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The adsorption of the strong polyelectrolyte polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) to the air surface of dilute aqueous solutions was investigated as a function of molecular weight and salt concentration. Detailed segment profiles of the deuterated polymer were determined by neutron reflection. Surface activity was also examined through surface tension measurements. In general, the segment profiles are composed of a thin layer (10--20 {angstrom} thick) of high concentration at the air surface, followed by a distinct second layer of much lower segment concentration that extends to larger depths into the liquid. The high segment density at the air surface is due to a strong surface attraction, arising from the low surface tension of the PSS backbone relative to the surface tension of water. At low salt concentration, the profiles tend toward a single dense layer, suggesting that the chains lie nearly flat at the interface in that limit. The adsorbed amount increases with salt concentration, with a stronger dependence for higher molecular weight chains. The adsorbed amounts at the air/water interface are higher than reported previously for PSS adsorbed onto neutral solid surfaces, consistent with the fact that the air-liquid interface provides a stronger surface attraction. While the trends of adsorbed amount …

This project developed a new generation or advanced data capturing process specifically designed for use in future telemetry test systems at the Kansas City Plant (KCP). Although similar data capturing processes are performed both commercially and at other DOE weapon facilities, the equipment used is not specifically designed to perform acceptance testing requirements unique to the KCP. Commercially available equipment, despite very high cost (up to $125,000), is deficient in reliability and long-term maintainability necessary in test systems at this facility. There are no commercial sources for some requirements, specifically Terminal Data Analyzer (TDA) data processing. Although other custom processes have been developed to satisfy these test requirements, these designs have become difficult to maintain and upgrade.

Optimization of GaInP{sub 2}/GaAs dual and GaInP{sub 2}/GaAs/Ge triple junction cells, and development of future generation monolithic multi-junction cells will involve the development of suitable high bandgap tunnel junctions. There are three criteria that a tunnel junction must meet. First, the resistance of the junction must be kept low enough so that the series resistance of the overall device is not increased. For AMO, 1 sun operation, the tunnel junction resistance should be below 5 x 10{sup {minus}2} {Omega}-cm. Secondly, the peak current density for the tunnel junction must also be larger than the J{sub sc} of the cell so that the tunnel junction I-V curve does not have a deleterious effect on the I-V curve of the multi-junction device. Finally, the tunnel junction must be optically transparent, i.e., there must be a minimum of optical absorption of photons that will be collected by the underlying subcells. The paper reports the investigation of four high bandgap tunnel junctions grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition.

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In the process of manufacturing and selling vehicles, a manufacturer incurs certain costs. Among these costs are those incurred directly as a part of manufacturing operations and those incurred indirectly in the processes of manufacturing and selling. The indirect costs may be production-related, such as R and D and engineering; business-related, such as corporate staff salaries and pensions; or retail-sales-related, such as dealer support and marketing. These indirect costs are recovered by allocating them to each vehicle. Under a stable, high-volume production process, the allocation of these indirect costs can be approximated as multipliers (or factors) applied to the direct cost of manufacturing. A manufacturer usually allocates indirect costs to finished vehicles according to a corporation-specific pricing strategy. Because the volumes of sales and production vary widely by model within a corporation, the internal corporate percent allocation of various accounting categories (such as profit or corporate overheat) can vary widely among individual models. Approaches also vary across corporations. For these purposes, an average value is constructed, by means of a generic representative method, for vehicle models produced at high volume. To accomplish this, staff at Argonne National Laboratory's (ANL's) Center for Transportation Research analyzed the conventional vehicle cost structure and …

Welcome to a workshop on contamination Control techniques. This work shop is designed for about two hours. Attendee participation is encouraged during the workshop. We will address different topics within contamination control techniques; present processes, products and equipment used here at Hanford and then open the floor to you, the attendees for your input on the topics.

This report documents the technical support for the ATS provided by the Center for Transportation Analysis (CTA) in Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which included the estimation of trip distances as well as daa quality editing and checking of variables required for the distance calculations.

Development of next generation high efficiency space monolithic multifunction solar cells will involve the development of new materials lattice matched to GaAs. One promising material is 1.05 eV InGaAsN, to be used in a four junction GaInP{sub 2}/GaAs/InGaAsN/Ge device. The AMO theoretical efficiency of such a device is 38--42%. Development of the 1.05 eV InGaAsN material for photovoltaic applications, however, has been difficult. Low electron mobilities and short minority carrier lifetimes have resulted in short minority carrier diffusion lengths. Increasing the nitrogen incorporation decreases the minority carrier lifetime. The authors are looking at a more modest proposal, developing 1.25 eV InGaAsN for a triple junction GaInP{sub 2}/InGaAsN/Ge device. The AMO theoretical efficiency of this device is 30--34%. Less nitrogen and indium are required to lower the bandgap to 1.25 eV and maintain the lattice matching to GaAs. Hence, development and optimization of the 1.25 eV material for photovoltaic devices should be easier than that for the 1.05 eV material.

