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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

The Application of Coordination to Magnetic Measurement Automation: An SSW System Example

Magnetic measurements are an integral part of the development cycle of accelerator magnets, a part which provides necessary feedback to drive design and manufacturing improvements and corrections. Automation of these measurements allows for reduction of human errors and reproducibility of measurements. Realization of automation via coordination that is separated at the architectural level from the functional code provides flexibility in defining measurement procedures and substantial extensibility. The described Single Stretched Wire (SSW) system herein is an implementation of such a solution with the use of a component-based framework designed to build a family of measurement systems.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multi-Artifact Analysis of Self-Admitted Technical Debt in Scientific Software

Context: Self-admitted technical debt (SATD) occurs when developers acknowledge shortcuts in code. In scientific software (SSW), such debt poses unique risks to the validity and reproducibility of results. Objective: This study aims to identify, categorize, and evaluate scientific debt, a specialized form of SATD in SSW, and assess the extent to which traditional SATD categories capture these domain-specific issues. Method: We conduct a multi-artifact analysis across code comments, commit messages, pull requests, and issue trackers from 23 open-source SSW projects. We construct and validate a curated dataset of scientific debt, develop a multi-source SATD classifier to guide SATD management, and conduct a practitioner validation to assess the practical relevance of scientific debt. Results: Our classifier performs strongly across 900,358 artifacts from 23 SSW projects. SATD is most prevalent in pull requests and issue trackers, underscoring the value of multi-artifact analysis. Models trained on traditional SATD often miss scientific debt, emphasizing the need for its explicit detection in SSW. Practitioner validation confirmed that scientific debt is both recognizable and useful in practice. Conclusions: Scientific debt represents a unique form of SATD in SSW that that is not adequately captured by traditional categories and requires specialized identification and management. Our dataset, classification analysis, and practitioner validation results provide the first formal multi-artifact perspective on scientific debt, highlighting the need for tailored SATD detection approaches in SSW.

Melin, Eric [Boise State University]↗
DOE OSTI2017

Solid Secondary Waste Form Testing Activities for the Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment Support - 17567

Solid secondary waste (SSW) that will be generated at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and from other activities at the Hanford site is destined for disposal at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). Construction of the IDF was undertaken based on a Performance Assessment (PA) performed in 2001. In 2016, a SSW data package was prepared to support the development of an updated PA (2017 IDF PA). There are many inputs required to support the IDF PA. Data needs were identified based on experience from the previous PAs and from the development of conceptual models and modeling approaches to be applied for the 2017 PA. Interactions with the IDF PA team and the inventory data package developer helped to focus detailed efforts on a few key waste streams, contaminants of concern, and disposal configurations that are expected to be the primary contributors to the dose resulting from SSW disposed at the IDF. The key waste streams include: High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, ion exchange resins, granular activated carbon, and Ag-mordenite. The key parameters addressed in the 2016 data package include: saturated hydraulic conductivity, moisture characteristic curves, effective diffusion coefficient, distribution coefficient and porosity. The IDF PA team also identified a set of key contaminants that are expected to be the primary concern for the PA calculations (Tc-99, I-129, Cs-137, Sr-90, uranium isotopes (and total uranium), chromium, mercury and nitrate). These contaminants were the focus of the SSW data package. Specific formulations had not been identified for cementitious materials that will be used to encapsulate or stabilize SSW, and no IDF-specific experiments had been conducted to obtain the data for the PA. Thus, for the 2016 SSW data package, recommended property values were provided for a range of representative candidate materials based on a review of existing literature. However, starting in FY17, IDF-specific experiments will be performed for Hanford SSW expected to contribute most significantly to the dose for the IDF. This paper will summarize the information obtained for the 2016 data package and the plans for further testing to refine key inputs for the IDF PA. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Solid Secondary Waste Immobilization in Cementitious Waste Forms at the Hanford Site - 19081

