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ABM Advanced High-energy Planetary Ball Mill
ABM High-energy Planetary Ball Mill (a) a main rotary wheel comprising Supporting members, (b) a plurality of mill pots which are revolvable by receiving a rotational force from the main rotary wheel through their corresponding Supporting members, and are disposed around the main rotary wheel with Substantially equal distance between one mill pot and another, each mill pot comprising a tillable pivotal Shaft having rotary coupling means So that the pot can also rotate about its own axis, each pivotal shaft having one end being supportable connected to its corresponding Supporting member of the main rotary wheel; (c) motor means in drive relation to the main rotary wheel for providing rotational forces thereto; and (d) a non-revolvable counter-acting Supporting ring disposed co-axially with the main rotary wheel and in the close, working vicinity of the mill pots; each tillable pivotal shaft being capable of tilting toward the Supporting ring permit ting the pot to periodically contact with the ring, thereby inducing a planetary motion of the mill pot about its own axis. This apparatus provides much improved crushing forces and frequencies with which the grinding balls impact the powder materials inside the mill pots.
Additive Manufacturing of Bonded Permanent Magnets using a Novel Polymer Matrix
This invention disclosure reports a method of direct manufacturing of bonded magnets using a polymer extrusion based additive manufacturing and a new composition of matter. The bonded magnet fabrication process generally involves mixing magnet powders with a polymer resin (typically a thermoplastic) and an antioxidant and produces various shapes and sizes of magnets through injection molding, roll molding, compaction molding and extrusion molding. It is desirable to maximize the magnetic particle loading to achieve optimum magnetic properties for the bonded magnet. During the bonded magnet fabrication process, magnetic fields are used to preferentially orient the magnetic particles. In addition to high magnetic properties, it is preferable to have high mechanical flexibility. We have identified polymers that are suitable to fabricate bonded magnets with high loading of Nd2Fe14B based magnetic powders.
Bottle and Apparatus Module for Displaying Electricity Generation of Electricity Generation Cosmetics
-Problems to be solved: Conventional piezoelectric measurement device can only measure piezoelectric property of solid material by giving pressure on the solid material. However, it is difficult to measure piezoelectric property of liquid/viscous materials since liquid/viscous materials escape out when pressure is given to the materials. Also, customers have a desire to see and check if the so-claimed electricity generating cosmetics actually generate electricity to have advantageous effects. -The Present Invention relates to a pumping device/cosmetic container that can measure piezoelectric properties for liquid/viscous materials inside the pumping device and show the piezoelectric property of the liquid/viscous materials. The pumping device/cosmetic container includes a nozzle head to dispense liquid/viscous materials outside of a container, a first and a second electrodes to measure charge quantity of piezoelectric material included in the liquid/viscous materials when the liquid/viscous materials are moving, a control circuit for converting the measured charge quantity into voltage signal and amplifying the voltage signal, and an indicator for showing status information of the piezoelectric material. With the pumping device/cosmetic container according to the present invention, customers can check if the electric generating cosmetics actually generate electricity.
Pylux Polysulfide Thermosets
Pylux applies the difficult-to-process plastic class known as thermosetting polymers to various layers in the display as stand-alone films. Previously thermosets were only applicable as surface coatings for functional modification of cover lenses, however through manufacturing process innovations, Ares has enabled the low-cost conversion and application of thermosets in the display stack. Additionally through the use of novel polysulfide thermosets, the thermomechanical properties of the final thermoset can be wildly tuned for applications with high strength requirements, high elastic elongation requirements, and other conflicting physical properties, while still maintaining the optical properties required by display manufacturers. Using this technology, the flexible display market can achieve higher optical performance (due to a higher optical clarity of the polysulfide thermosets), a thinner display stack (through the elimination of needing to use thick, extruded thermoplastic offerings) and a more affordable product for use in higher volume applications.
