diffusion in the multimaterial and isotopically-labeled specimens • Although isotopically-labeled specimens offer the greatest potential for experimentally verifying FFF-AM process models, substituting hydrogen with deuterium alters the thermal and rheological properties of the HDPE polymer

Multimaterial and Isotopically Labeled Specimen Fabrication via Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing for Interlayer Diffusion Analysis

Jones, Haley W. [Savannah River National Laborator↗
NASA NTRS1990

Thermal diffusivity of diamond films using a laser pulse technique

Polycrystalline diamond films were deposited using a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. A laser pulse technique was developed to measure the thermal diffusivity of diamond films deposited on a silicon substrate. The effective thermal diffusivity of a diamond film on silicon was measured by observing the phase and amplitude of the cyclic thermal waves generated by laser pulses. An analytical model is presented to calculate the effective in-plane (face-parallel) diffusivity of a two-layer system. The model is used to reduce the effective thermal diffusivity of the diamonds/silicon sample to a value for the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of the diamond film. The average effective diffusivity values are 1.47 + or - 0.03 and 1.83 + or - 0.10 yielding thermal diffusivity values of 7.46 + or - 0.90 and 7.33 + or - 0.70 sq cm/s respectively, for the two samples; the calculated thermal con ductivity values are 13.50 and 13.28 W/cmK, which are better than that of type 1a natural diamond. The phase and amplitude measurements give similar results.

Albin, Sacharia↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transformational faulting in Mn 2 GeO 4 from olivine to wadsleyite structure: Implications for physical mechanism of deep-focus earthquakes

High-pressure and temperature deformation experiments interfaced with acoustic emission (AE) monitoring have been conducted to study transformational faulting in Mn 2 GeO 4 olivine, which transforms to the β phase, isostructural to wadsleyite. Metastable Mn 2 GeO 4 olivine exhibits a marked embrittlement behavior at temperatures between 800 and 1100 K, emitting numerous AEs. At each temperature, brittle deformation is characterized by a two-stage process: (1) a “preparation” stage with numerous diffusedly located low-magnitude AEs and large b values (>2), and (2) a failure stage where larger-magnitude AEs form a planar distribution with b values about 1. Microstructure analysis reveals extensive kink band development in olivine grains in the recovered samples. Kink band boundaries (KBBs), with a typical thickness of ∼100 nm, are filled with a nanometric β-Mn 2 GeO 4 “gouge”. A dense array of secondary shear localizations is often present within the kink bands, suggesting significant shear deformation therein. The combined observations suggest that faulting in metastable Mn 2 GeO 4 olivine is a self-similar process, from grain-scale to the sample-scale. Both observed embrittlement behavior and the microstructure of metastable Mn 2 GeO 4 olivine are essentially identical to those in Mg 2 GeO 4 olivine we have reported previously, indicating that the physical mechanism of faulting in metastable olivine is insensitive to the specific crystallographic structure of the high-pressure phase. The low b values (about 1) observed in the faulting process in our experiments are similar to those of deep focus earthquakes in cold subduction zones. Our observed mechanism explains deep focus seismicity in cold metastable mantle wedges, provided that the self-similarity assumption holds to geological scales.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Generation and healing of porosity in high purity copper by high-pressure torsion

Highlights: • Direct characterization of severe plastic deformation induced and healed porosities. • HPT process of disk with pre-fabricated holes reveals healing of porosity. • Ultrafine grains coexisting with shear bands and pores exhibit high stability. • Excess vacancies and pores cause drag effect on the grain boundary motion. • Accelerated vacancy diffusion leads to the generation and growth of pores. - Abstract: Generation and healing of pores in metals under loading or during processing have long been important research topics, and their mechanisms are still debatable. In recent years, unexpected percolating networks of pores acting as ultra-fast diffusion paths were found in ultrafine-grained metals processed by severe plastic deformation. Herein, we conducted a systematic study of the mechanisms of generation and healing of pores in ultrahigh-purity copper (99.9995 wt%) during high-pressure torsion (HPT). In addition to a solid Cu disk, the disk with holes that were drilled before processing, resulting in nominal initial porosity of 4.48%, was processed by HPT. After HPT, the percolating porosities of 0.07 ± 0.01% and 0.04 ± 0.01% were found in the solid disk, and in the disk with pre-fabricated holes, respectively. Thus, higher initial porosity resulted in lower percolating porosity in the HPT-processed disk. Systemic characterization using scanning electron microscopy revealed that in both cases shear bands and ultra-fine grains are located in the regions with induced and healed pores. We discussed the mechanisms of porosity evolution in both cases. In the end, to verify the possibility of pores nucleation and growth by vacancy agglomeration, vacancy diffusivity during HPT processing was estimated. This work sheds a new light on the mechanisms of pores nucleation and evolution during severe plastic deformation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1995

On the Dynamics of Some Discretizations of Convection-Diffusion Equations

Numerical discretizations of differential equations which model physical processes can possess dynamics quite different from that of the equations themselves. Recently the emphasis has been on the the dynamics of numerical discretizations for Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs). For Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) using a method of lines approach the situation is more complex. First, the spatial discretisation may introduce dynamics not present in the original equations; second, the solution of the resulting system of ODEs is open to the modified dynamics of the ODE solver used. These two effects may interact in a complex manner. In this talk we present some results of our recent work on the dynamics of discretizations of convection-diffusion equations, including those produced using Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) schemes and adaptive grid techniques. A more general overview of the area may be found on our accompanying poster presentation.

Sweby, Peter K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Heat and mass transfer in hygroscopic hydrogels

Sorption and desorption with hygroscopic hydrogels hold significant promise for thermal management, passive cooling, thermal energy storage, and atmospheric water harvesting. However, a comprehensive understanding of the energy and mass transport mechanisms in hygroscopic hydrogels remains missing, impeding accurate modeling and optimization. In this paper, we develop a model for the simultaneous vapor, water, and heat transfer in hygroscopic hydrogels during sorption and desorption processes. We show that by considering vapor diffusion in the hydrogel micropores, water diffusion in the polymer mesh, and heat transfer in the porous hydrogel, we can accurately capture experimentally observed thermally-driven desorption rates in these hydrogels. Furthermore, we consider three typical operating configurations of hydrogels and elucidate the differences in the transport mechanisms depending on the configuration. Finally, for each of these configurations, we identify key design parameters, including hydrogel thickness, hydrogel shear modulus, heat transfer coefficient, and thermal conductivity, and we parametrically show that by varying these parameters, a hygroscopic hydrogel can desorb up to 128.5%, 14.9%, 69.7%, and 9.6% more water, respectively, relative to the initial water content. This work provides a generic framework to model sorption and desorption processes in hygroscopic hydrogels which can guide the design and optimization in applications of thermal management, passive cooling, thermal energy storage, and atmospheric water harvesting with hydrogels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