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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Development of a Flow Stabilization Algorithm Enabling Measurement of Low Oxygen Concentrations in Liquid Sodium

To enhance the automated control of the plugging meter (PM) and thereby enhance detection fidelity in ultralow oxygen environments [≤1 parts per million by weight (wppm)], a novel proportional derivative controller has been implemented with conventional PM hardware. This ramp sign stabilized flow (RSSF) controller manipulates the sign (heating or cooling direction) at a fixed rate, enabling precise temperature adjustment around the saturation temperature of the bulk sodium. This adjustment helps maintain flow stability in a partially formed sodium oxide plug, thus greatly reducing the temperature amplitude in the plugging cycle and promoting simple and accurate oxygen determinations in addition to an increased sampling rate. Rather than relying on the subjective nature of indexing the time when the flow rate changes due to the plugging or unplugging onset to the PM temperature, a running average of the correlated oxygen concentration with time over multiple plugging events can provide oxygen readings ranging from an absolute uncertainty of 500 wppb in real time to less than 50 wppb for a 24-h sampling window. Finally, the RSSF controller was tested at 508 ± 7 wppb with measured oxygen of 542 ± 179 wppb, further reducing the variance between the saturation temperature and the plugging temperature.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Revealing Robust Room Temperature Ferromagnetism in Gd‐Doped Few‐Layered MoS 2 Thin Films

2D MoS 2 holds great promise for spintronics, yet is limited by intrinsic diamagnetism. This study demonstrates inducing ferromagnetic behavior in MoS 2 films doped with 0.47% Gd, achieving an ultrahigh saturation magnetization of 454 emu/cm 3 in a few‐layered film over 11‐times higher than bulk films (40 nm). Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal an interplay between Gd dopants and Mo, S vacancies (V 1Mo+2S ), leading to the formation of bound magnetic polarons (BMPs) that drive ferromagnetic ordering. H 2 S annealing and DFT calculations reveal that defect healing reduces the saturation magnetization by 83%. High sulfur migration barrier in few‐layered films helps preserve BMPs, thereby sustaining ferromagnetism, whereas lower migration barriers in bulk films lead to suppression. These findings highlight the synergy between Gd doping and defect engineering in achieving ultrahigh room‐temperature ferromagnetism, offering a scalable strategy for developing high‐performance 2D magnetic materials for spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tip‐Enhanced Imaging and Control of Infrared Strong Light‐Matter Interaction

Optical antenna resonators enable control of light‐matter interactions on the nano‐scale via electron–photon hybrid states in strong coupling. Specifically, mid‐infrared (MIR) nano‐antennas coupled to saturable intersubband transitions in multi‐quantum‐well (MQW) semiconductor heterostructures allow for the coupling strength to be tuned through antenna resonance and field intensity. Here, in this study, tip‐enhanced nano‐scale variation of antenna‐MQW coupling across the antenna is demonstrated, with a spatially‐dependent coupling strength $g_{\textrm{aq}}$ varying from 73 (strong coupling) to 24 cm -1 (weak coupling). This behavior is modeled based on the spatially dependent local constructive and destructive interference between tip and antenna fields. Using a quantum‐mechanical density‐matrix model of the MQW system with its designed values of transition dipole moment, doping density, and population decay time, the picosecond IR pulse coupling to intersubband transitions and the associated tip induced strong‐field saturation effects are described. These results present a new regime of nonlinear IR light‐matter control based on the dynamic manipulation of quantum hybrid states on the nanoscale and in the infrared, with a perspective regarding extension to molecular vibrations.

Wang, Yueying↗
DOE OSTI2024

An integrated EOS, pore‐crush, strength and damage model framework for near‐field ground‐shock

Abstract An integrated Equation of State (EOS) and strength/pore‐crush/damage model framework is provided for modeling near to source (near‐field) ground‐shock response, where large deformations and pressures necessitate coupling EOS with pressure‐dependent plastic yield and damage. Nonlinear pressure‐dependence of strength up to high‐pressures is combined with a Modified Cam‐Clay‐like cap‐plasticity model in a way to allow degradation of strength from pore‐crush damage, what we call the “Yp‐Cap” model. Nonlinear hardening under compaction allows modeling the crush‐out of pores in combination with a fully saturated EOS, that is, for modeling partially saturated ground‐shock response, where air‐filled voids crush. Attention is given to algorithmic clarity and efficiency of the provided model, and the model is employed in example numerical simulations, including finite element simulations of underground explosions to exemplify its robustness and utility.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Solution‐Phase Metathesis of Li 3 N and FeCl 3 to Synthesize Fe 2 N/Fe 3 N Nanoparticles

