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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 OSTI2026

Photooxidative Upcycling of Post-Consumer Polystyrene Plastics into Phenol Using Eosin Y

Phenol is a commodity chemical frequently used in the manufacturing of resins, pharmaceuticals, and polymers. Yet, its industrial production from cumene requires harsh oxidative conditions followed by the Hock rearrangement. Polystyrene (PS) is a widely manufactured commodity polymer; however, it is among the least recycled plastics. Intriguingly, it is composed of contiguous cumene repeats that could serve as a phenol source, enhancing its value as a waste material. In this work, we leverage the similarity between cumene and PS to drive phenol production via a mild photooxidative HAT mechanism. Using Eosin Y under blue light irradiation and atmospheric pressure of oxygen, commercial PS resin was converted into hydroperoxyl PS. Subsequent acid-catalyzed Hock rearrangement afforded up to 21% yield of phenol. The photooxidation system was successfully applied to 8 post-consumer PS plastics, achieving phenol yields up to 23%, comparable to those of the current industrial Hock process. Our method introduces a mild catalytic strategy for converting post-consumer PS into phenol, offering a potential pathway for PS waste valorization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Engineering the Novel Extremophile Alga Chlamydomonas pacifica for High Lipid and High Starch Production as a Path to Developing Commercially Relevant Strains

Microalgae offer a compelling platform for the production of commodity products, due to their superior photosynthetic efficiency, adaptability to nonarable lands and nonpotable water, and their capacity to produce a versatile array of bioproducts, including biofuels and biomaterials. However, the scalability of microalgae as a bioresource has been hindered by challenges such as costly biomass production related to vulnerability to pond crashes during large-scale cultivation. This study presents a pipeline for the genetic engineering and pilot-scale production of biodiesel and thermoplastic polyurethane precursors in the extremophile species Chlamydomonas pacifica. This extremophile microalga exhibits exceptional resilience to high pH (>11.5), high salinity (up to 2% NaCl), and elevated temperatures (up to 42 °C). Initially, we evolved this strain to also have a high tolerance to high light intensity (>2000 μE/m 2 /s) through mutagenesis, breeding, and selection. We subsequently genetically engineered C. pacifica to significantly enhance lipid production by 28% and starch accumulation by 27%, all without affecting its growth rate. We demonstrated the scalability of these engineered strains by cultivating them in pilot-scale raceway ponds and converting the resulting biomass into biodiesel and thermoplastic polyurethanes. This study showcases the complete cycle of transforming a newly discovered species into a commercially relevant commodity production strain. This research underscores the potential of extremophile algae, including C. pacifica, as a key species for the burgeoning sustainable bioeconomy, offering a viable path forward in mitigating environmental challenges and supporting global bioproduct demands.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electrochemically Initiated Depolymerization of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)

Efficient depolymerization of polymers with all-carbon backbones under mild conditions would be valuable in chemically recycling commodity plastics. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a commodity thermoplastic that is currently depolymerized under temperatures in excess of 400 °C. Herein, we lower the temperatures needed to achieve depolymerization of PMMA by performing radical generation and depropagation with orthogonal stimuli. This first demonstration of electrochemically initiated PMMA depolymerization relies on reduction of phthalimide esters that, upon subsequent decarboxylation, generate polymer-centered radicals. These radicals then spontaneously unzip the polymer back to its monomeric constituents at temperatures as low as 105 °C. We studied the mechanism and efficiency of this transformation as a function of phthalimide ester placement, incorporation density, and polymer molecular weight. We found that chain-end activation is effective for modest molecular weights but suffers diminished efficiency at higher degrees of polymerization. In contrast, pendent-group activation is more effective for depolymerizing higher molecular weight species. Integrating higher molar amounts of phthalimide ester pendants leads to more effective depolymerization, with >95% depolymerization in copolymers with 5 mol% phthalimide ester incorporation. We leveraged this understanding to create a custom electro-distillation apparatus that allowed us to simultaneously electrochemically depolymerize PMMA and directly distill methyl methacrylate in >22% yield, which could ultimately be repolymerized. These findings establish electrochemistry as a versatile and orthogonal stimulus for vinyl polymer depolymerization and provide a foundation for closed-loop electrochemical recycling of widely used plastics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Sugar release and growth of biofuel crops are improved by downregulation of pectin biosynthesis