Nanostructured Squeezable Gels as a Separations Platform
Despite the rapid development of microorganisms producing “drop-in” biofuels and hydrocarbon chemicals via biochemical conversion, bioproduct purification remains costly and complex. Traditional separation techniques (centrifugation, multi-phase extractions, distillation) are capital-intensive and/or low-yielding. Argonne has developed high surface-area, flexible, nanostructured xerogels with excellent capabilities in biofuel recovery from biofermenters. Xerogels adsorb 8x their mass and with 100% selectivity for hydrocarbons without impacting cell viability and output. Adsorbed products are released by simple compression. We generated a separation platform by tuning the composition to capture and recover a target molecule. Xerogels are also high-affinity adsorbents with near-molecular recognition for removal from feedstock and fermentation streams of inhibitors limiting bioconversion processes. Compared to existing technologies, this approach is at least 250% cheaper and allows adsorbent reuse tens of times. In-situ adsorbents for product recovery offers other advantages: (1) reduced bulk viscosity as bioproduct is continuously captured, improving liquid mixing and oxygen transfer throughout the medium, (2) continuous product removal enabling true continuous fermentation (vs. fed-batch), and (3) improved bioproduct purity by eliminating the need for additional raw material inputs (solvents, acid, bases, flocculants) required for de-emulsification. These translate into commercial relevance such as reduced costs, higher productivity and improved product quality.
A Novel, Clear, Waterborne Fire-Retardant Clear Coating for Wood Substrates
The use of this new, novel, waterborne clear coating system allows for the true wood visual to show while providing improved fire retardancy performance, and significantly reducing the smoke developed. Existing technologies currently use organic components for a "soft" char that will protect the underlying substrate, but the coating will continue to burn, creating a large amount of smoke. Another, "hard" char, type of coating is used with a silicate system and expanding graphite powder to create a protective layer that reduces the smoke generated, but must be pigmented due to the graphite used in the system. Armstrong's new, unique coating system provides equal, or better, coating performance than the "hard" char coatings, while allowing for a clear visual. In addition, Armstrong has now certified that a 25/50 (flame spread index/smoke developed index) rating in the E84-18b Tunnel Test has been achieved numerous times and can be used in return air plenums, which is a first for a wood coated product.
AWI High Performance Powder Coating TrioGuard
Many business such as transportation, healthcare, office, and building interior / exterior need product surface not to accumulating the dirt / dust to provide end users with better working and living experience, extend product performance life span, reduce the cost for routine maintenance. The surface gets dirty due to accumulated dust during air flow and the white surface looks yellow since the color is deteriorated with lighting or heating. Our TrioGuard is an unique and patented powder coating inspired by nature with properties that are the first in the world to address maintenance, appearance, fire resistance, durability, and hygiene factors in one single product. According to the result generated from a 3rd party test laboratory, TrioGuard repels dust more than ten times better than a commercial powder coating. It also offers white color stability at least for 10 years, which keeps the surface “like new” for a long time. Additionally, for application desiring to have anti-microbial and fire resistance, TrioGuard kills greater than 99.5% bacteria. It is mold resistant and provides Class A fire performance with ASTM E84 and European A1 rating. TrioGuard powder coating has been commercially applied for metal product and is a cost effective product.
Athens, OH
www.ohio.edu/engineering/ceer/
Booth: 331
Selective Reductant Electrolysis - Rare Earth Element Extraction via Coal Electrolysis
Challenges to current industrial wastewater containing organic materials and metals include low metal concentration in waste, high energy consumption and high carbon footprint. Our proposed solution – Selective Reductant Electrowinning (SRE) – allows for advanced water treatment by simultaneous removal of organics/inorganics (oxidation) and metal ions (reduction) for water remediation and lower energy consumption. This process is energy efficient by coupling systems with overlapping chemical potentials for reduced energy consumption. This characteristic also makes the technology selective to a variety of metals and provides flexibility waste stream remediation, while capitalizing on a holistic analysis of waste streams in a process. In a demonstrated example, rare earth metals are removed from coal and coal by-products during electrolysis using this technology and serves a method for high value materials recovery and improved coal combustion through the reduction of ash and metal content. In addition, this technology can be expanded to focus on a variety of electronic waste (e-waste), thus including the semi-conductor and solar industry among others. The proposed concept presents a foundation for solving industry needs in water and advanced electrowinning.