Soft magnetic materials play key roles in the flow of energy in electrically driven machines and power conversion electronics, and there is a great need for improvements in their magnetic properties to provide the right combination of high saturation magnetization, low coercivity, and high permeability. Most phases of iron nitride (Fe x N) are soft magnetic materials with these characteristics, but they exist as numerous phases which are not all stoichiometric compounds. While the production and magnetic properties of the different phases of bulk iron nitride are well known, accessing phase‐pure nanoscale iron nitride consistently remains a challenge. Most methods for the synthesis of iron nitride nanoparticles require complicated apparatus to achieve high‐temperature nitriding of nanoparticle precursors with gaseous nitrogen sources such as ammonia. The first solution‐phase metathesis reaction between FeCl 3 and Li 3 N in oleylamine is developed to directly synthesize Fe 2 N/Fe 3 N nanoparticles, requiring only a fume hood, glove box, standard chemistry laboratory glassware, and equipment. Finally, the ≈10–15 nm spheres display nearly soft magnetic behavior with a saturation magnetization ≈50–60 A m 2 kg −1 , coercivities between 40–50 kA m −1 , and susceptibility values from 0.0001–0.0006 m 3 kg −1 , well within the ranges reported with other published Fe x N nanoparticle synthesis methods.

iron nitride↗
DOE OSTI2025

Delineating the Impact of Diluent on High-Concentration Electrolytes for Developing High-Voltage LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 Spinel Cathode

LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (LNMO) is a high-voltage spinel cathode with low nickel content, making it an attractive candidate for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, its application is limited by interfacial instability with conventional carbonate-based electrolytes at high voltages. In this work, a localized saturated electrolyte (LSE) capable of stably operating up to 4.85 V is investigated. Molecular dynamics simulations and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveal that adding “non-solvating” 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl ether diluent in the saturated electrolyte, more PF 6 − anions are present in the first solvation shell of Li + , at the expense of solvent molecules. This tailored solvation environment promotes the formation of a robust, LiF-rich cathode-electrolyte interphase that mitigates transition metal dissolution and parasitic side reactions. The optimized LSE enables excellent cycling performance, with 95% capacity retention in Li|LNMO half-cells after 100 cycles and 94% retention in Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 |LNMO full cells after 250 cycles, even at a practically relevant LNMO cathode loading of ≈15 mg cm −2 . In conclusion, these results highlight the benefits of electrolyte engineering and solvation structure control in advancing high-voltage LIB technologies.

LNMO cathode↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hilbert series for covariants and their applications to minimal flavor violation

We elaborate how to apply the Hilbert series method to enumerating group covariants, which transform under any given representation, including but going beyond group invariants. Mathematically, group covariants form a module over the ring of the invariants. The number of independent covariants is given by the rank of the module, which can be computed by taking a ratio of two Hilbert series. In many cases, the rank equals the dimension of the group covariant representation. When this happens, we say that there is a rank saturation. We apply this technology to revisit the hypothesis of Minimal Flavor Violation in constructing Effective Field Theories beyond the Standard Model. We find that rank saturation is guaranteed in this case, leading to the important consequence that the MFV symmetry principle does not impose any restriction on the EFT, i.e. MFV SMEFT = SMEFT, in the absence of additional assumptions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

TMD factorisation for diffractive jets in photon-nucleus interactions

Abstract Using the colour dipole picture and the colour glass condensate effective theory, we study the diffractive production of two or three jets via coherent photon-nucleus interactions at high energy. We consider the hard regime where the photon virtuality and/or the transverse momenta of the produced jets are much larger than the saturation momentumQ s of the nuclear target. We show that, despite this hardness, the leading-twist contributions are controlled by relatively large parton configurations, with transverse sizesR~ 1/Q s , which undergo strong scattering and probe gluon saturation. We demonstrate that these leading-twist contributions admit transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) factorisation, in terms of quark and gluon diffractive TMD distribution functions, for which we obtain explicit expressions from first principles. We go beyond our previous work by evaluating the contributions involving the quark diffractive distributions and by establishing that their DGLAP evolution emerges via controlled calculations within the colour dipole picture. We find the same expression for the quark diffractive TMD in two different processes (semi-inclusive diffraction and the diffractive production of quark-gluon dijets), thus demonstrating its universality.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Improving modular bootstrap bounds with integrality