During operations of the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, solid secondary wastes (SSW) will be generated. These materials include HEPA filters, granular activated carbon (GAC), and silver mordenite (AgM). The planned disposal pathway for SSW is through solidification (blending) or encapsulation in a cementitious waste form and then disposal on site at the Hanford Site's Integrated Disposal Facility. Performance assessment evaluations of SSW forms have been performed; however, limited experimental data on simulated SSW is available as input. This paper will cover efforts to fill this gap in experimental data through testing of simulated SSW materials. Two grout formulations were used in the tests: 1) Hanford grout mix 5, a mix of 25 wt% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and 75 wt% fly ash (FA); and 2) the Cast Stone dry blend of 47 wt% blast furnace slag, 45 wt% FA, and 8 wt% OPC. The sorption (Kd) of potential contaminants (iodide, iodate, technetium) to the grouts and SSW materials was investigated in simulated grout pore water. Waste forms containing GAC and AgM were prepared using the two grout formulations and characterized using scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Acquiring this information will further support the candidacy of cementitious waste forms to be used for disposal of SSW at Hanford. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2026

Self-Admitted Technical Debt in Scientific Software: Prioritization, Sentiment, and Propagation Across Artifacts

Self-admitted technical debt (SATD) impairs scientific software (SSW), yet its prioritization, sentiment, persistence, and propagation remains underexplored. Understanding how SSW developers express, and address SATD is crucial for improving SSW maintenance, and tooling. This study investigates how SATD types and artifacts in SSW are prioritized, how sentiment relates to urgency, SATD removal and resolution rates, and the extent to which SATD propagates across artifacts. We analyzed nine SSW repositories using a SATD classification model and a semantic embedding-based prioritization heuristic. SATD was examined across multiple artifacts, with sentiment assessed via a fine-tuned transformer. Propagation was traced, priority scores compared to static analysis, and removal and resolution rates quantified. SATD in comments, commits, and pull requests receive higher priority than SATD in issues, with negative sentiment amplifying urgency. Resolution and removal rates lag behind open-source software (OSS) averages. Most SATD remains confined to the originating artifact, but longer propagation chains are rare and correlate with higher priority, highlighting persistent and high impact debt. Prioritization is influenced by artifact type and sentiment, while low removal and resolution rates signal persistent debt. Cross-artifact propagation marks high priority, unresolved SATD, providing empirical guidance for targeted monitoring, review prioritization, and tool supported maintenance in SSW.

Melin, Eric [Boise State University]↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development and Characterization of Cementitious Waste Forms for Immobilization of Granular Activated Carbon, Silver Mordenite, and HEPA Filter Media Solid Secondary Waste

At the Department of Energy’s Hanford site, over 53 million gallons of chemically complex and radioactive wastes have been stored in 177 underground tanks. The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is under construction and is designed to treat and immobilize these wastes. During operations of WTP, solid secondary wastes (SSWs) will be generated as a result of waste treatment, vitrification, off-gas management, and supporting process activities. SSW treatment processes and resulting disposal pathways for the final disposition form of the SSW are needed to support direct feed low activity waste (DFLAW) operations and facilitate continued operation of WTP. The SSWs produced through WTP operations are expected to include used process equipment, contaminated tools and instruments, decontamination wastes, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, carbon absorption beds (granular activated carbon, GAC), silver mordenite (AgM) and spent ion-exchange resins. These waste streams are planned to be immobilized in a cementitious waste form and disposed of either as stabilized/blended (non-debris) or encapsulated (debris) in a cementitious waste form. Accordingly, cementitious waste forms from these streams were included in the 2017 Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) Performance Assessment (PA). The input data used to represent these SSW forms in the 2017 IDF PA involved many assumptions and associated uncertainties. This data limitation was due to the lack of material- and site-specific data available for representative SSW materials in cementitious matrices. To verify the assumed values used in the IDF PA and fill this limitation in available data, Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC (WRPS), has initiated a program targeted toward gathering site specific data relevant to Hanford SSW disposal. The work within this report is a continuation of this ongoing program.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of Degradation Mechanisms for Solid Secondary Waste Grout Waste Forms

