Accelerating Interface Science Through NREL's New Electron Microscopy Suite
Presentation on NREL's new capabilities in electron microscopy and AI-guided interface that are relevant to the Si PV community.
artificial intelligence↗
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Results for “interface science”
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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Astrobee Guest Science Interface
At the end of 2018, Astrobee will launch three free-flying robots that will navigate the entire US segment of the ISS (International Space Station) and serve as a payload facility. The mechanical and electrical interfaces are now established and several payloads are being developed. Payload Interface: Astrobee is designed to host third party guest science program payloads (GSP payloads). Some GSP payloads may be software only, such as the Zero Robotics Finals Competition, which is currently hosted on SPHERES, and which will transition to Astrobee in 2019. Several GSP payloads with custom hardware, such as the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project RFID reader, are already under development. These payloads will attach in the Astrobee payload bay.
Barlow, J.↗
Interface Science Using Ambient Pressure Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
The development of novel in situ/operando spectroscopic tools has provided the opportunity for a molecular level understanding of solid/liquid interfaces. Ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy using hard X-rays is an excellent interface characterization tool, due to its ability to interrogate simultaneously the chemical composition and built-in electrical potentials, in situ. In this work, we briefly describe the “dip and pull” method, which is currently used as a way to investigate in situ solid/liquid interfaces. By simulating photoelectron intensities from a functionalized TiO2 surface buried by a nanometric-thin layer of water, we obtain the optimal photon energy range that provides the greatest sensitivity to the interface. We also study the evolution of the functionalized TiO2 surface chemical composition and correlated band-bending with a change in the electrolyte pH from 7 to 14. Our results provide general information about the optimal experimental conditions for characterizing the solid/liquid interface using the “dip and pull” method, and the unique possibilities offered by this technique.
Favaro, Marco (ORCID:0000000235028332)↗
Interface Science and Catalysis Group at Brookhaven’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials
Group leader Dario Stacchiola describes how his group captures atomic-scale catalytic processes in real time and under reaction conditions.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Enabling Next Generation Batteries through Electrolyte and Interface Science.
Abstract not provided.
Hahn, Nathan↗
A research agenda for the science of actionable knowledge: Drawing from a review of the most misguided to the most enlightened claims in the science-policy interface literature
Linking science with action affords a prime opportunity to leverage greater societal impact from research and increase the use of evidence in decision-making. Success in these areas depends critically upon processes of producing and mobilizing knowledge, as well as supporting and making decisions. For decades, scholars have idealized and described these social processes in different ways, resulting in numerous assumptions that now variously guide engagements at the interface of science and society. We systematically catalog these assumptions based on prior research on the science-policy interface, and further distill them into a set of 26 claims. We then elicit expert perspectives (n = 16) about these claims to assess the extent to which they are accurate or merit further examination. Out of this process, we construct a research agenda to motivate future scientific research on actionable knowledge, prioritizing areas that experts identified as critical gaps in understanding of the science-society interface. The resulting agenda focuses on how to define success, support intermediaries, build trust, and evaluate the importance of consensus and its alternatives – all in the diverse contexts of science-society-decision-making interactions. We further raise questions about the centrality of knowledge in these interactions, discussing how a governance lens might be generative of efforts to support more equitable processes and outcomes. We offer these suggestions with hopes of furthering the science of actionable knowledge as a transdisciplinary area of inquiry.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Materials characterization: Can artificial intelligence be used to address reproducibility challenges?
Material characterization techniques are widely used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of materials at the nanoscale and, thus, play central roles in material scientific discoveries. However, the large and complex datasets generated by these techniques often require significant human effort to interpret and extract meaningful physicochemical insights. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as machine learning (ML) have the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of surface analysis by automating data analysis and interpretation. In this perspective paper, we review the current role of AI in surface analysis and discuss its future potential to accelerate discoveries in surface science, materials science, and interface science. We highlight several applications where AI has already been used to analyze surface analysis data, including the identification of crystal structures from XRD data, analysis of XPS spectra for surface composition, and the interpretation of TEM and SEM images for particle morphology and size. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of AI into surface analysis workflows. These include the need for large and diverse datasets for training ML models, the importance of feature selection and representation, and the potential for ML to enable new insights and discoveries by identifying patterns and relationships in complex datasets. Most importantly, AI analyzed data must not just find the best mathematical description of the data, but it must find the most physical and chemically meaningful results. In addition, the need for reproducibility in scientific research has become increasingly important in recent years. The advancement of AI, including both conventional and the increasing popular deep learning, is showing promise in addressing those challenges by enabling the execution and verification of scientific progress. By training models on large experimental datasets and providing automated analysis and data interpretation, AI can help to ensure that scientific results are reproducible and reliable. Although integration of knowledge and AI models must be considered for the transparency and interpretability of models, the incorporation of AI into the data collection and processing workflow will significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of various surface analysis techniques and deepen our understanding at an accelerated pace.
