Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Exploring Soil Microbial Dynamics In Southern Appalachian Forests: A Systems Biology Approach To Prescribed Fire Impacts, Saad Abd Ar Rafie

Doctoral Dissertations

Prescribed fires in Southern Appalachian forests are vital in ecosystem management and wildfire risk mitigation. However, understanding the intricate dynamics between these fires, soil microbial communities, and overall ecosystem health remains challenging. This dissertation addresses this knowledge gap by exploring selected aspects of this complex relationship across three interconnected chapters.

The first chapter investigates the immediate effects of prescribed fires on soil microbial communities. It reveals subtle shifts in porewater chemistry and significant increases in microbial species richness. These findings offer valuable insights into the interplay between soil properties and microbial responses during the early stages following a prescribed fire. …

Upgraded Carbon Ores To Products, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet on the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) project to develop domestic battery materials from upgraded carbon ores. Includes information on upgraded carbon ores to products (UCOP) technology and a timeline for development.

Battery Design, Construction, And Characterization For Small Motor Use Focusing On Anodic Zinc For Electron Flow, Amber Veach

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores the construction, characterization, and application of anodic zinc batteries for powering a small electric motor for the ChemE Car competition. Two zinc galvanic cell batteries were studied: zinc-carbon and zinc-air batteries. Prototype batteries were constructed and tested for voltage, amperage, and power production. In the zinc-carbon trials, a 3:1 mixture of manganese dioxide and graphite was determined to be the best cathode for power production. The size which allowed for sufficient power while maintaining the smallest footprint on the car was a zinc can six cm tall and two cm in diameter. Analysis of paper zinc-air battery …

Crystal Structure Prediction Of Materials At Extreme Conditions, Ashley S. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prediction of the structure of a crystal given only the constituent elements is one of the greatest challenges in both materials science and computational science alike. If one were to try to predict a novel crystal by brute force, meaning by arranging the atoms in every possible position of the unit cell and optimizing the geometry to find the energy minima of the potential energy surface, the amount of computer resources required to complete the calculation on the timescale of a few years would vastly exceed the currently installed computational capacity of the entire world. Fortunately, several methods have …

Equations Of State For Warm Dense Carbon From Quantum Espresso, Derek J. Schauss

Theses and Dissertations

Warm dense plasma is the matter that exists, roughly, in the range of 10,000 to 10,000,000 Kelvin and has solid-like densities, typically between 0.1 and 10 grams per centimeter. Warm dense fluids like hydrogen, helium, and carbon are believed to make up the interiors of many planets, white dwarfs, and other stars in our universe. The existence of warm dense matter (WDM) on Earth, however, is very rare, as it can only be created with high-energy sources like a nuclear explosion. In such an event, theoretical and computational models that accurately predict the response of certain materials are thus very …

S/N-Doped Carbon Nanofibers Affording Fe7s8 Particles With Superior Sodium Storage, Xiu Li, Tao Liu, Yunxiao Wang, Shulei Chou, Xun Xu, Anmin Cao, Libao Chen

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

2020 Iron sulfides draw much attention as electrode candidates for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to the rich chemical stoichiometries and high capacity. However, they usually exhibit poor cycling performance due to the large volume change during sodiation/desodiation process. In this work, we embed Fe7S8 nanoparticles into sulfur, nitrogen-doped carbon (S/N-C) nanofibers through electrospinning/sulfurization processes. The heteroatom doped carbon matrixes could effectively protect the Fe7S8 from structural collapse, obtaining a stable cycling performance. Moreover, the conductive matrixes with 1D structure can facilitate the diffusion of electrons, leading to good rate capability. As results, the as-designed Fe7S8@S/N-C nanofibers present a discharge capacity …

Carbon Oxidation At The Atomic Level: A Computational Study On Oxidative Graphene Etching And Pitting Of Graphitic Carbon Surfaces, Simon Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