The overall objective of this work is to provide defensibility for the long-term performance of grouted Hanford SSW streams when disposed in a near surface disposal facility, IDF, on the Hanford Site. Providing defensibly for the long-term performance of the grouted waste forms is consistent with the research and development activities identified in the Performance Assessment Maintenance Plan, (Westcott et al. 2019), that are necessary to address the assumptions made in the PA. Specifically, this work addresses two areas identified for further research and development activities in the plan: (1) “Evaluate ongoing research on transport characteristics of cementitious materials using accelerated tests to approximate the effects of aging/alteration/weathering”; and (2) “Evaluate ongoing research on microbial effects on transport processes in cementitious materials.” The assembled subject matter expert team evaluated a list of degradation mechanisms and supporting processes and provided rankings of areas where further research and development (R&D) are needed. From this assessment, high priority R&D areas include: (1) the effects of carbonation, Ca leaching, and SSW dimensional change in grout waste forms; (2) updated model representations of grouted waste forms; and (3) scaled testing demonstrations. Moderate priority items including a paper study on possible microbial influence, reoxidation rates, radionuclide/contaminant dissolution from SSW in the grout and freeze thaw behavior. Other processes evaluated were either deemed unlikely to occur, to have little impact on the SSW waste forms, or to occur at time frames beyond those considered (>10,000 years). The assessments and proposed R&D approaches are expected to support an update to the WRPS SSW roadmap.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Path Properties of Atmospheric Transitions: Illustration with a Low-Order Sudden Stratospheric Warming Model

Many rare weather events, including hurricanes, droughts, and floods, dramatically impact human life. To accurately forecast these events and characterize their climatology requires specialized mathematical techniques to fully leverage the limited data that are available. Here we describe transition path theory (TPT), a framework originally developed for molecular simulation, and argue that it is a useful paradigm for developing mechanistic understanding of rare climate events. TPT provides a method to calculate statistical properties of the paths into the event. As an initial demonstration of the utility of TPT, we analyze a low-order model of sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), a dramatic disturbance to the polar vortex that can induce extreme cold spells at the surface in the midlatitudes. SSW events pose a major challenge for seasonal weather prediction because of their rapid, complex onset and development. Climate models struggle to capture the long-term statistics of SSW, owing to their diversity and intermittent nature. We use a stochastically forced Holton–Mass-type model with two stable states, corresponding to radiative equilibrium and a vacillating SSW-like regime. In this stochastic bistable setting, from certain probabilistic forecasts TPT facilitates estimation of dominant transition pathways and return times of transitions. These “dynamical statistics” are obtained by solving partial differential equations in the model’s phase space. With future application to more complex models, TPT and its constituent quantities promise to improve the predictability of extreme weather events through both generation and principled evaluation of forecasts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Modeling Seasonal Sudden Stratospheric Warming Climatology Based on Polar Vortex Statistics

This report explores the climatological frequency distribution of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). General circulation models (GCMs) tend to produce SSW maxima later in winter than observations, which has been considered as a model deficiency. Yet, the observed record is short, calling into question the representativeness of the observational record. To study the seasonality of SSWs and the factors behind it, the authors use observations, a long control simulation with a stratosphere resolving GCM, and also a simple statistical model that is based on the climatological seasonal cycle of the polar vortex winds. From the combined analysis, the authors conclude that the late-winter SSW maximum seen in most climate models is realistic and that observations would also have a late-winter SSW maximum if more data were available. The authors identify the seasonally varying strengths of the polar vortex and stratospheric wave driving as the two main factors behind the seasonal SSW distribution. The statistical model also indicates that there exists a continuum of weak polar vortex states and that SSWs simply form the tail of normally distributed stratospheric winds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Stabilization of Spherical Rescorcinol Resin in Grout- Maintenance of the Hanford Integrated Disposal Performance Assessment FY 2018