Materials Science↗
Science operations interfaces for Mars surface exploration
The Science Activity Planner (SAP) is the science planning tool used for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. This paper begins with an overview of the software developed for MER and how it was used for science downlink analysis and activity planning.
distributed operations↗
Final Scientific/Technical Report – March 2015
The Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials (CISSEM) was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES) from August 1, 2009 – December 31, 2014 under Award Number DE-SC0001084, as part of a broad set of Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) designed to underpin the development of economical energy conversion platforms for the 21st century. CISSEM successfully integrated the research groups of 19 principal investigators at The University of Arizona (the lead institution), the Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton University, the University of Washington, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) into a coordinated and synergistic program, while also building a highly productive collaboration with the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Our mission was to advance the understanding of interface science underlying solar energy conversion technologies based on organic and organic-inorganic hybrid materials – specifically in organic photovoltaic solar cells (OPVs); and to inspire, recruit and train future scientists and leaders in the basic science of solar electric energy conversion. CISSEM researchers focused on establishing a foundational understanding of the electronic properties of interfaces in area-scalable, thin-film photovoltaic platforms. Metal oxide interlayers used in OPVs to improve the efficiency of charge harvesting at electrodes was our central focus. A key feature of CISSEM research has been our ability to develop a comprehensive understanding of interfaces and interfacial processes at the atomic and molecular scales. This is a scientific foundation for thin-film photovoltaic technologies and our nation’s pursuit of lowering the costs of transforming the sun’s energy into electricity. Our efforts combined: i) theoretical modeling; ii) new materials development; iii) developing new measurement science approaches to characterize composition, molecular and supramolecular structure, band edge energies, electrical properties, and charge harvesting or injection; and iv) integrating our use-inspired new materials and enhanced knowledge of interfaces and interfacial processes into OPV platforms. The strengths of the characterization methodologies developed in CISSEM were recognized within the EFRC network, and were a major component of our interactions with other DOE-funded programs including EFRCs. CISSEM research has resulted in a legacy of 120+ peer-reviewed publications describing our basic science. Much of this highly collaborative research will now be built upon at CISSEM member institutions, with other extramural funding sources. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art facilities and expertise created for modern interface science, especially as they pertain to energy conversion and energy storage challenges, will ensure their broadest continued impact. DOE EFRC funding has positively impacted and enhanced the training and development of more than 140 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and research scientists at the five CISSEM institutions, and students from three Colorado universities associated with NREL. Our legacy also includes these student, postdoctoral researcher and scientist alumni who have taken positions of impact and responsibility in technology industries, government agencies and academia in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Research and Technology Development Activities to Address the DOE-EM Environmental Mercury Challenge
Human activities have altered trace metal distributions globally. This is especially true for the trace metal mercury (Hg), a pervasive global pollutant that can be methylated to form highly toxic methylmercury (MeHg), which bioaccumulates in aquatic food webs, endangering humans and other biota. Currently there are more than 3,000 mercury-contaminated sites identified worldwide and the United Nations Environment Programme has recently highlighted the risk of this contamination to human health [1, 2]. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) represents an example of one of these mercury-contaminated sites. Unlike other contaminants metals, radionuclides, and organic solvents that impact the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) cleanup program at the ORR and other DOE sites, mercury has several unique characteristics that make environmental remediation of the Y-12 National Security Complex one of the most formidable challenges ever encountered. These distinctive physicochemical properties for mercury include the following: it is a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure; it is the only metal that biomagnifies; and it is the only contaminant transported as a cation, as a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal (similar to an organic solvent), or as both a cation and a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal under environmental conditions. Because of these complexities, implementing cost effective and sustainable solutions that reduce mercury flux from various primary and secondary contamination sources will require linking basic science understanding and applied research advancements into Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management s (OREM) cleanup process. Currently, DOE is investing in mercury-related research through a variety of programs, including the Office of Science sponsored Critical Interfaces Science Focus Area, EM headquarters sponsored Applied Field Research Initiative, OREM-sponsored Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC) Mercury Technology Development Program, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), and EM s Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. Collectively, these multi-institutional and multidisciplinary programs are generating new tools, knowledge, and remediation approaches that will enable efficient cleanup of mercury contaminated systems locally and globally. In this talk we will highlight the progress made to date in addressing key knowledge gaps required to solve this watershed-scale conundrum.
