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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 OSTI2021

Muonium hydride: The lowest density crystal

A muonium hydride molecule is a bound state of muonium and hydrogen atoms. It has half the mass of a parahydrogen molecule and very similar electronic properties in its ground state. The phase diagram of an assembly of such particles is investigated by first-principles quantum simulations. In the bulk limit, the low-temperature equilibrium phase is a crystal of extraordinarily low density, lower than that of any other known atomic or molecular crystal. Despite the low density and particle mass, the melting temperature is surprisingly high (close to 9 K). No (metastable) supersolid phase is observed. We investigated the physical properties of nanoscale clusters (up to 200 particles) of muonium hydride and found the superfluid response to be greatly enhanced compared to that of parahydrogen clusters. The possible experimental realization of these systems is discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on H7ClO3 by Materials Project

H5O2H7O3ClH2OCl crystallizes in the triclinic P1 space group. The structure is zero-dimensional and consists of one hydrochloric acid, monohydrate molecule; one molecular hydrogen;dihydrate molecule; and one H7O3Cl cluster. In the H7O3Cl cluster, there are seven inequivalent H1+ sites. In the first H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O2- atom. The H–O bond length is 1.00 Å. In the second H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O2- atom. The H–O bond length is 0.99 Å. In the third H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to one O2- and one Cl1- atom. The H–O bond length is 1.03 Å. The H–Cl bond length is 1.88 Å. In the fourth H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O2- atom. The H–O bond length is 0.98 Å. In the fifth H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a distorted linear geometry to two O2- atoms. There is one shorter (1.02 Å) and one longer (1.61 Å) H–O bond length. In the sixth H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O2- atom. The H–O bond length is 1.00 Å. In the seventh H1+ site, H1+ is bonded in a linear geometry to two O2- atoms. There is one shorter (1.14 Å) and one longer (1.29 Å) H–O bond length. There are three inequivalent O2- sites. In the first O2- site, O2- is bonded in a trigonal non-coplanar geometry to three H1+ atoms. In the second O2- site, O2- is bonded in a distorted water-like geometry to three H1+ atoms. In the third O2- site, O2- is bonded in a trigonal non-coplanar geometry to three H1+ atoms. Cl1- is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one H1+ atom.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on H5ClO6 by Materials Project

H5O2ClO4 crystallizes in the orthorhombic P2_12_12_1 space group. The structure is zero-dimensional and consists of four molecular hydrogen;dihydrate molecules and four ClO4 clusters. In each ClO4 cluster, there are four inequivalent O sites. In the first O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. In the second O site, O is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. In the third O site, O is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.49 Å. In the fourth O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.44 Å. Cl is bonded in a tetrahedral geometry to four O atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on H5ClO6 by Materials Project

H5O2ClO4 crystallizes in the orthorhombic P2_12_12_1 space group. The structure is zero-dimensional and consists of four molecular hydrogen;dihydrate molecules and four ClO4 clusters. In each ClO4 cluster, there are three inequivalent O sites. In the first O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.47 Å. In the second O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.45 Å. In the third O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. Cl is bonded in a tetrahedral geometry to four O atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Modeling an S N 2 Reaction Mechanism for Hydrolysis of Siloxane Linkages with Density Functional Theory under Basic Conditions and Implications for Dissolution of Quartz

An extended silicate molecular cluster was used to perform density functional theory calculations to determine if an S N 2 mechanism, where OH – attacks a Q 1 Si coupled with Na + charge balancing an adjacent siloxane bridging O atom, could explain the observed energy of activation of quartz dissolution under basic conditions.

chemical calculations↗
DOE OSTI2020

27 AlNMR chemical shift of Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$ calculated from first principles: Assessment of error cancellation in chemically distinct reference and target systems