Chemical-Sensing Colorimetric Materials
Chemeleon is developing a new platform technology for a novel chemical sensor with high sensitivity and specificity that would find a wide range of applications. The sensor is based on a unique design of the integration of highly selective molecular probes and colorimetric optical reporters to realize simple and rapid colorimetric sensing. This sensor technology is fundamentally different from other colorimetric sensing by using all solid phase sensor chips and can be extended to detection of both liquid and gas phase analyte. It enables accurate detection of analytes in complex environment and eliminates the need to run tedious lab analysis with cumbersome instrument such as GC/LC. The very initial application includes a smart colorimetric sensor that can be embedded in drinkware to help general consumers become aware of food and drink safety to protect them from date rape drug facilitated crime. This platform technology has much broader applications beyond date rape drug detection. It enables instantaneous on-the-spot detection of many other analytes such as volatile organic compound (VOC), explosives, nerve agents, and it can also be extended to detect specific biomarkers and enable clinical diagnosis and prognosis.
Microbes for Plant Growth and for Water Remediation
A selectively bred microbial solution is disclosed with multiple single microbial series separately cultivated and followed with cross cultivation among those microbial series in a specific sequence and contains each of those microbial series, and by-products produced by those crossly cultivated microbial series are used for applications in modifying soil quality, activating soil, effectively degrading soil pollution, and helping growth of crops in a soil enhancement embodiment. After the selective breeding through the fermentation, the selectively bred naturally-occurring microorganisms have the ability to penetrate through the soil while enriching with micronutrients, microbial cultures and organic materials in a highly concentrated stage. In the course of cross cultivation, each of those eight microbial series maintains intrigue symbiosis and shared prosperity among one another by playing a critical role with secretions of its own particular active organics. For example, the nitrogen fixing series converts the molecular nitrogen into ammoniac nitrogen and the resultant ammoniac nitrogen is partially to be consumed by the nitrogen fixing series.
Low Cost Electrochromic Window Technology
Click Materials is commercializing electrochromic window technology based on 10+ years of research at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The windows are expected to be >50% lower cost than incumbent technologies that rely on capital intensive deposition equipment. Electrochromic windows (aka "smart windows") provide variable tinting capabilities that significantly reduce energy requirements, improve employee productivity, and enable the connected Smart Home. The current market is $2B and growing rapidly across the transportation, commercial buildings, residential, and electronics sector. The technology has been proven at the pilot scale for a related application.
Enabling new Technology for Anisotropic Conductive Films
CondAlign’s technology can be adapted to produce a range of anisotropic conductive films (ACFs) with different material properties such as flexibility, stickiness and transparency. The technology uses an electric field to structure and align particles in a liquid polymer matrix. The matrix is then cured, locking the particles into their aligned positions resulting in an ACF. The particle type and amount impact the conductive properties of the film, for instance whether electrical or thermal conductivity is realized. The particle alignment enables a tenfold reduction of particle content compared to traditional conductive products. CondAlign has demonstrated production of films with a wide range of different parameters. It is demonstrated in roll-to-roll production, making the process scalable and cost effective. This enables CondAlign to develop materials from lab-scale to pilot production together with the customers. The process is material-independent, and one option is to make heat conductive films for use as thermal interface materials, enhancing heat transfer in electronic hardware. These films can have superior wettability, due to reduced particle loading, allowing the polymers to retain their initial properties. This results in efficient heat transfer away from crucial components, allowing further miniaturization, improving performance, reliability and lifetime of the hardware.