Pierce, Eric M↗
Research and Technology Development Activities to Address the DOE-EM Environmental Mercury Challenge - 17497
Human activities have altered trace metal distributions globally. This is especially true for the trace metal mercury (Hg), a pervasive global pollutant that can be methylated to form highly toxic methylmercury (MeHg), which bio-accumulates in aquatic food webs, endangering humans and other biota. Currently there are more than 3,000 mercury-contaminated sites identified worldwide and the United Nations Environment Programme has recently highlighted the risk of this contamination to human health. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) represents an example of one of these mercury-contaminated sites. Unlike other contaminants-metals, radionuclides, and organic solvents-that impact the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) cleanup program at the ORR and other DOE sites, mercury has several unique characteristics that make environmental remediation of the Y-12 National Security Complex one of the most formidable challenges ever encountered. These distinctive physicochemical properties for mercury include the following: it is a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure; it is the only metal that bio-magnifies; and it is the only contaminant transported as a cation, as a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal (similar to an organic solvent), or as both a cation and a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal under environmental conditions. Because of these complexities, implementing cost effective and sustainable solutions that reduce mercury flux from various primary and secondary contamination sources will require linking basic science understanding and applied research advancements into Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management's (OREM) cleanup process. Currently, DOE is investing in mercury-related research through a variety of programs, including the Office of Science-sponsored Critical Interfaces Science Focus Area, EM headquarters-sponsored Applied Field Research Initiative, OREM-sponsored Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC) Mercury Technology Development Program, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), and EM's Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. Collectively, these multi-institutional and multidisciplinary programs are generating new tools, knowledge, and remediation approaches that will enable efficient cleanup of mercury contaminated systems locally and globally. In this talk we will highlight the progress made to date in addressing key knowledge gaps required to solve this watershed-scale conundrum. (authors)
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Science Community Interface
The interface is described between NASA HQ, NASA Goddard, and the rocket Principal Investigators. The proposal selection process is described along with the cycle time to flight, constraints imposed by science objectives on operations, campaign modes, and coordination with ground based facilities. There were questions about the success rate of proposals and the primary sources of funding for the payloads program from the branches of the science divisions in OSSA, especially space physics, astrophysics, Earth sciences, and solar system exploration. The presentation is given in the form of viewgraphs.
Neupert, Werner M.↗
Sun-to-power cells layer by layer
Representing the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials (CISSEM), this document is one of the entries in the Ten Hundred and One Word Challenge. As part of the challenge, the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers were invited to represent their science in images, cartoons, photos, words and original paintings, but any descriptions or words could only use the 1000 most commonly used words in the English language, with the addition of one word important to each of the EFRCs and the mission of DOE: energy. The mission of the CISSEM is to advance the understanding of interface science underlying solar energy conversion technologies based on organic and organic-inorganic hybrid materials; and to inspire, recruit and train future scientists and leaders in basic science of solar electric conversion.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Communication: Unusual structure and transport in ionic liquid-hexane mixtures
Abstract not provided
Liang, Min↗
Climate Science: How Earth System Models are Reshaping the Science Policy Interface.
This talk is oriented at a general audience including the largest French utility company, and will describe the basics of climate change before moving into emissions scenarios and agricultural impacts that we can test with our earth system models and impacts models.
agriculture↗
Interfacing Materials Science with Information Science and Technology: A Best Case Scenario
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Eidenbenz, Stephan Johannes↗
Polyphenol-Sensitized Atomic Layer Deposition for Membrane Interface Hydrophilization
Improvements in energy-water systems will necessitate fabrication of high-performance separation membranes. To this end, interface engineering is a powerful tool for tailoring properties, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) has recently emerged as a promising and versatile approach. However, most non-polar polymeric membranes are not amenable to ALD processing due to the absence of nucleation sites. Here, a sensitization strategy for ALD-coating is presented, illustrated by membrane interface hydrophilization. Facile dip-coating with polyphenols effectively sensitizes hydrophobic polymer membranes to TiO2 ALD coating. Tannic acid-sensitized ALD-coated membranes exhibit outstanding underwater crude oil repulsion and rigorous mechanical stability through bending and rinsing tests. As a result, these membranes demonstrate outstanding crude oil-in-water separation and reusability compared to untreated membranes or those treated with ALD without polyphenol pretreatment. A possible polyphenol-sensitized ALD mechanism is proposed involving initial island nucleation followed by film intergrowth. This polyphenol sensitization strategy enriches the functionalization toolbox in material science, interface engineering, and environmental science.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Active colloidal particles at fluid-fluid interfaces
Here this review explores the intersection between two important fields of colloid and interface science – that of active colloidal particles and of (passive) particles at fluid-fluid interfaces. The former uses energy input at the particle level to propel particle motions and direct dynamic assemblies. The latter relies on the spontaneous adsorption of particles at fluid interfaces to modify the interfacial energy, rheology, and permeability of biphasic materials. Here, we address two key questions that connect these otherwise distinct fields of study. How do liquid interfaces influence the dynamics of active or driven colloidal particles? How can particle activity influence the dynamics of liquid interfaces? These questions motivate the pursuit of active particle surfactants that move and organize at fluid interfaces to perform useful functions such as enhancing mass transport or modulating interfacial properties. Drawing examples from the literature, we discuss how fluid interfaces can provide a unique environment for the study of active colloids, how surface tension can be harnessed to propel particle motions, and how capillary interactions can be activated to achieve dynamically tunable emulsions and foams. We highlight opportunities for the future study and application of active particles at liquid interfaces.
42 ENGINEERING↗