Cell walls in crops and trees have been engineered for production of biofuels and commodity chemicals, but engineered varieties often fail multi-year field trials and are not commercialized. In this paper, we engineered reduced expression of a pectin biosynthesis gene (Galacturonosyltransferase 4, GAUT4) in switchgrass and poplar, and find that this improves biomass yields and sugar release from biomass processing. Both traits were maintained in a 3-year field trial of GAUT4-knockdown switchgrass, with up to sevenfold increased saccharification and ethanol production and sixfold increased biomass yield compared with control plants. We show that GAUT4 is an α-1,4-galacturonosyltransferase that synthesizes homogalacturonan (HG). Downregulation of GAUT4 reduces HG and rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII), reduces wall calcium and boron, and increases extractability of cell wall sugars. Finally, decreased recalcitrance in biomass processing and increased growth are likely due to reduced HG and RGII cross-linking in the cell wall.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Utilization of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for photomixotrophic chemical production in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Abstract To meet the need for environmentally friendly commodity chemicals, feedstocks for biological chemical production must be diversified. Lignocellulosic biomass are an carbon source with the potential for effective use in a large scale and cost-effective production systems. Although the use of lignocellulosic biomass lysates for heterotrophic chemical production has been advancing, there are challenges to overcome. Here we aim to investigate the obligate photoautotroph cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a chassis organism for lignocellulosic chemical production. When modified to import monosaccharides, this cyanobacterium is an excellent candidate for lysates-based chemical production as it grows well at high lysate concentrations and can fix CO 2 to enhance carbon efficiency. This study is an important step forward in enabling the simultaneous use of two sugars as well as lignocellulosic lysate. Incremental genetic modifications enable catabolism of both sugars concurrently without experiencing carbon catabolite repression. Production of 2,3-butanediol is demonstrated to characterize chemical production from the sugars in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The engineered strain achieves a titer of 13.5 g L −1 of 2,3-butanediol over 12 days under shake-flask conditions. This study can be used as a foundation for industrial scale production of commodity chemicals from a combination of sunlight, CO 2 , and lignocellulosic sugars.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Introduction to (Photo)electrocatalysis For Renewable Energy

Humanity is facing a significant and growing energy demand, necessitating a new energy paradigm built on clean and abundant renewable energy.1 Within this context, electrocatalysis and (photo)electrocatalysis hold great promise for enabling renewable energies such as solar and wind power to overcome the transient nature of their energy output.2-6 Developing catalysts that operate efficiently and selectively, and that are also robust, has been the focus of much research. This special issue brings together the latest advances in the fundamental and applied science addressing the synthesis, characterization, mechanisms, and performance of (photo)electrocatalysts for energy storage and conversion of small molecules into useful specialty and commodity chemicals and fuels. The electrocatalysts and (photo)electrocatalysts highlighted in this issue include metalloenzymes, homogeneous and supported molecular catalysts, and diverse heterogeneous nanoparticulate and thin film systems. The reports span across basic and applied studies and encompass both experimental and theoretical investigations.

Dey, Abhishek↗
DOE OSTI2024

Aliphatic Amines from Waste Polyolefins by Tandem Pyrolysis, Hydroformylation, and Reductive Amination

Pyrolysis of waste plastics can produce a product mixture with a high concentration of olefins (>50 wt%). The olefins, as building blocks in the petroleum industry, are potential precursors for valuable commodity chemicals with higher values (>$2000 per ton). In this work, we produce aldehydes by hydroformylation of the olefins present in pyrolysis oil from colored post-consumer recycled high-density polyethylene (PCR-HDPE). The obtained aldehydes in the oil are then converted into aliphatic amines via reductive amination with a Ru/C catalyst. The aminated oil was characterized by multiple analytical chemistry techniques including elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with a Polyarc flame ionization detector. The concentration of metals in the PCR-HDPE and oil changes during the tandem processes, showing limited effects of these elements (e.g., Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Ti, Zn) on hydroformylation and reductive amination. Additionally, we demonstrated that reductive amination of aldehydes with varied carbon numbers and branching properties can be achieved in the presence of a complex mixture, including paraffins and aromatics. The results indicate that waste plastics have the potential to serve as a renewable source for mono and di aliphatic amines, thereby diminishing reliance on fossil feedstocks as the current primary amine source.

aliphatic amines↗
DOE OSTI2024

High performance long chain polyesters via melt copolymerization of cutin-inspired monomers

Biopolymers have exhibited potential as sustainable and circular replacements to existing commodity thermoplastic polymers. However, current biopolymers are limited by poor thermomechanical performance compared with their petroleum-derived counterparts. Herein, we report a simple strategy to achieve good mechanical properties in bio-inspired long-chain polyesters via melt copolymerization. By combining mono- and poly-hydroxyl functionalized long chain fatty acids, we show that tough, semi-crystalline materials can be produced that outperform related biopolymers in terms of their thermomechanical behavior. Finally, we envision that long-chain polyesters derived from hydroxylated fatty acids represent an ideal platform to create the next generation of commodity thermoplastics that possess advantaged properties, inherent biodegradability, and feedstock stability.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Maintaining Balance: The Increasing Role of Energy Storage for Renewable Integration

