Publications

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Two large size Glass Composite Material (GCM) waste forms containing AgI-MOR were fabricated. One contained methyl iodide-loaded AgI-MOR that was received from Idaho National Laboratory (INL, Test 5, Beds 1 – 3) and the other contained iodine vapor loaded AgIMOR that was received from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, SHB 2/9/15 ). The composition for each GCM was 20 wt% AgI-MOR and 80 wt% Ferro EG2922 low sintering temperature glass along with enough added silver flake to prevent any I2 loss during the firing process. The silver flake amounts were 1.2 wt% for the GCM with the INL AgI-MOR and 3 wt% for the GCM contained the ORNL AgI-MOR. The GCMs, nominally 100 g, were first uniaxially pressed to 6.35 cm (2.5 inch) diameter disks then cold isostatically pressed, before firing in air to 550°C for 1hr. They were cooled slowly (1°C/min) from the firing temperature to avoid any cracking due to temperature gradients. The final GCMs were ~5 cm in diameter (~2 inches) and non-porous with densities of ~4.2 g/cm³. X-ray diffraction indicated that they consisted of the amorphous glass phase with small amounts of mordenite and AgI. Furthermore, the presence of the AgI was confirmed by X-ray fluorescence. Methodology for the scaled up production of GCMs to 6 inch diameter or larger is also presented.

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Methane hydrates are extremely important naturally-occurring crystalline materials that impact climate change, energy resources, geological hazards, and other major environmental issues. Whereas significant experimental effort has been completed to understanding the bulk thermodynamics of methane hydrate assemblies, little is understood on heterogeneous nucleation and growth of methane hydrates in clay-rich environments. Controlled synthesis experiments were completed at 265-285 K and 6.89 MPa to examine the impact of montmorillonite surfaces in clay-ice mixtures to nucleate and form methane hydrate. The results suggest that the hydrophilic and methane adsorbing properties of Namontmorillonite reduce the nucleation period of methane hydrate formation in pure ice systems.

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Pulsed laser irradiation is used to irradiate and mark 13-8 steel and Nitronics 60 parts in order to create observable markings on the surfaces. The best optical contrast ratio between marked regions and unmarked regions is desired for digital image correlation. The contrast is optimized by using pulsed-laser irradiation and varying the laser power, pulse length, and scan speed. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the laser-irradiated surface, and it was found that oxide formation and surface roughness are responsible for the observed contrast.

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Electro-optical organic materials hold great promise for the development of high-efficiency devices based on exciton formation and dissociation, such as organic photovoltaics (OPV) and organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). However, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of both OPV and OLEDs must be improved to make these technologies economical. Efficiency rolloff in OLEDs and inability to control morphology at key OPV interfaces both reduce EQE. Only by creating materials that allow manipulation and control of the intimate assembly and communication between various nanoscale excitonic components can we hope to first understand and then engineer the system to allow these materials to reach their potential. The aims of this proposal are to: 1) develop a paradigm-changing platform for probing excitonic processes composed of Crystalline Nanoporous Frameworks (CNFs) infiltrated with secondary materials (such as a complimentary semiconductor); 2) use them to probe fundamental aspects of excitonic processes; and 3) create prototype OPVs and OLEDs using infiltrated CNF as active device components. These functional platforms will allow detailed control of key interactions at the nanoscale, overcoming the disorder and limited synthetic control inherent in conventional organic materials. CNFs are revolutionary inorganic-organic hybrid materials boasting unmatched synthetic flexibility that allow tuning of chemical, geometric, electrical, and light absorption/generation properties. For example, bandgap engineering is feasible and polyaromatic linkers provide tunable photon antennae; rigid 1-5 nm pores provide an oriented, intimate host for triplet emitters (to improve light emission in OLEDs) or secondary semiconducting polymers (creating a charge-separation interface in OPV). These atomically engineered, ordered structures will enable critical fundamental questions to be answered concerning charge transport, nanoscale interfaces, and exciton behavior that are inaccessible in disordered systems. Implementing this concept also creates entirely new dimensions for device fabrication that could both improve performance, increase durability, and reduce costs with unprecedented control of over properties. This report summarizes the key results of this project and is divided into sections based on publications that resulted from the work. We begin in Section 2 with an investigation of light harvesting and energy transfer in a MOF infiltrated with donor and acceptor molecules of the type typically used in OPV devices (thiophenes and fullerenes, respectively). The results show that MOFs can provide multiple functions: as a light harvester, as a stabilizer and organizer or the infiltrated molecules, and as a facilitator of energy transfer. Section 3 describes computational design of MOF linker groups to accomplish light harvesting in the visible and facilitate charge separation and transport. The predictions were validated by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, demonstrating that rational design of MOFs for light-harvesting purposes is feasible. Section 4 extends the infiltration concept discussed in Section to, which we now designate as "Molecule@MOF" to create an electrically conducting framework. The tailorability and high conductivity of this material are unprecedented, meriting publication in the journal Science and spawning several Technical Advances. Section 5 discusses processes we developed for depositing MOFs as thin films on substrates, a critical enabling technology for fabricating MOF-based electronic devices. Finally, in Section 6 we summarize results showing that a MOF thin film can be used as a sensitizer in a DSSC, demonstrating that MOFs can serve as active layers in excitonic devices. Overall, this project provides several crucial proofs-of- concept that the potential of MOFs for use in optoelectronic devices that we predicted several years ago [ 3 ] can be realized in practice.

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Here, we introduce a family of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) whose photoluminescence is tunable through metal and organic ligand substitutions. The compounds in this family are composed of In, In-Eu, or Eu metal centers and organic ligand chromophores. Systematic variations in the metal and organic components resulted in materials with emissions ranging from white to red. The single-component white-light emitter material is made of In, 4,4′,4″-s-triazine-2,4,6-triyl-tribenzoic acid (TTB) and oxalic acid. Red-emitting MOFs composed of Eu metal centers and TTB ligands have a room temperature quantum yield (QY) of 50% and a 48% QY at 150 °C due to reversible thermal quenching. This is the highest quantum yield measured at elevated temperatures reported for this class of materials. The materials are thermally stable, retaining their high QY after heating at 150 °C for several hours. These thermal quenching/stability studies show the potential use of MOFs in devices that operate at elevated temperatures, such as white-light-emitting diodes for solid-state lighting. This is a unique study that correlates the QY, thermal quenching, and thermal stability of MOFs with structural properties. © 2014 American Chemical Society.