We propose methods that efficiently impose integrality — i.e., the condition that the coefficients of characters in the partition function must be integers — into numerical modular bootstrap. We demonstrate the method with a number of examples where it can be used to strengthen modular bootstrap results. First, we show that, with a mild extra assumption, imposing integrality improves the bound on the maximal allowed gap in dimensions of operators in theories with a U(1) c symmetry at c = 3, and reduces it to the value saturated by the SU(4) 1 WZW model point of c = 3 Narain lattices moduli space. Second, we show that our method can be used to eliminate all but a discrete set of points saturating the bound from previous Virasoro modular bootstrap results. Finally, when central charge is close to 1, we can slightly improve the upper bound on the scaling dimension gap.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Anticipating how rain-on-snow events will change through the 21st century: lessons from the 1997 new year’s flood event

The California-Nevada 1997 New Year’s flood was an atmospheric river (AR)-driven rain-on-snow (RoS) event and remains the costliest in their history. The joint occurrence of saturated soils, rainfall, and snowmelt generated inundation throughout northern California-Nevada. Although AR RoS events are projected to occur more frequently with climate change, the warming sensitivity of their flood drivers across scales remains understudied. We leverage the regionally refined mesh capabilities of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (RRM-E3SM) to recreate the 1997 New Year’s flood with horizontal grid spacings of 3.5 km across California, with forecast lead times of up to 4 days, and across six warming levels ranging from pre-industrial conditions to +3.5° C. We describe the sensitivity of the flood drivers to warming including AR duration and intensity, precipitation phase, intensity and efficiency, snowpack mass and energy changes, and runoff efficiency. Our findings indicate current levels of climate change negligibly influence the flood drivers. At warming levels ≥ 1.7° C, AR hazard potential increases, snowpack nonlinearly decreases, antecedent soil moisture decreases (except where the snowline retreats), and runoff decreases (except in the southern Sierra Nevada where antecedent snowpack persists). Storm total precipitation increases, but at rates below warming-induced increases in saturation-specific humidity. Warming intensifies short-duration, high-intensity rainfall, particularly where snowfall-to-rainfall transitions occur. This study highlights the nonlinear tradeoffs in 21st-century RoS flood hazards with warming and provides water management and infrastructure investment adaptation considerations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mechanical and poroelastic behavior of porous tuff under drained and undrained conditions

A series of drained and undrained water-saturated constant mean-stress tests were performed to investigate the strength, elasticity, and poroelastic response of a water-saturated high porosity nonwelded tuff. Drained strengths are found to increase with increasing effective confining pressures. Elastic moduli increase with increasing mean stress. Undrained strengths are small due to development of high pore pressures that generate low effective confining pressures. Skempton’s values are pressure dependent and appear to reflect the onset of inelastic deformation. Permeabilities decrease after deformation from ~ 10 –14 to ~ 10 –16 m 2 and are a function of the applied confining pressure. Deformation is dominated by pore collapse, compaction, and intense microfracturing, with the undrained tests favoring microfracture-dominant deformation and the drained tests favoring compaction-dominant deformation. These property determinations and observations are used to develop/parameterize physics-based models for underground explosives testing.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bubble Point Measurements of cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-Hexafluorobutene [R-1336mzz(Z)] + trans-1,2-Dichloroethene [R-1130(E)] mixtures

Saturation pressures of pure R-1336mzz(Z) and R-1130(E) and bubble point pressures of three R-1336mzz(Z)/1130(E) blends were measured from 265 K to 360 K. For each pure refrigerant or refrigerant blend, a total of twenty unique saturation pressures or bubble points were measured. In total 100 unique state points were obtained. Presently, no Helmholtz-energy-explicit type equation of state (EoS) is available for R-1130(E). While an extended corresponding states EoS for R-1130(E) is available to estimate the properties of the R-1336mzz(Z)/1130(E) blend, this model does not resolve the azeotropic behavior of the mixture. Therefore, the perturbed-chain statistical-associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) EoS is used to model the vapor–liquid equilibria of the R-1336mzz(Z)/1130(E) blend. PC-SAFT model parameters are reported, and the overall performance of the model is characterized by deviations from the experimental data.