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As radiation safety specialists, one of the things we are required to do is evaluate tools, equipment, materials and work practices and decide whether the use of these products or work practices will reduce radiation dose or risk to the environment. There is a tendency for many workers that work with radioactive material to accomplish radiological work the same way they have always done it rather than look for new technology or change their work practices. New technology is being developed all the time that can make radiological work easier and result in less radiation dose to the worker or reduce the possibility that contamination will be spread to the environment. As we discuss the various tools and techniques that reduce radiation dose, keep in mind that the radiological controls should be reasonable. We can not always get the dose to zero, so we must try to accomplish the work efficiently and cost-effectively. There are times we may have to accept there is only so much you can do. The goal is to do the smart things that protect the worker but do not hinder him while the task is being accomplished. In addition, we should not demand that large …

Numerical calculations have been performed to investigate the role that load thickness may play in the performance of fast annular z pinch implosions. In particular, the effects of load thickness on the mitigation of the magnetically-driven Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability and energy coupling between the load and generator are addressed. using parameters representative of the Z accelerator [R.B.Spielman et al., Phys.Plasmas, 5, 2105 (1998)] at Sandia National Laboratories, two dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations show that increased shell thickness results in lower amplitude, slightly longer wavelength RT modes. In addition, there appears to be an optimum in load velocity which is directly associated with the thickness of the sheath and subsequent RT growth. Thin, annular loads, which should couple efficiently to the accelerator, show a large reduction in implosion velocity due to extreme RT development and increased load inductance. As a consequence, thicker loads on the order of 5 mm, couple almost as efficiently to the generator since the RT growth is reduced. This suggests that z-pinch loads can be tailored for different applications, depending on the need for uniformity or high powers.

The purpose of this project was to develop in situ materials reaction observation capability in an intermediate voltage high resolution transmission electron microscope. To accomplish this we purchased a GATAN imaging energy filter system, a hot stage, and designed and constructed an environmental cell and real time television image recording system, and installed this equipment on our EM 430 intermediate voltage electron microscope.

Iron aluminide weld overlays containing ternary additions and thermal spray coatings are being investigated for corrosion protection of boiler tubes in Low NOx burners. The primary objective of the research is to identify overlay and thermal spray compositions that provide corrosion protection of waterwall boiler tubes. In the current phase of work, preliminary corrosion tests were conducted on a binary Fe-Al alloy in multiple complex gases to determine which gases will be used for testing of the ternary alloys. Preliminary solid-state corrosion tests were also conducted to simulate slag-metal interactions seen in Low NOx furnaces. Two powder compositions were chosen for testing of the ternary alloys. A matrix of alloys to be tested in both gaseous and solid-state corrosion experiments was produced based on corrosion literature.

In this paper, we first present the status of our computational modeling study of the thermal expansion coefficient of Fe{sub 3}Al over a wide range of temperature and evaluate its dependence on selected additives. This will be accomplished by applying an isobaric Monte Carlo technique. The required total energy of the sample will be computed by using a tight-binding (TB) method that allows us to significantly increase the size of the computational data base without reducing the accuracy of the calculations. The parameters of the TB Hamiltonian are fitted to reproduce the band structure obtained by our quantum mechanical full-potential LMTO calculations. The combination of the three methods mentioned above creates an effective approach to the computation of the physical properties of the transition-metal aluminides and it can be extended to alloys with more than two components. At present, we are using a simplified approach for a first-round of results; and as a test of the simplified approach, have obtained excellent agreement with experiment for aluminum. Our previous experimental results showed that, because of their smaller grain size, FA-187 and FA-189 are extrinsically more susceptible to environmental embrittlement than FA-186 under low strain loading condition. To further investigate the grain …

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Scanning-probe microscopies (SPM) are presently widely used in remarkably diverse applications and, as evidenced by this symposium these techniques are rapidly expanding into the important areas of polymer surfaces and interfaces. The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is presently the most widely used of the scanning-probe techniques. However, the AFM's range of application suffers from an inherent mechanical instability in its deflection force sensor. The instability problem has been overcome by the development of the Interfacial Force Microscope (IFM), which utilizes a force-feedback sensor concept. In the following, the authors present several examples of polymer applications to illustrate the utility of the IFM sensor concept.