In order to understand the oxidation of solid carbon materials by oxygen-containing gases, carbon oxidation has to be studied on the atomic level where the surface reactions occur. Graphene and graphite are etched by oxygen to form characteristic pits that are scattered across the material surface, and pitting in turn leads to microstructural changes that determine the macroscopic oxidation behavior. While this is a well-documented phenomenon, it is heretofore poorly understood due to the notorious difficulty of experiments and a lack of comprehensive computational studies. The main objective of the present work is the development of a computational framework from …

Laser-Spark Multicharged Ion Implantation System ‒ Application In Ion Implantation And Neural Deposition Of Carbon In Nickel (111), Oguzhan Balki

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Carbon ions generated by ablation of a carbon target using an Nd:YAG laser pulse (wavelength λ = 1064 nm, pulse width τ = 7 ns, and laser fluence of 10-110 J/cm²) are characterized. Time-of-flight analyzer, a three-mesh retarding field analyzer, and an electrostatic ion energy analyzer are used to study the charge and energy of carbon ions generated by laser ablation. The dependencies of the ion signal on the laser fluence, laser focal point position relative to target surface, and the acceleration voltage are described. Up to C⁴⁺ are observed. When no acceleration voltage is applied between …

Exploring The Electrical Properties Of Twisted Bilayer Graphene, William Shannon

Senior Theses

Two-dimensional materials exhibit properties unlike anything else seen in conventional substances. Electrons in these materials are confined to move only in the plane. In order to explore the effects of these materials, we have built apparatus and refined procedures with which to create two-dimensional structures. Two-dimensional devices have been made using exfoliated graphene and placed on gold contacts. Their topography has been observed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) confirming samples with monolayer, bilayer, and twisted bilayer structure. Relative work functions of each have been measured using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) showing that twisted bilayer graphene has a surface potential …

Bio‑Derived Hierarchical Multicore-Shell Fe2n‑Nanoparticle‑Impregnated N‑Doped Carbon Nanofiber Bundles: A Host Material For Lithium‑/Potassium‑Ion Storage, Hongjun Jiang, Ling Huang, Yunhong Wei, Boya Wang, Hao Wu, Yun Zhang, Hua-Kun Liu, Shi Xue Dou

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Despite the significant progress in the fabrication of advanced electrode materials, complex control strategies and tedious processing are often involved for most targeted materials to tailor their compositions, morphologies, and chemistries. Inspired by the unique geometric structures of natural biomacromolecules together with their high affinities for metal species, we propose the use of skin collagen fibers for the template crafting of a novel multicore-shell Fe2N-carbon framework anode configuration, composed of hierarchical N-doped carbon nanofiber bundles firmly embedded with Fe2N nanoparticles (Fe2N@N-CFBs). In the resultant heterostructure, the Fe2N nanoparticles firmly confined inside the carbon shells are spatially isolated but electronically well …

Electrostatically Assembled Construction Of Ternary Tio2-Cu@C Hybrid With Enhanced Solar-To-Hydrogen Evolution Employing Amorphous Carbon Dots As Electronic Mediator, Jiaxin Zhu, Mengmeng Zhang, Jinyan Xiong, Yinan Yan, Weijie Li, Gang Cheng

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

The huge demand for renewable hydrogen produced by water splitting has prompted people to conduct in-depth research on the hydrogen evolution reaction for the development of earth-abundant, non-precious, and multi-functional metal catalysts. Herein, a noble-metal-free ternary composite of TiO2-Cu@C was prepared by electrostatic self-assembly loaded copper nanoparticles and amorphous carbon dots (CDs) on porous TiO2 microrods. The good conductivity of the CDs was beneficial to promoting the charge transfer and separation, generating an enhanced solar-to-hydrogen performance on TiO2-Cu@C. The optimized TiO2-Cu@C reveals a stable and notable hydrogen evolution rate of 3911 μmol g−1h−1, which is 1.6 times that of TiO2-Cu …