For nearly a century, global power systems have focused on three key functions: generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity as a real-time commodity. Physics requires that electricity generation always be in real-time balance with load-despite variability in load on time scales ranging from subsecond disturbances to multiyear trends. With the increasing role of variable generation from wind and solar, the retirement of fossil-fuel-based generation, and a changing consumer demand profile, grid operators are using new methods to maintain this balance.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Chemically recyclable thermoplastics from reversible-deactivation polymerization of cyclic acetals

Identifying plastics capable of chemical recycling to monomer (CRM) is the foremost challenge in creating a sustainable circular plastic economy. Polyacetals are promising candidates for CRM but lack useful tensile strengths owing to the low molecular weights produced using current uncontrolled cationic ring-opening polymerization (CROP) methods. Here, we present reversible-deactivation CROP of cyclic acetals using a commercial halomethyl ether initiator and an indium(III) bromide catalyst. Using this method, we synthesize poly(1,3-dioxolane) (PDXL), which demonstrates tensile strength comparable to some commodity polyolefins. Depolymerization of PDXL using strong acid catalysts returns monomer in near-quantitative yield and even proceeds from a commodity plastic waste mixture. Our efficient polymerization method affords a tough thermoplastic that can undergo selective depolymerization to monomer.

Abel, Brooks A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Catabolism of β-5 linked aromatics by Novosphingobium aromaticivorans

ABSTRACT Aromatic compounds are an important source of commodity chemicals traditionally produced from fossil fuels. Aromatics derived from plant lignin can potentially be converted into commodity chemicals through depolymerization followed by microbial funneling of monomers and low molecular weight oligomers. This study investigates the catabolism of the β-5 linked aromatic dimer dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (DC-A) by the bacterium Novosphingobium aromaticivorans . We used genome-wide screens to identify candidate genes involved in DC-A catabolism. Subsequent in vivo and in vitro analyses of these candidate genes elucidated a catabolic pathway composed of four required gene products and several partially redundant dehydrogenases that convert DC-A to aromatic monomers that can be funneled into the central aromatic metabolic pathway of N. aromaticivorans . Specifically, a newly identified γ-formaldehyde lyase, PcfL, opens the phenylcoumaran ring to form a stilbene and formaldehyde. A lignostilbene dioxygenase, LsdD, then cleaves the stilbene to generate the aromatic monomers vanillin and 5-formylferulate (5-FF). We also showed that the aldehyde dehydrogenase FerD oxidizes 5-FF before it is decarboxylated by LigW, yielding ferulic acid. We found that some enzymes involved in the β-5 catabolism pathway can act on multiple substrates and that some steps in the pathway can be mediated by multiple enzymes, providing new insights into the robust flexibility of aromatic catabolism in N. aromaticivorans . A comparative genomic analysis predicted that the newly discovered β-5 aromatic catabolic pathway is common within the order Sphingomonadales. IMPORTANCE In the transition to a circular bioeconomy, the plant polymer lignin holds promise as a renewable source of industrially important aromatic chemicals. However, since lignin contains aromatic subunits joined by various chemical linkages, producing single chemical products from this polymer can be challenging. One strategy to overcome this challenge is using microbes to funnel a mixture of lignin-derived aromatics into target chemical products. This approach requires strategies to cleave the major inter-unit linkages of lignin to release monomers for funneling into valuable products. In this study, we report newly discovered aspects of a pathway by which the Novosphingobium aromaticivorans DSM12444 catabolizes aromatics joined by the second most common inter-unit linkage in lignin, the β-5 linkage. This work advances our knowledge of aromatic catabolic pathways, laying the groundwork for future metabolic engineering of this and other microbes for optimized conversion of lignin into products.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Global Food Demand Model for the Assessment of Complex Human-Earth Systems

Demand for agricultural products is an important problem in climate change economics. Food consumption will shape and shaped by climate change and emissions mitigation policies through interactions with bioenergy and afforestation, two critical issues in meeting international climate goals such as two-degrees. We develop a model of food demand for staple and nonstaple commodities that evolves with changing incomes and prices. The model addresses a long-standing issue in estimating food demands, the evolution of demand relationships across large changes in income and prices. We discuss the model, some of its properties and limitations. We estimate parameter values using pooled cross-sectional-time-series observations and the Metropolis Monte Carlo method and cross-validate the model by estimating parameters using a subset of the observations and test its ability to project into the unused observations. Finally, we apply bias correction techniques borrowed from the climate-modeling community and report results.