Predicting accurate nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shieldings relies upon cancellation of different types of errors between the theoretically calculated shielding constant of the analyte of interest and the reference. Often, the intrinsic error in computed shieldings due to basis sets, approximations in the Hamiltonian, description of the wave function, and dynamic effects is nearly identical between the analyte and reference, yet if the electronic structure or sensitivity to local environment differs dramatically, this cannot be taken for granted. Detailed prior work has examined the octahedral trivalent cation Al(H 2 O)$^{3+}_{6}$, accounting for ab initio intrinsic errors. However, the use of this species as a reference for the chemically distinct tetrahedral anion Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$ requires an understanding of how these errors cancel, in order to define the limits of accurately predicting 27 Al chemical shielding in Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$. In this work, we estimate the absolute shielding of the 27 Al nucleus in Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$ at the coupled cluster level (515.1± 5.3 ppm). Shielding sensitivity to the choice of method approximation and atomic basis sets used has been evaluated. Solvent and thermal effects are assessed through ensemble averaging techniques using ab-initio molecular dynamics. The contribution of each type of intrinsic error is assessed for the Al(H 2 O)$^{3+}_{6}$ and Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$ ions, revealing significant differences that fundamentally hamper the ability to accurately calculate the 27 Al chemical shift of Al(OH)$^{-}_{4}$ from first principles.

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

Noncoordinating Secondary Sphere Ion Modulates Supramolecular Clustering of Lanthanides

The role of counterions in molecular recognition of lanthanides is underexplored, especially when they exhibit weak interactions with the metal cations. Here, we report a complementary and comprehensive investigation integrating theoretical calculations with X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering to reveal atomic-scale structural features beyond the immediate coordination sphere of a system used for rare-earth element separations. Here, our results indicate the formation of an unusual T-shaped outer-sphere lanthanide complex, containing two ligands and two nitrate ions in the first coordination sphere, whereas the third nitrate is weakly coordinated and resides in the second shell. This unique structural arrangement causes inhomogeneous charge distribution, leading to self-assembly of the complexes into larger nanoclusters through sterically directed electrostatic interactions in the nonpolar medium. Our findings point to the importance of "noncoordinating" anions in defining the degree of supramolecular aggregation and ion cluster assembly.

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

Solving the structure of “single-atom” catalysts using machine learning – assisted XANES analysis

We show that "single-atom” catalysts (SACs) have demonstrated excellent activity and selectivity in challenging chemical transformations such as photocatalytic CO 2 reduction. For heterogeneous photocatalytic SAC systems, it is essential to obtain sufficient information of their structure at the atomic level in order to understand reaction mechanisms. In this work, a SAC was prepared by grafting a molecular cobalt catalyst on a light-absorbing carbon nitride surface. Due to the sensitivity of the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra to subtle variances in the Co SAC structure in reaction conditions, different machine learning (ML) methods, including principal component analysis, K-means clustering, and neural network (NN), were utilized for in situ Co XANES data analysis. As a result, we obtained quantitative structural information of the SAC nearest atomic environment thereby extending the NN-XANES approach previously demonstrated for nanoparticles and size-selective clusters.

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

The effect of composition on helium bubble nucleation in complex concentrated alloys

Molecular dynamics simulations of helium implantation have been performed in the MoNbTaTi complex concentrated alloy (CCA) to determine the impact of composition on helium clustering and bubble nucleation. It was found that compositions with lower interstitial atomic volume resulted in smaller cluster sizes, higher helium-to-vacancy ratios, and larger migration barriers. As the atomic volume decreases, it is harder to accommodate additional helium in the lattice and for helium to diffuse between interstitial sites, resulting in smaller cluster sizes. In particular, increasing molybdenum directly correlated with a decreased interstitial atomic volume and increased migration barrier. Niobium exhibited the opposite trend, where more niobium in the material resulted in larger interstitial atomic volumes and cluster sizes but lower migration barriers. The atomic volume was determined to be an indicator of the susceptibility of the material to helium bubble growth and could potentially be used as a metric to screen compositions for resistance to helium damage. In this way, properties such as available interstitial volumes could be used to screen materials more rapidly given the vast compositional space of CCAs.