Synthesis Of Cose2-Snse2 Nanocube-Coated Nitrogen-Doped Carbon (Nc) As Anode For Lithium And Sodium Ion Batteries, Jin Bai, Huimin Wu, Shiquan Wang, Guangxue Zhang, Chuanqi Feng, Hua-Kun Liu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

CoSe2-SnSe2/NC nanocubes (CSNC@NC) coated by nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) were synthesized successfully by an ordinary pyrazole polymerization and carbonization process. In comparison with bare CSNC, the CSNC@NC composite exhibited good structural stability and improved electrical conductivity when used as anode. The CSNC@NC electrode showed a stable Li storage capacity (730.41 mAh g−1 over 100 cycles at 0.2 A g−1) and excellent rate performance (402.10 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1). For Na storage, the discharge capacity could be maintained 279.3 mAh g−1 over 100 cycles at 0.2 A g−1; the lower capacity than that for Li storage maybe caused by the …

Constructing Coo/Co3s4 Heterostructures Embedded In N-Doped Carbon Frameworks For High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries, Can Guo, Wenchao Zhang, Yi Liu, Jiapeng He, Shun Yang, Mingkai Liu, Qinghong Wang, Zaiping Guo

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Heterostructures are attractive for advanced energy storage devices due to their rapid charge transfer kinetics, which is of benefit to the rate performance. The rational and facile construction of heterostructures with satisfactory electrochemical performance, however, is still a great challenge. Herein, ultrafine hetero-CoO/Co3S4 nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon frameworks (CoO/Co3S4@N-C) are successfully obtained by employing metal-organic frameworks as precursors. As anodes for sodium ion batteries, the CoO/Co3S4@N-C electrodes exhibit high specific capacity (1029.5 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1) and excellent rate capability (428.0 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1), which may be attributed to their enhanced electric …

Charge Storage In Wo³ Polymorphs And Their Application As Supercapacitor Electrode Material, Vaibhav Lokhande, Abhishek Lokhande, Gon Namkoong, Jin Hyeok Kim, Taeksoo Ji

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Tungsten oxide is a versatile material with different applications. It has many polymorphs with varying performance in energy storage application. We report simple and facile way to synthesize four phases of tungsten oxide from same precursor materials only by changing the pH and temperature values. Monoclinic, hexagonal, orthorhombic and tetragonal phase obtained, were analyzed and tested for supercapacitor application. The electrochemical analysis of four phases indicates that the hexagonal phase is best-suited electrode material for supercapacitor. The hexagonal phase exhibits higher specific capacitance (377.5 Fg^-1 at 2 mVs^-1), higher surface capacitive contribution (75%), better stability and rate …

Acid Treated Carbon As Anodic Electrocatalysts Toward Direct Ascorbic Acid Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells, He-Mu Chen, Chen-Xi Qiu, Yuan-Yuan Cong, Hui-Yuan Liu, Zi-Hui Zhai, Yu-Jiang Song

Journal of Electrochemistry

In order to improve the hydrophilicity and electrocatalytic activity, commercial carbon black (BP 2000) was subjected to acid treatment to obtain acid-treated carbon (ATC). The generation of rich oxygen-containing groups on the surface of the ATC was proved by X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Fourier transform-infra red spectra (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and contact angle measurement. UV-vis spectra were firstly recorded to calculate activation energy (Ea) of ascorbic acid (AA) chemical oxidation in alkaline conditions by oxygen in air and the Ea value was determined to be 37.1 kJ·mol^-1. Additionally, electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) were used to evaluate unprecedented …

Porous Nati2(Po4)(3) Nanocubes Anchored On Porous Carbon Nanosheets For High Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries, Ziqi Wang, Jiaojiao Liang, Kai Fan, Xiaodi Liu, Caiyun Wang, Jianmin Ma