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

Explosive Byproduct Gas Transport Through Sorptive Geomedia

Current underground nuclear explosion (UNE) detection strategies rely heavily on atmospheric noble gas sampling of radioxenon. However, discriminating nuclear weapons testing programs from civilian sources is difficult due to highly variable atmospheric radioxenon backgrounds and processes affecting subsurface transport of parent radionuclides. Here, we aim to study the transport of gases produced by subsurface explosions as novel stable signatures for underground nuclear explosion (UNE) monitoring. These gases may be produced in large quantities with distinct molecular ratios, which will be impacted by subsurface transport processes. To demonstrate how ratios of gases produced by explosions can change during transport in geomaterials, we conducted laboratory benchtop experiments on the transport of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and hydrogen (H 2 ) gases through variably saturated zeolitic tuff, which is abundant at the historic US testing site. We observed that zeolitic tuff sorbs substantial quantities of CO 2 while allowing H 2 to transport more freely, leading to changes in the molecular ratios of the two gases along the transport pathway. Gas uptake in the dry zeolitic tuff core was 72.3% for CO 2 , compared with 53.4% for xenon and 7.6% for H 2 . The presence of 20% water saturation disrupted the CO 2 sorption process, though to a lesser extent than observed for noble gases, with a 36.7% drop in xenon sorption compared with a 21.9% drop for CO 2 . These results represent the first observations of zeolite sorption altering explosive gas ratios during transport through geomedia relevant to nuclear proliferation monitoring.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Lyapunov-based nonlinear control of nonautonomous systems with individual input constraints

A control algorithm that can locally stabilize a specific class of multi-input multi-output nonautonomous nonlinear dynamical systems while satisfying individual input constraints is developed. The proposed Lyapunov-based state-feedback control law inherently accounts for the actuator amplitude saturation limits without the need for computationally expensive real-time optimization techniques. In addition to the control law, a formal definition for the local “controllable region” within which the controller can asymptotically drive the system states to the origin and satisfy the input saturation limits is also presented. The nonautonomous nature of the system dynamics implies that the “controllable region” continuously evolves with time. Therefore, a sufficient condition to maintain the system states within the “controllable region” is proposed in this work to make practical implementation feasible. The effectiveness of the controller is tested for a specific control problem arising in tokamaks, which are toroidal devices that use strong magnetic fields to confine a plasma (hot ionized gas). Here, the primary emphasis of tokamak research is to regulate the plasma properties around predetermined values to achieve stable plasma confinement. Nonlinear simulations show that the proposed controller can achieve the desired plasma control objectives in a DIII-D tokamak scenario.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Operation of helium sub-atmospheric multistage cryogenic centrifugal compressor trains: Part 1 – Steady state modeling and speed ratio selection

Helium cryogenic systems which can provide cooling below the normal boiling point of helium (approximately 4.2 K) are often required by superconducting radio-frequency niobium resonators utilized in modern high-energy particle accelerators. Achieving temperatures below 4.2 K generally involves operating a cryogenic vessel with liquid helium under sub-atmospheric conditions, thereby lowering the saturation pressure and corresponding saturation temperature. Over the last several decades, multi-stage cryogenic centrifugal compressor trains (CC’s) have been operated efficiently and reliably within large-scale cryogenic systems to continuously evacuate helium vapor generated by a device within the vessel, maintaining sub-atmospheric conditions in the vessel while pressurizing the return vapor to above atmospheric conditions. Traditionally, these CC systems have been operated using empirically derived control philosophies and insight gathered from previous operational experience. Recent efforts at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) have been aimed at the development of a theoretical basis to characterize the operation of multi-stage cryogenic centrifugal compressor train and utilizing predictive model results to generate control parameters. The objective of this research was identifying operational points which adequately balance cryogenic system efficiency, stability, and overall ease of operation. Furthermore, this manuscript provides an overview of the predictive model development, characterization of the FRIB cryogenic centrifugal compressors and implementation of the predicted performance results during steady-state system operation.