climate change, fo, in↗
DOE OSTI2019

Extracting SIMD Parallelism from Recursive Task-Parallel Programs

The pursuit of computational efficiency has led to the proliferation of throughput-oriented hardware, from GPUs to increasingly wide vector units on commodity processors and accelerators. This hardware is designed to efficiently execute data-parallel computations in a vectorized manner. However, many algorithms are more naturally expressed as divide-and-conquer, recursive, task-parallel computations. In the absence of data parallelism, it seems that such algorithms are not well suited to throughput-oriented architectures. This paper presents a set of novel code transformations that expose the data parallelism latent in recursive, task- parallel programs. These transformations facilitate straightforward vectorization of task-parallel programs on commodity hardware. We also present scheduling policies that maintain high utilization of vector resources while limiting space usage. Across several task-parallel benchmarks, we demonstrate both efficient vector resource utilization and substantial speedup on chips using Intel’s SSE4.2 vector units, as well as accelerators using Intel’s AVX512 units. We then show through rigorous sampling that, in practice, our vectorization techniques are effective for a much larger class of programs.

Recursive Programs, task parallelism, vectorizatio↗
DOE OSTI2026

Modeling and Calibration of Supplier Selection Problem in Freight Agent-Based Simulations

Freight transportation modeling often struggles with data limitations, especially in accurately representing complex supplier selection processes and their impact on network flows. This research addresses this critical gap by developing a large-scale, calibrated agent-based model for supplier selection, complemented by a probabilistic heuristic for international shipments. Our approach integrates trade relationships between industry sectors, transportation costs, and a supplier-rating model adapted from existing literature. The model’s core objective is to minimize the discrepancy between modeled and observed commodity flows while ensuring a close match to regional shipping distance distributions. Implemented and tested across four major U.S. metropolitan areas—Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Los Angeles—the model demonstrates high fidelity in replicating observed freight patterns. Key findings reveal consistent alignment with national shipping distance trends and highlight significant spatial variations in commodity trade assignments and demand across the study regions. This behaviorally informed and transport-sensitive framework is designed to approximate real-world decision making, providing a robust tool for policymakers and planners to evaluate targeted interventions, assess infrastructure investments, and enhance supply chain resilience in the face of disruptions.

Ismael, Abdelrahman (ORCID:0000000303712110)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Circular Plastics Technologies: Depolymerization of Polymers Into Parent Monomers

While most commodity plastics were not designed to easily depolymerize, some common plastics can be broken down into their parent monomers in the presence of heat, pressure, catalysts, and/or solvent. Here, we provide a high-level overview of the depolymerization technologies that have been studied and/or scaled as promising monomer-loop recycling processes for selective plastic waste streams. Namely, commodity plastics that are considered unzippable/depolymerizable include polyethylene terephthalate, polyamides, polymethyl methacrylate, and polystyrene. Monomer-loop recycling technologies are one of several pathways toward a circular economy for plastics.

circularity↗
DOE OSTI2024

gcamfaostat: An R package to prepare, process, and synthesize FAOSTAT data for global agroeconomic and multisector dynamic modeling

The gcamfaostat R package is designed for the preparation, processing, and synthesis of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Statistics (FAOSTAT) agroeconomic data. The primary purpose is to facilitate FAOSTAT data use in global economic and multisector dynamic models while ensuring transparency, traceability, and reproducibility. Here, we provide an overview of the development of gcamfaostat (v1.0) and demonstrate its capabilities in generating and maintaining agroeconomic data required for the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM). Our initiative seeks to enhance the quality and accessibility of data for the global agroeconomic modeling community, with the aim of fostering more robust and harmonized outcomes in a collaborative, efficient, and open-source framework. One of the important features of the package is the possibility to construct the FAO Food Balance Sheets at the disaggregated commodity level (with over 500 commodities), which provides a comprehensive and detailed data input for a variety of analytical and modeling applications. The processed data and visualizations offered by gcamfaostat can also be valuable to a broader audience interested in gaining insights into the intricacies of global agriculture.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2017

An Evaluation of the Potential for Shifting of Freight from Truck to Rail and Its Impacts on Energy Use and GHG Emissions

This report summarizes our evaluation of the potential energy-use and GHG-emissions reduction achieved by shifting freight from truck to rail under a most-likely scenario. A sensitivity analysis is also included. The sensitivity analysis shows changes in energy use and GHG emissions when key parameters are varied. The major contribution and distinction from previous studies is that this study considers the rail level of service (LOS) and commodity movements at the origin-destination (O-D) level. In addition, this study considers the fragility and time sensitivity of each commodity type.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