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

NaTi2(PO4)3 has attracted great interest as anode material for sodium ion batteries owing to its open three-dimensional framework structure and limited volume changes during the charge and discharge process. However, the poor intrinsic electronic conductivity of NaTi2(PO4)3 needs to be improved for high rate capability. In this work, porous NaTi2(PO4)3 nanocubes anchored on porous carbon nanosheets (NaTi2(PO4)3/C) are designed and developed. This material exhibits a large discharge capacity and good rate capacity including a first discharge capacity of 485 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1, and 98 mAh g−1 retained at a high rate of 4 …

Photoluminescence From Gan Co-Doped With C And Si, Mykhailo Vorobiov

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis devoted to the experimental studies of yellow and blue luminescence (YL and BL relatively) bands in Gallium Nitride samples doped with C and Si. The band BL_C was at first observed in the steady-state photoluminescence spectrum under high excitation intensities and discerned from BL1 and BL2 bands appearing in the same region of the spectrum. Using the time-resolved photoluminescence spectrum, we were able to determine the shape of the BL_C and its position at 2.87 eV. Internal quantum efficiency of the YL band was estimated to be 90\%. The hole capture coefficient of the BL_{C …}

Preparation And Electrochemical Properties Of Attapulgite-Supported Nitrogen-Doped Carbon@Nico2O4Composites For Supercapacitors, Hui Wan, Zong-Rong Ying, Xin-Dong Liu, Jian-Jian Lu, Wen-Wen Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this work, the attapulgite-supported nitrogen-doped carbon (ANC) was prepared by in-situ chemically polymerizing polyaniline coating upon attapulgite, followed by high temperature heat treatment, and then NiCo₂O₄was reacted onto the surface of ANC by a combination of hydrothermal reaction and calcination to synthesize ANC@NiCo₂O₄ composites. The chemical composition and morphology of the samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N₂ adsorption/desorption. The electrochemical properties were evaluated by means of constant current charge discharge (GCD) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). …

Probe Sensor Using Nanostructured Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Yarn For Selective And Sensitive Detection Of Dopamine, Wed Al-Graiti, Zhilian Yue, Javad Foroughi, Xu-Feng Huang, Gordon G. Wallace, Ray H. Baughman, Jun Chen

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

The demands for electrochemical sensor materials with high strength and durability in physiological conditions continue to grow and novel approaches are being enabled by the advent of new electromaterials and novel fabrication technologies. Herein, we demonstrate a probe-style electrochemical sensor using highly flexible and conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) yarns. The MWNT yarn-based sensors can be fabricated onto micro Pt-wire with a controlled diameter varying from 100 to 300 µm, and then further modified with Nafion via a dip-coating approach. The fabricated micro-sized sensors were characterized by electron microscopy, Raman, FTIR, electrical, and electrochemical measurements. For the first time, the …

Hollow Carbon Nanobubbles: Monocrystalline Mof Nanobubbles And Their Pyrolysis, Wei Zhang, Xiangfen Jiang, Yanyi Zhao, Arnau Carne-Sanchez, Victor Malgras, Jeonghun Kim, Jung Ho Kim, Shaobin Wang, Jian Liu, Ji-Sen Jiang, Yusuke Yamauchi, Ming Hu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

While bulk-sized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) face limits to their utilization in various research fields such as energy storage applications, nanoarchitectonics is believed to be a possible solution. It is highly challenging to realize MOF nanobubbles with monocrystalline frameworks. By a spatially controlled etching approach, here, we can achieve the synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) nanobubbles with a uniform size of less than 100 nm. Interestingly, the ZIF-8 nanobubbles possess a monocrystalline nanoshell with a thickness of around 10 nm. Under optimal pyrolytic conditions, the ZIF-8 nanobubbles can be converted into hollow carbon nanobubbles while keeping their original shapes. The …

Flexible Polycaprolactone (Pcl) Supercapacitor Based On Reduced Graphene Oxide (Rgo)/Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (Swnts) Composite Electrodes, Hyeon Taek Jeong, Yong-Ryeol Kim, Byung Chul Kim

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

The reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) composites are coated onto the polycaprolactone (PCL) substrate via spray coating technique to prepare a flexible supercapacitor. The electrochemical properties of the flexible PCL supercapacitor as a function of bending cycles and angles are evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. The EIS and charge/discharge curves of the flexible PCL supercapacitor exhibit capacitive behavior even after prolonged bending cycles up to 500. The highest capacitance value of the unbent PCL supercapacitor is 52.5 F g-1 which retained 65% after 500 bending with 6000th galvanostatic charge/discharge cycles.