Operation of the low activity waste vitrification facility (LAW) part of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at Hanford will generate several solid secondary waste (SSW) streams including used process equipment, contaminated tools and instruments, decontamination wastes, highefficiency particulate air filters (HEPA), carbon absorption beds, silver mordenite iodine sorbent beds, and spent ion exchange resins (IXr), all of which are to be disposed of in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). The baseline treatment method in the IDF Performance Assessment (PA) for SSW is solidification/stabilization using cementitious material. The Hanford Mix 5 has been identified as the baseline grout for encapsulation of debris SSW (HEPA filters) and solidification/stabilization of non-debris SSW (carbon absorption beds, silver mordenite iodine sorbent beds, and spent ion exchange resins). Hanford Mix 5 is a blend of ASTM (C150-18) Type I-II cement (OPC), Class F fly ash (FA), water, BASF Pozzolith 80 and BASF Master Fiber M100 (fiber) that is currently used for disposal of debris in carbon steel containers (B25) in Hanford’s 200 West Area Low Level Waste Burial Ground trenches.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Assessment of different coarse graining strategies to simulate polydisperse gas-solids flow

Continuum methods require the additional development of solids stress closures for polydisperse powders based on complex kinetic theories that are non-trivial to develop, code, and numerically converge for the wide range of fluidization regimes from very dilute to dense/frictional flow limit. On the other hand, it is straightforward to model the flow of polydisperse granular materials by treating particles as discrete rigid bodies that are tracked following simple physical laws of motion. The coarsening of these discrete methods by lumping several particles in a parcel alleviates the significant computational cost associated with these discrete methods while introducing some inaccuracies in the numerical results. In this research, we explore two different coarse graining methods that can be applied to polydisperse powders, namely the same statistic weight method (SSW) and the same size parcel method (SSP), and assess their accuracy by comparison with the finest simulation results obtained with a discrete element method (DEM). For Geldart group B powders fluidized at a relative low superficial velocity, the numerical results indicate that the SSW is more accurate than the SSP method. For type A powders fluidized at relatively high velocity, these two methods predict similar results. Interestingly, up to four times increase in the speed of simulation of the SSP method was obtained because the original polydisperse powder is scaled to a mono-disperse system in terms of particle-particle collision. Lastly, these results suggest that the SSP method is more favorable for the simulation of fluidized beds due to its accuracy and efficiency while the SSW method may be used for granular flow and dense fluidized bed systems where capturing the size segregation of particles due to collision is important.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Satellite Reentry Predictions During Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

Prediction of uncontrolled satellite reentry time and trajectory are essential to avoid damages to human being and properties over land. Reentry time and trajectory are largely controlled by aerodynamic drag and mass neutral density below 200 km. In this paper, using a numerical model of the whole atmosphere, WACCM‐X, and a Precision Orbital Determination software, we demonstrate the major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in January 2009, during the deep solar minimum of 2009, may cause 0.2–0.3 day of variation in reentry time. The SSW can alter the mass density and composition mixing ratio in the lower thermosphere below 200 km through changed wave forcing and general circulation in the lower thermosphere. This is comparable to the effect of a 2‐SFU (Solar Flux Unit) solar radiance variation on the neutral density. 0.1 day of reentry time uncertainty corresponds to a global shift in impact location, that is, thousands of kilometers distance. For comparison, a major SSW during solar maximum contributes little to reentry time variation, which is predominantly controlled by the solar and geomagnetic forcing. We suggest a few proxies such as O/N 2 in the lower thermosphere or mean meridional wind to account for the lower atmosphere impacts in an operational model. This needs to be investigated in rigorous future work.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Limited surface impacts of the January 2021 sudden stratospheric warming

Subseasonal weather prediction can reduce economic disruption and loss of life, especially during “windows of opportunity” when noteworthy events in the Earth system are followed by characteristic weather patterns. Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs), breakdowns of the winter stratospheric polar vortex, are one such event. They often precede warm temperatures in Northern Canada and cold, stormy weather throughout Europe and the United States - including the most recent SSW on January 5th, 2021. Here we assess the drivers of surface weather in the weeks following the SSW through initial condition “scrambling” experiments using the real-time CESM2(WACCM6) Earth system prediction framework. We find that the SSW itself had a limited impact, and that stratospheric polar vortex stretching and wave reflection had no discernible contribution to the record cold in North America in February. Instead, the tropospheric circulation and bidirectional coupling between the troposphere and stratosphere were dominant contributors to variability.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data-Driven Transition Path Analysis Yields a Statistical Understanding of Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events in an Idealized Model