McCarthy, Megan Jeanne [Sandia National Laboratori↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on Ti2H2CSe4Cl16O5 by Materials Project

Ti2C(OCl2)3(HSeOCl)2(SeCl3)2Cl2 crystallizes in the monoclinic P2/c space group. The structure is two-dimensional and consists of two molecular chlorine molecules; four HSeOCl clusters; four SeCl3 clusters; and one Ti2C(OCl2)3 sheet oriented in the (0, 1, 0) direction. In each HSeOCl cluster, H1+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O2- atom. The H–O bond length is 0.99 Å. Se3+ is bonded in a distorted L-shaped geometry to one O2- and one Cl1- atom. The Se–O bond length is 1.83 Å. The Se–Cl bond length is 2.50 Å. O2- is bonded in a distorted water-like geometry to one H1+ and one Se3+ atom. Cl1- is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to one Se3+ atom. In each SeCl3 cluster, Se3+ is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl1- atom. The Se–Cl bond length is 2.76 Å. There are three inequivalent Cl1- sites. In the first Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a 1-coordinate geometry to one Cl1- atom. The Cl–Cl bond length is 2.30 Å. In the second Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a 2-coordinate geometry to one Se3+ and one Cl1- atom. The Cl–Cl bond length is 2.32 Å. In the third Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a distorted linear geometry to two Cl1- atoms. In the Ti2C(OCl2)3 sheet, Ti4+ is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one O2- and four Cl1- atoms. The Ti–O bond length is 2.71 Å. There are a spread of Ti–Cl bond distances ranging from 2.15–2.47 Å. C4+ is bonded in a linear geometry to two equivalent O2- atoms. Both C–O bond lengths are 1.18 Å. There are two inequivalent O2- sites. In the first O2- site, O2- is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Ti4+ and one C4+ atom. In the second O2- site, O2- is bonded in a bent 150 degrees geometry to two equivalent Cl1- atoms. Both O–Cl bond lengths are 1.93 Å. There are three inequivalent Cl1- sites. In the first Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Ti4+ atom. In the second Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a water-like geometry to one Ti4+ and one O2- atom. In the third Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in an L-shaped geometry to two equivalent Ti4+ atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Materials Data on H12Cl2O13 by Materials Project

H7O3H5O2(ClO4)2 crystallizes in the monoclinic P2_1/c space group. The structure is zero-dimensional and consists of four molecular hydrogen;dihydrate molecules, eight ClO4 clusters, and four H7O3 clusters. In each ClO4 cluster, there are four inequivalent O sites. In the first O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.48 Å. In the second O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. In the third O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. In the fourth O site, O is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one Cl atom. The O–Cl bond length is 1.46 Å. Cl is bonded in a tetrahedral geometry to four O atoms. In each H7O3 cluster, there are seven inequivalent H sites. In the first H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 1.02 Å. In the second H site, H is bonded in a linear geometry to two O atoms. There is one shorter (1.05 Å) and one longer (1.53 Å) H–O bond length. In the third H site, H is bonded in a linear geometry to two O atoms. There is one shorter (1.05 Å) and one longer (1.53 Å) H–O bond length. In the fourth H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 1.00 Å. In the fifth H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 1.00 Å. In the sixth H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 0.99 Å. In the seventh H site, H is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one O atom. The H–O bond length is 0.98 Å. There are three inequivalent O sites. In the first O site, O is bonded in a 3-coordinate geometry to three H atoms. In the second O site, O is bonded in a trigonal non-coplanar geometry to three H atoms. In the third O site, O is bonded in a 3-coordinate geometry to three H atoms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Density functional theory (DFT) study of UF 6 hydrolysis: reaction pathways, spectroscopy, and chemical kinetics

Depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ), a stockpiled byproduct of the nuclear fuel cycle, reacts readily with atmospheric humidity, but the gas-phase reaction mechanism and associated chemical kinetics are poorly understood. During the performance period we undertook development of a state-of-the-art ab initio gas-phase chemical kinetics simulation workflow to model the hydrolysis of uranium hexafluroride (UF 6 ). In doing so, we addressed several outstanding issues in the theoretical treatment of uranium-containing systems. At the outset it was unclear how to generate accurate estimates of kinetic and thermodynamic data for U-containing chemical reactions. Generation of such data has been made routine. Prior to our work, the literature associated with UF 6 hydrolysis were disparate and inaccurate. This body of work provides a modern and comprehensive theoretical assessment of the reaction mechanism, molecular clustering towards deposition, and chemical kinetics. New methodological implementations and software integrations resulting from this work are also highlighted. As much as possible, our predictions were validated against experimental data including particle morphologies, vibrational spectroscopy, atomization enthalpies, and kinetic rate constants. Nevertheless, we were unable to reconcile kinetic measurements with high-accuracy simulations.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploring the Structural, Dynamic, and Functional Properties of Metal–Organic Frameworks through Molecular Modeling