Capillary-Induced Ge Uniformly Distributed In N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes With Enhanced Li-Storage Performance, Haipeng Guo, Boyang Ruan, Lili Liu, Lei Zhang, Zhanliang Tao, Shulei Chou, Jiazhao Wang, Hua-Kun Liu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Germanium (Ge) is a prospective anode material for lithium-ion batteries, as it possesses large theoretical capacity, outstanding lithium-ion diffusivity, and excellent electrical conductivity. Ge suffers from drastic capacity decay and poor rate performance, however, owing to its low electrical conductivity and huge volume expansion during cycling processes. Herein, a novel strategy has been developed to synthesize a Ge at N-doped carbon nanotubes (Ge at N-CNTs) composite with Ge nanoparticles uniformly distributed in the N-CNTs by using capillary action. This unique structure could effectively buffer large volume expansion. When evaluated as an anode material, the Ge at N-CNTs demonstrate enhanced cycling …

Lignin-Based Li-Ion Anode Materials Synthesized From Low-Cost Renewable Resources, Nicholas William Mcnutt

Doctoral Dissertations

In today’s world, the demand for novel methods of energy storage is increasing rapidly, particularly with the rise of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and the personal consumption and storage of solar energy. While other technologies have arguably improved at a rate that is exponential in accordance with Moore’s law, battery technology has lagged behind largely due to the difficulty in devising new electric storage systems that are simultaneously high performing, inexpensive, and safe.

In order to tackle these challenges, novel Li-ion battery anodes have been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are made from lignin, a low-cost, renewable …

Binder-Free And Carbon-Free 3d Porous Air Electrode For Li-O2 Batteries With High Efficiency, High Capacity, And Long Life, Wenbin Luo, Xuanwen Gao, Dongqi Shi, Shulei Chou, Jiazhao Wang, Hua-Kun Liu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Pt-Gd alloy polycrystalline thin film is deposited on 3D nickel foam by pulsed laser deposition method serving as a whole binder/carbon-free air electrode, showing great catalytic activity enhancement as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in lithium oxygen batteries. The porous structure can facilitate rapid O2 and electrolyte diffusion, as well as forming a continuous conductive network throughout the whole energy conversion process. It shows a favorable cycle performance in the full discharge/charge model, owing to the high catalytic activity of the Pt-Gd alloy composite and 3D porous nickel foam structure. Specially, excellent cycling performance …

Achieving High-Performance Room-Temperature Sodium−Sulfur Batteries With S@Interconnected Mesoporous Carbon Hollow Nanospheres, Yunxiao Wang, Jianping Yang, Weihong Lai, Shulei Chou, Qinfen Gu, Hua-Kun Liu, Dongyuan Zhao, Shi Xue Dou

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Despite the high theoretical capacity of the sodium-sulfur battery, its application is seriously restrained by the challenges due to its low sulfur electroactivity and accelerated shuttle effect, which lead to low accessible capacity and fast decay. Herein, an elaborate carbon framework, interconnected mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres, is reported as an effective sulfur host to achieve excellent electrochemical performance. Based on in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, the mechanism of the room temperature Na/S battery is proposed to be reversible reactions between S8 and Na2S4, corresponding to a theoretical capacity of 418 mAh g-1. The cell is capable of achieving high capacity retention …

Bio-Inspired, Moisture-Powered Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Yarn Muscles, Shi Hyeong Kim, Cheong Hoon Kwon, Karam Park, Tae Jin Mun, Xavier Lepro, Ray H. Baughman, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Seon Jeong Kim