Abstract Atmospheric regime transitions are highly impactful as drivers of extreme weather events, but pose two formidable modeling challenges: predicting the next event (weather forecasting) and characterizing the statistics of events of a given severity (the risk climatology). Each event has a different duration and spatial structure, making it hard to define an objective “average event.” We argue here that transition path theory (TPT), a stochastic process framework, is an appropriate tool for the task. We demonstrate TPT’s capacities on a wave–mean flow model of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) developed by Holton and Mass, which is idealized enough for transparent TPT analysis but complex enough to demonstrate computational scalability. Whereas a recent article (Finkel et al. 2021) studied near-term SSW predictability, the present article uses TPT to link predictability to long-term SSW frequency. This requires not only forecasting forward in time from an initial condition, but also backward in time to assess the probability of the initial conditions themselves. TPT enables one to condition the dynamics on the regime transition occurring, and thus visualize its physical drivers with a vector field called the reactive current . The reactive current shows that before an SSW, dissipation and stochastic forcing drive a slow decay of vortex strength at lower altitudes. The response of upper-level winds is late and sudden, occurring only after the transition is almost complete from a probabilistic point of view. This case study demonstrates that TPT quantities, visualized in a space of physically meaningful variables, can help one understand the dynamics of regime transitions.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗
DOE OSTI2022

Modulation of North Atlantic Polar Low Activity and Associated Flow Patterns by Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

Abstract Polar lows (PLs) are intense maritime mesoscale cyclones that can pose hazards to coastal communities and marine operation in the Arctic. This study examines the impacts of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) on PL activity in the subarctic North Atlantic. The 20 days following SSWs are characterized by tropospheric circulation anomalies resembling the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. PL activity decreases significantly over the Labrador Sea, which can be attributed to the infrequent occurrence of low static stability and strong environmental baroclinicity, as well as reduced surface turbulent heat fluxes. These results suggest that a skillful prediction of SSWs can improve the extended-range forecast of PL activity over the Labrador Sea. For the Nordic seas, the results imply that the spatial structure of an SSW event is important for the PL modulation through different tropospheric circulation patterns. Situations with increased PL frequency in the Nordic seas are characterized by SSWs centered close to northern Greenland occurring over a smaller area, and a tropospheric response featuring enhanced cold-air outbreaks over the Norwegian Sea. Conversely, PL activity is suppressed over the Nordic seas when the SSW favors the formation of a tropospheric anticyclone above Greenland and Scandinavia. Significance Statement This study investigates the relationships between polar lows (PLs) and sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) over the subarctic North Atlantic. A better understanding of the effect of SSWs on PL development has the potential to improve extended-range forecasts of PLs. It is shown that SSWs are responsible for the significantly suppressed regional PL activity over the Labrador Sea, suggesting that SSWs can serve as a predictor for the extended-range forecast of PLs over this region. Following SSW events, the thermodynamic state of atmosphere becomes more stable over the Labrador Sea and hinders the convective development of PLs. For the northern Nordic seas, the impacts of SSWs on PL activity are sensitive to the spatial structure of stratospheric warming.

Chang, Chuan-Chieh↗
DOE OSTI2024

Full Scale HEPA Filter Encapsulation in Ultra-High-Performance Grout - Proof of Concept