This review spotlights the role of atomic-level modeling in research on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), especially the key methodologies of density functional theory (DFT), Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The discussion focuses on how periodic and cluster-based DFT calculations can provide novel insights into MOF properties, with a focus on predicting structural transformations, understanding thermodynamic properties and catalysis, and providing information or properties that are fed into classical simulations such as force field parameters or partial charges. Classical simulation methods, highlighting force field selection, databases of MOFs for high-throughput screening, and the synergistic nature of MC and MD simulations, are described. By predicting equilibrium thermodynamic and dynamic properties, these methods offer a wide perspective on MOF behavior and mechanisms. Additionally, the incorporation of machine learning (ML) techniques into quantum and classical simulations is discussed. These methods can enhance accuracy, expedite simulation setup, reduce computational costs, as well as predict key parameters, optimize geometries, and estimate MOF stability. By charting the growth and promise of computational research in the MOF field, the aim is to provide insights and recommendations to facilitate the incorporation of computational modeling more broadly into MOF research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Using Density-Corrected DFT to Understand Density-Driven and Functional-Dependent Errors in Ab Initio Simulations of the Hydrated Electron

The hydrated electron, an excess electron in liquid water, plays a crucial role in a plethora of chemical processes, motivating extensive research efforts to characterize its structure, dynamics, and reactivity in solution. Recent theoretical approaches to understanding this intriguing object have involved ab initio simulations based on density functional theory (DFT). Although DFT allows for the study of hydrated electron reactivity and quantum mechanical behavior, it is well-known that anionic systems can suffer from significant density-driven errors (DDEs). Density-corrected DFT (DC-DFT) provides a framework to mitigate such errors; the method reduces DDEs by replacing the self-consistent (SC) density associated with a given density functional with the Hartree–Fock (HF) density. Since HF densities tend to be more localized than DFT SC densities, the DC-DFT scheme significantly improves errors in calculations where the SC density is spuriously delocalized. Here, we investigate how the use of density correction affects the calculated properties of the DFT-simulated (PBEh) hydrated electron, a particularly challenging diffuse anionic system to simulate. First, we analyze charge delocalization in a system consisting of a model octahedral hydrated electron water cluster (the so-called Kevan structure) along with a spatially separated sulfur atom. We show that the use of density correction indeed reduces DDEs in comparison to a standard DFT global hybrid functional. We then propagate molecular dynamics trajectories of the hydrated electron using DC-DFT, where we find that DC further localizes electron density in the cavity region, a signature of reduced charge delocalization. Unfortunately, the decreased radius of gyration of the spin density and corresponding tightening of the local solvation structure from density correction causes predicted observables to deviate further from experimental measurements than when density correction is not employed. Here, we argue that DC’s worse agreement with experiment results from the removal of a fortuitous cancellation of errors that is intrinsic to the PBEh functional. This indicates that the difficulties with DFT to simulate hydrated electrons are primarily due to the inherent approximations in DFT rather than to density-driven errors.

Density functional theory↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrocatalytic alkene epoxidation at disrupted metal ensembles in blended electrolytes

The project aims to achieve a molecular understanding of oxygen-atom transfer from water to alkenes at electrocatalytic interfaces. Molecular oxygen is the most common oxygen-atom source for epoxidations, and our group is developing sustainable routes through which epoxidation of olefins is achieved using water as the oxygen source. This route can improve the safety of the reaction while also co-producing hydrogen, demonstrating the relevance of this reaction to the energy transition. If successful in our efforts, we may enable oxygen-atom transfer reactions at the anode of water electrolyzers in the place of conventional oxygen evolution, allowing for the synthesis of sustainable value-added co-products. In this vein, we explore several approaches to acquiring high selectivity toward epoxidation over competing reactions, such as oxygen evolution. One of our aims is to allow for rational control of epoxide selectivity by disrupting contiguous metal ensembles at the surface of catalytic metal oxide nanoparticles. Specifically, we aim to synthesize single-atom, few-atom, and many-atom clusters supported on metal oxides and study the mechanism of oxygen evolution and alkene epoxidation on these materials. Thus, this approach will determine the impact of disrupting metal ensembles on the selectivity for alkene epoxidation versus oxygen evolution in blended electrolytes. Another aim is to develop a molecular-level understanding of how a blended electrolyte (i.e., a mixture of aqueous and organic solvents) influences rates of alkene epoxidation versus oxygen evolution. In other words, we are interested in understanding the catalytic influence of the solvent, as our preliminary work shows that the selectivity and reactivity of epoxidation depend strongly on the solvent composition. This investigation includes blended electrolytes and electrolytes containing redox mediator species that improve selectivity toward the desired epoxidation reaction. Overall, our proposed work will help to provide a detailed molecular-level picture of how solvents interact with substrates at the electrode-electrolyte interface, including their involvement in proton transfer reactions and screening of electric fields.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Parallel algorithms for hyperdynamics and local hyperdynamics