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Hygromorph artificial muscles are attractive as self-powered actuators driven by moisture from the ambient environment. Previously reported hygromorph muscles have been largely limited to bending or torsional motions or as tensile actuators with low work and energy densities. Herein, we developed a hybrid yarn artificial muscle with a unique coiled and wrinkled structure, which can be actuated by either changing relative humidity or contact with water. The muscle provides a large tensile stroke (up to 78%) and a high maximum gravimetric work capacity during contraction (2.17 kJ kg−1), which is over 50 times that of the same weight human muscle …

Superior Sodium-Ion Storage Performance Of Co3o4@Nitrogen-Doped Carbon: Derived From A Metal–Organic Framework, Ying Wang, Caiyun Wang, Yijing Wang, Hua-Kun Liu, Zhenguo Huang

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Nitrogen-doped carbon coated Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Co 3 O 4 @NC) with high Na-ion storage capacity and unprecedented long-life cycling stability are reported in this paper. The Co 3 O 4 @NC was derived from a metal – organic framework ZIF-67, where the Co ions and organic linkers were, respectively, converted to Co 3 O 4 nanoparticle cores and nitrogen-doped carbon shells through a controlled two-step annealing process. The Co 3 O 4 @NC shows a porous nature with a surface area of 101 m 2 g 1 . When applied as an anode for sodium ion batteries …

3d Binder-Free Mose2 Nanosheets/Carbon Cloth Electrodes For Efficient And Stable Hydrogen Evolution Prepared By Simple Electrophoresis Deposition Strategy, Yundan Liu, Long Ren, Zhen Zhang, Xiang Qi, Hongxing Li, Jianxin Zhong

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

We successfully developed a simple electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method to decorate the MoSe2 nanosheets on the carbon fiber surface of carbon cloth (MoSe2/CC). With this process, MoSe2 nanosheets can be uniformly and tightly deposited on this flexible conductor to form a 3D binder-free electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The film thickness can also be controlled by the EPD time. Directly used as binder-free electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction, the as-prepared 3D MoSe2/CC samples exhibit excellent catalytic activity in an acidic electrolyte (21 mA/cm2 at an over-potential of 250 mV). Variation of MoSe2 nanosheets film thickness in the electrodes could …

Applications Of Carbon Materials In Electrochemical Energy Storage, Ji Liang, Lei Wen, Hui-Ming Cheng, Feng Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

An electrode material for electrochemical energy storage is one of the key components for high performance devices. In a variety of electrochemical energy storage systems, carbon materials, especially the lately emerged carbon nanomaterials including the carbon nanotube and graphene, have been playing a very important role and brought new vitality to the development and demonstration of the broad application prospects. In this review, we summarize the applications of various carbon materials in the typical electrochemical energy storage devices, namely lithium/sodium ion batteries, supercapacitors, and lithium-sulfur batteries, as well as flexible electrochemical energy storage and electrochemical catalysis. A perspective of novel …

Tillage System Effects On 15-Year Carbon-Based And Simulated N Budgets In A Tile-Drained Iowa Field, Douglas L. Karlen, Ajay Kumar, Ramesh S. Kanwar, Cynthia A. Cambardella, Thomas S. Colvin

Douglas L Karlen

Tillage influences N fate and transport by changing soil structure, aeration, macropore continuity, plant-residue placement, and organic-matter mineralization rates. Our objective was to use 15-year N budgets to compare four primary tillage treatments for continuous corn (Zea mays L.) production on tile-drained Aquic Hapludolls (FAO: Haplic Phaeozems) in northeastern Iowa, USA. A carbon-based N budget used annual grain yield, grain-N concentrations measured in 1992, changes in surface-soil C content between 1977 and 1988 or 1992, surface-soil C : N ratios, and measurements of NO3–N lost in tile-drainage water. It accounted for 98, 104, 99, and 99% of the fertilizer N …