The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) currently being constructed to treat radioactive waste, includes vitrification facilities for both the high-level waste (HLW) and low activity waste (LAW) fractions. Operation of the WTP will produce contaminated high-efficiency particulate air filters (HEPA), as part of the solid secondary waste (SSW) stream. The HEPA filters receive off-gas from the vessel vent header and primary off-gas treatment system in LAW Facility and remove particulate contaminants including 99 Tc and 129 I salts. The current disposal method for HEPA filters is encapsulation in metal containers using cementitious material (CM) and disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). Results from the 2017 IDF Performance Assessment (PA) WRPS (2018) demonstrated that while compliance is maintained for the 1000 year compliance period mandated by DOE O 435.1 and its accompanying manual, release of constituents from the HEPA filters result in exceedance of the performance objective imposed as the groundwater regulatory limit at later times. For example, at about 1500 years post-closure, solid secondary waste (SSW), including HEPA filters is predicted to become a dominant contributor to 99 Tc release and over the 10,000-year sensitivity analysis period, SSW is the dominant contributor of 129 I release to the groundwater. The estimated release could potentially be reduced if the HEPA filters are not compacted and waste containers could be distributed throughout a large space, thereby diluting the contaminant release. Additionally, a better cementitious material could be used to encapsulate the HEPA filters. One alternative method for disposal of contaminated HEPA filters is encapsulation of the filters in ultra high-performance grout (UHPG). UHPG is a variation of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is commonly used in the prestressed concrete industry for large structural members. Recent studies of UHPG show it has excellent properties for containing radionuclides such as 99 Tc and 129 I Nichols and Kaplan (2021). This report presents the results of the first attempt to encapsulate a clean, full-size HEPA filter in UHPG and evaluate the effectiveness of the immobilization process and final waste form. A full-scale proof-of-concept simulated waste form was prepared by encapsulating a HEPA filter in a 110-gallon stainless steel (SS) drum using UHPG. A change from Type I/II PC to Type 1L PLC was made after American Rock Products informed the team that they would no longer be using Type I/II by the end of 2024 and the northwest was phasing out Type I/II PC overall. Type I/II PC used in previous studies of UHPG for encapsulation (Nichols and Kaplan 2021). After the UHPG was cured both the scaled mockup and the full-scale simulated waste forms were sectioned for visual examination. UHPG completely encapsulated the filters and bonded to the external surfaces of materials comprising the filters. No cracks were observed in the sectioned waste forms.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nanomaterial-Treated Filters for the Uptake of Heavy Metals from Water Sources

We describe the synthesis and properties of ligand-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grown on stainless steel wool filters. Their selectivity and efficiency with regards to heavy metal uptake from groundwater and other sources of drinking water found at or near DOE facilities were also investigated. The nanomaterial-treated filters are advantageous because they serve as inactive supports that allow for efficient flow of the contaminated water, and can be easily replaced after heavy metal uptake. They are also comparable to nanomaterials free in solution with regards to the effectiveness of remediation of drinking water. Environmental stewardship is at the forefront of core competencies at SRNS. This includes treatment and remediation of contaminated groundwater. Among contaminants present in water resources, hazardous heavy metals and radioactive contaminants are the main concerns in the DOE complex. With the advent of nanotechnology, new remediation technologies have emerged. AuNPs have unique optical properties and enormous surface areas, making them good candidates for water remediation. They can be functionalized with ligands, e.g. citrate and L-cysteine, allowing them to serve as an excellent platform for environmental stewardship applications. Objectives: 1. Nanomaterial development and characterization Ligand-modified AuNPs: (a) in solution and (b) on stainless steel wool filters 2. Nanomaterial evaluation for efficiency and selectivity of heavy metal uptake, including Cu{sup 2+} and Zn{sup 2+}. Materials and Methods: Chloroauric acid (HAuCl{sub 4}), sodium citrate (reducing and capping agent); Stainless steel wool (SSW) was used as a support and filter; L-cysteine- ligand for surface functionalization; Zinc acetate and copper nitrate: heavy metal ions contaminants. Au NPs were prepared by wet chemistry methods. They were characterized by UV-Vis, Zeta sizer and potential, SEM, EDS and EDS mapping to understand their physico-chemical properties. Results and Discussions: Surface modification of AuNPs with surfactants changes their optical properties. Citrate capped AuNPs demonstrate high loading capacity for both heavy metals. L-cysteine capped AuNPs demonstrate high loading capacity for Zn{sup 2+}. Citrate capped AuNPs have excellent sensitivity towards heavy metal ions (0.05 mM can be detected). L-cysteine capped AuNPs can detect heavy metal ions at low concentrations, making them useful for sensing. Conclusions: AuNPs in solution and on SSW were successfully synthesized and characterized. Two functional sensing and remediation technologies - colorimetric sensor and AuNP-treated filters - were developed through wet chemistry methods. AuNP SSW filters exhibit different characteristics (size, shape, etc.) than AuNPs in solution and are efficient at the uptake of heavy metal ions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