Hyperdynamics (HD) is a method for accelerating the timescale of standard molecular dynamics (MD). It can be used for simulations of systems with an energy potential landscape that is a collection of basins, separated by barriers, where transitions between basins are infrequent. HD enables the system to escape from a basin more quickly while enabling a statistically accurate renormalization of the simulation time, thus effectively boosting the timescale of the simulation. In [Kim, Perez, Voter, J Chem Phys, 139:144110, 2013)1, a local version of HD was formulated, which exploits the intrinsic locality characteristic typical of most systems to mitigate the poor scaling properties of standard HD as the system size is increased. In this paper, we discuss how both HD and local HD can be formulated to run efficiently in parallel. We have implemented these ideas in the LAMMPS MD code, which means HD can be used with any interatomic potential LAMMPS supports. Together, these parallel methods allow simulations of any size to achieve the time acceleration offered by HD (which can be orders of magnitude), at a cost 3-5x that of standard MD. As examples, we performed two simulations of a million-atom system to model the diffusion and clustering of Pt adatoms on a large patch of Pt(100) surface for 80 and 160 μs.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Many-body reactive force field development for carbon condensation in C/O systems under extreme conditions

In this paper, we describe the development of a reactive force field for C/O systems under extreme temperatures and pressures, based on the many-body Chebyshev Interaction Model for Efficient Simulation (ChIMES). The resulting model, which targets carbon condensation under thermodynamic conditions of 6500 K and 2.5 g cm –3 , affords a balance between model accuracy, complexity, and training set generation expense. We show that the model recovers much of the accuracy of density functional theory for the prediction of structure, dynamics, and chemistry when applied to dissociative condensed phase systems at 1:1 and 1:2 C:O ratios, as well as molten carbon. Our C/O modeling approach exhibits a 104 increase in efficiency for the same system size (i.e., 128 atoms) and a linear system size scalability over standard quantum molecular dynamics methods, allowing the simulation of significantly larger systems than previously possible. We find that the model captures the condensed-phase reaction-coupled formation of carbon clusters implied by recent experiments, and that this process is susceptible to strong finite size effects. Overall, we find the present ChIMES model to be well suited for studying chemical processes and cluster formation at pressures and temperatures typical of shock waves. We expect that the present C/O modeling paradigm can serve as a template for the development of a broader high pressure–high temperature force-field for condensed phase chemistry in organic materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

The ANI-1ccx and ANI-1x data sets, coupled-cluster and density functional theory properties for molecules

Abstract Maximum diversification of data is a central theme in building generalized and accurate machine learning (ML) models. In chemistry, ML has been used to develop models for predicting molecular properties, for example quantum mechanics (QM) calculated potential energy surfaces and atomic charge models. The ANI-1x and ANI-1ccx ML-based general-purpose potentials for organic molecules were developed through active learning; an automated data diversification process. Here, we describe the ANI-1x and ANI-1ccx data sets. To demonstrate data diversity, we visualize it with a dimensionality reduction scheme, and contrast against existing data sets. The ANI-1x data set contains multiple QM properties from 5 M density functional theory calculations, while the ANI-1ccx data set contains 500 k data points obtained with an accurate CCSD(T)/CBS extrapolation. Approximately 14 million CPU core-hours were expended to generate this data. Multiple QM calculated properties for the chemical elements C, H, N, and O are provided: energies, atomic forces, multipole moments, atomic charges, etc. We provide this data to the community to aid research and development of ML models for chemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