b'Advanced Materials AND MANUFACTURING FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTSEXTREME CONDITIONS need advanced materials, and advanced materials require advancedINL leads effort to qualifyINL grows plasma sinteringINL provides power formanufacturing. Luckily, INL has research capabilities and expertise to address these needs. Addressingnew alloy in ASME code, firstcapability to industrial scale Mars Perseverance Roverneeds like the harsh environment of a nuclear reactor or the security of the often layered, newly digitizedadded in 30 yearsAdvanced materials for such things asJust as with the Mars Curiosity Rover and highly impactful manufacturing processes, these cross-initiative collaborations are where INL shines.INL researchers participated in thenuclear reactor vessels, spacecraft andin 2012, the Perseverance Rover that development of Alloy 617, the firsthydrogen cells have traditionally beenwas launched from Cape Canaveral material in 30 years to be entered intomanufactured from powder pouredon July 30 took with it a radioisotope Researchers observe new glassy metal, opening door tothe American Society of Mechanicalinto a die and then subjected to highthermoelectric generator (RTG) longer lasting batteries Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressurepressure and heat, using a lot of energy.assembled and tested by INLs Space Scientists from Idaho National Laboratory and University of California San DiegoVessel Code. ASME Code wasA less energy-intensive alternativeNuclear Power and Isotope Technologies were examining the first moments of battery recharging at the atomic level when theyestablished in the early 20th century tocalled spark plasma sintering (SPS) usesDivision. Since 2004, the group has unexpectedly encountered a material that could open the door to better batteries andenforce rigorous safety standards in theelectricity instead of heat, sending itdelivered RTGs to NASA, powering the faster catalysts. While investigating the earliest stages of lithium recharging at theproduction of boilers and mechanicalthrough the diesometimes through theMars rovers and Pluto New Horizons atomic level, they learned that slow, low-energy charging caused lithium atoms toengineering materials. A combinationmaterial itselfto fuse the molecules ofspacecraft, launched in 2006 and now deposit on electrodes in a disorganized way that improves charging behavior. Thisof nickel, chromium, cobalt andpowdered metals, ceramics or a mixturemore than 4.1 billion miles from Earth. noncrystalline glassy lithium was something that had never been observed before. molybdenum, Alloy 617 can be used inof both. A team at INL has assembledThe Perseverance Rover system has The findings, published in Nature Materials, suggest fine-tuning of rechargingadvanced nuclear plants because it isan array of custom-built SPS machinesa design life of 17 years but can be approaches may both boost battery life and produce glassy metals for other applications. suited to higher temperature operation.ranging in size from nano- to industrialexpected to produce power much longer, With a limited number of materialsscale, meeting customer needs withoutproviding a source of heat and power for Researchers develop newat the disposal of commerical nuclearhaving to perform large numbers ofinstruments and motivation of onboard noninvasive characterizationplants, Alloy 617 increases advancedcostly real-world experiments. systems in the cold and dark of space.technique using acousticreactor developers options by 20%.phonons INL researchers working with faculty from the Ohio State University andA rendering of the Mars Perseverance RoverLe Mans Universit have developed a new instrumentation science capabilitynoninvasive imaging of 3D microstructuresproviding a way to determine the orientation of individual crystallites. When paired with other optical microscopies, this methodology will provide new perspectives for characterization of ceramic materials used in energy production. The team used optically generated acoustic phonons to image 3D grain microstructure in ceria, an important model ceramic material used in Marat Khafizov, an Ohio State associateadvanced energy systems. The findings professor, was a member of the research teamwere detailed in Nature Communications who developed the new noninvasive imagingin March 2020. technique using acoustic phonons.8 9'