Heat treatments at 1300 degrees C, 1400 degrees C, 1500 degrees C, and 1600 degrees C in Ar were found to produce nanoscale precipitates in hot-pressed silicon carbide containing aluminum, boron, and carbon sintering additives (ABC-SiC). The precipitates were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nano-probe energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (nEDS). The precipitates were plate-like in shape, with a thickness, length and separation of only a few nanometers, and their size coarsened with increasing annealing temperature, accompanied by reduced number density. The distribution of the precipitates was uniform inside the SiC grains, but depleted zones were observed in the vicinity of the SiC grain boundaries. A coherent orientation relationship between the precipitates and the SiC matrix was found. Combined high-resolution electron microscopy, computer simulation, and nEDS identified an Al4C3-based structure and composition for the nano-precipitates. Most Al ions in SiC lattice exsolved as precipitates during the annealing at 1400 to 1500 degrees C. Formation mechanism and possible influences of the nanoscale precipitates on mechanical properties are discussed.

One-sided infrared thermal imaging is being used to characterize voids and delamination in SiC/SiC composites. Flaw depth is estimated by examining the decay of surface temperature after application of a thermal pulse. Digital analysis of the surface temperature/time relationship allows characterization of the sizes and positions of defects. Results show that defects of various sizes and depths can be characterized in SiC/SiC composites with the technique.

The ability of optical materials to withstand high power ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation without sustaining irrevocable damage is critically important in two areas central to LLNL: laser fusion and UV lithography. In particular, the output fluence of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is limited by the 351 nm laser damage thresholds of the KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4} (KDP) frequency conversion crystals. The ability to increase the laser output would maximize the odds of achieving ignition, allow target physicists to assess target performance at higher drives, and provide higher temperature-density conditions for studies of the physics of stellar interiors. Moreover, in order to meet the current design criteria for fusion laser systems, KDP crystals must be conditioned by illumination with low fluence laser irradiation to increase the damage threshold by about a factor of two. Over the past two decades, LLNL generated an extensive data base on laser damage and conditioning in KDP and DKDP crystals. While the damage thresholds have improved over time--primarily in response to better filtration of growth solutions--they are still far below what is expected from the band structure of the perfect crystal. Thus these empirical studies have shown that damage in KDP, like the other NIF optical …

The purpose of this analysis is to provide a conceptual design for the Subsurface Ventilation System and address the construction, emplacement, monitoring, backfill, and closure ventilation phases. The design will be based on the recently established program requirements for transitioning to the Site Recommendation (SR) design as outlined by ''Approach to Implementing the Site Recommendation Baseline'' (Stroupe 2000) and the Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document (CRWMS M and O 1999d) (MGR). This analysis will summarize the ventilation concepts that have developed from the incorporation of recent changes to the Technical Baseline and describe changes to the conceptual ventilation design that have resulted from the thermal management requirements. Ventilation concepts presented in the Viability Assessment Design (VA Design) that have not changed are identified and included. The objective of this analysis is to provide a basis for the System Description Document (SDD) Section 2 that provides input to the SR Consideration Report. The scope of the analysis includes the following tasks: (1) Determine the number of primary shafts based on the emplacement airflow rate required to meet thermal goals and (2) Determine conceptual airflow networks for major repository phases including: Construction; Emplacement; Monitoring; and Closure. In addition evaluate: (1) Radon …

Three different, innovative approaches have been taken to develop photovoltaic (PV) integrated electrochromic (EC) devices for smart-window applications. These are (1) a stand-alone, side-by-side PV-powered EC window; (2) a monolithically integrated PV-EC device; and, (3) a novel photoelectrochromic device based on dye-sensitized TiO{sub 2} solar cells. The compatibility of PV-EC devices has been analyzed and the potential for large energy savings for building applications has been suggested.

Since the dawn of life on earth, organisms have directed the crystallization of inorganic ions from solution to form minerals that meet specific biological needs. The resulting materials often exhibit remarkable properties, making the processes involved in biomineralization of interest to a wide array of scientific disciplines. From a geochemical standpoint, perhaps the most important consequence is that CaCO{sub 3} biomineral formation occurs in the Oceans on such a large scale that it influences many aspects of seawater chemistry and results in sequestration of carbon in the form of carbonate sediments. In this manner, the products of biomineralization are preserved in the rock record and serve as an extensive chronicle of the interplay between biota and the earth system environment. From the point of view of materials synthesis, biological control over epitaxy is an elegant example of self-organization in complex molecular systems. Through selective introduction of peptides and proteins, living organisms deterministically modify nucleation, step kinetics, surface morphologies, and facet stabilities to produce nanophase materials, topologically complex single-crystals, and multi-layer composite. The resulting materials have biological functions as diverse as structural supports, porous filtration media, grinding and cutting tools, lenses, gravity sensors and magnetic guidance systems. As Table I shows, …