Compressor train control↗
DOE OSTI2025

Water reactive polyurethane grouting for deep vadose zone contaminant immobilization

Contaminants in the deep vadose zone (DVZ) pose a long-term threat to groundwater, human health, and the environment. Polyurethane grouting is a type of chemical grouting that is potentially advantageous in immobilizing contaminants in DVZs. Polyurethane resin has low viscosity that makes it feasible to penetrate and fill the pore space between fine particles. Here, in this study a series of laboratory pressure grouting and leaching tests were conducted to simulate and assess the effectiveness of polyurethane grouting for immobilizing contaminants in DVZs. Soil with fine particles was prepared with 127 I (as iodide) that served as a non-radioactive surrogate for radioactive 129 I. After grouting and curing, leaching tests were used to measure and compare contaminant diffusivity and leachability index values. Additionally, changes in porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity of grouted soil were measured. X-Ray Computer Tomography (XCT) results showed that the cured polyurethane was distributed nearly homogeneously and approximately half of the voids were filled with cured polyurethane. Grouting reduced the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil by 37 %. The effective diffusivity decreased by more than 80 % as compared with the ungrouted soil. The leachability index of the grouted soil was 6.5; meeting the criteria established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) standard. The results obtained in this study provide a valuable assessment of polyurethane grouting for iodide immobilization in the DVZ and indicate this approach may be a viable method for contaminant remediation in DVZ soils.

Contaminant Diffusion↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated geological, economic, and risk assessment of underground hydrogen storage

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is a promising option to buffer variable renewable power and support the hydrogen economy. Yet this technology is early-stage, and key uncertainties remain about how coupled processes such as geochemical and geomechanical impacts affect long-term storage security. In this paper, we seek to integrate the results from a large, multi-scale research program to quantify core feasibility metrics and situate these studies within ongoing efforts. Through this work, we evaluate hydrogen recoverability during storage by assessing diffusive losses, losses to geochemical interactions and their subsequent impact on geomechanical properties, and losses to residual saturation during injection and withdrawal. Molecular and laboratory studies show that lithologic heterogeneity, pore geometry, and mineral surface chemistry govern hydrogen–rock interactions, controlling loss pathways. High-pressure coreflooding is used to estimate relative permeabilities and measure parameters needed for reservoir-scale sensitivity analyses. These core-scale experiments found early hydrogen breakthrough at low saturations driven by capillary and viscous fingering, which limits pore-space utilization at early times, while repeated injection and withdrawal cycles improve deliverability over time. Technoeconomic factors and purity requirements for end uses are also considered as part of our comprehensive feasibility analysis. Finally, we underscore the importance of geophysical monitoring and tailored injection strategies to maintain integrity and efficiency. Together, these results provide a quantitative foundation for safe, scalable deployment of UHS and highlight priorities for future integrated studies.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Soft interface instability and gas flow channeling in low-permeability deformable media

Understanding gas percolation through a clay layer or a shale formation is of great importance for the development of a geologic repository for nuclear waste disposal, a subsurface system for gas storage, and an engineering approach for hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reservoirs. Gas injection experiments have revealed complex dynamic behaviours of gas percolation through water saturated compacted bentonite, characterized by a high breakthrough pressure, rapid breakthrough, a pressure/stress decay after the breakthrough, a relatively high migration rate, high-frequency periodic/nonperiodic variations in flow rate, stepwise rate reductions during relaxation, and low gas saturation over the whole process, all indicating channelling nature of the processes. Using linear stability analyses, we show that this channelling can autonomously emerge from the instability of the deformable interface between the injected gas and the compacted bentonite matrix driven by local stress concentration, pore dilation, and hydrologic gradient. Channel patterns formed would possess a fractal geometry. We further show that, once a percolating channel is established, the gas injected would percolate through the channel in a chain of gas bubbles, also due to the interface instability, resulting in periodic/chaotic variations in gas flow rate. Our work provides a unified explanation for key features observed for gas percolation in low-permeability deformable media. The work also suggests a possibility of designing an engineered barrier system for a nuclear waste repository that can have controllable gas release while limit water transport.

Bentonite↗