Flexible polymer membranes with high open area
The membranes are produced by synthesizing an emulsion of a non-miscible liquid in a curable viscous polymer. The emulsion is spread out on a substrate and consequently introduced to an external electric field. The field coalesces the emulsion to droplets and aligns the liquid droplets, creating liquid pockets that stretches from top to bottom in the matrix. The polymer matrix is then cured and subsequent evaporation, washing or drying of the material creates the finished membrane. The achievable diameter of the pores is proportional to the film thickness, the minimum diameter we have proved so far is about 10 microns, but presumably this can be reduced further. The pores of the membrane can also be functionalized by adding specific molecules or particles to the emulsion. These will be positioned by the electric field at the interfaces of the two liquids in the emulsion and become exposed on the surface of the pores of the finished membrane.
Al-Ce Alloys for Additive Manufacturing
This innovation comprises a range of Al-Ce alloys for use in laser additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing processes produce fine alloy microstructures due to the characteristic high cooling rates. These fine structures improve mechanical properties relative to cast structure. Al-Ce alloys on the other hand show good thermal stability and an ability to retain these fine structures during long periods of time at elevated temperatures, such as though experienced during additive manufacturing due to the layer-by-layer nature of the process. These novel cerium-containing aluminum alloys that offerweight, strength and temperature performance characteristics close to those of titanium-based alloys at a fraction of the cost. The high strength / high temperature characteristics of the alloys are due to the formation of ultra-fine nanostructures in the material when the alloy melt is rapidly cooled. Because additively manufactured (i.e. 3D printed) components are created by locally melting and rapidly cooling layers of material, the performance of these alloys is optimized in additive manufacturing processes. Furthermore, because the cooling rate of the alloy can be controlled during the additive manufacturing process, the strength / temperature characteristics of the material can be optimized locally within components as they are fabricated.
Acid-free Dissolution Recycling of Rare Earth Elements and Cobalt
The technology is based on hydrometallurgy. Unlike acid-based processes, this novel technology employs oxidative dissolution to leach REEs from wastes using water-based neutral solution of copper(II) salts. A unique feature of the water-based acid-free dissolution is the potential for selective dissolution of magnets in e-wastes, enabled by adjustment of process parameters like temperature, residence time of waste in solution and copper salt concentration. Hence, the need to pre-concentrate magnet contents is eliminated. The unique features of our novel technology will enable us to mature an easily-deployable process for recycling REEs from waste materials and devices. The process will enable circular economy by reinserting REEs from wastes into the supply chain. As a result, it will help to reduce the loss of useful REEs in landfills and limit reliance on mining.
In-place polymer vapor coating process for heat exchangers
The technology behind this innovation is a breakthrough solvent-free vapor deposition process that enables in-place application of thin high-performance anti-fouling fluoropolymer coatings. Existing fluoropolymer technologies require very high cure temperatures (as high as 700°F) to melt pre-formed polymers, or high-energy plasma to provide activation energy for polymerizing monomers, both of which eliminate the possibility of applying the coating in-place to heat exchanger surfaces in the field. Other in-place coating technologies are either epoxy- or phenolic-based chemistries that lack the non-stick anti-fouling performance and chemical resistance of fluoropolymers, or are solvent-applied hybrid organic/inorganic coatings that lack the chemical resistance of fluoropolymers. By utilizing low-temperature thermal activation of fluorinated monomers, this technology overcomes shortcomings of existing technologies to provide a complete solution for applying high-performance fluoropolymers in-place to heat exchanger surfaces. Existing industrial fluoropolymer processes are incapable of fine thickness control, resulting in thick insulating coatings that impair the heat transfer performance and offset potential savings for the end user. This technology allows nanometer precision of thickness, allowing sub-micron coatings that have negligible impact on thermal resistance.
Recycled Glass: Cement/Fly Ash Substitute in Flowable Fill
Glass is often a byproduct of many municipal recycling programs. However, glass collected through the local single-stream recycling system represents a significant financial burden on the program due to lack of a market for mixed glass. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing recycled glass as a substitute for cement and fly ash in flowable fill. An attempt was made to clean and crush single-stream waste glass which indicated that desired gradation can be achieved. Further, ten mixtures of flowable fill were prepared by using different proportions of finer and coarser portion of glass powder as a fly ash substitute in flowable fill. Each mixture was tested for flowability and cylindrical specimens were prepared by using split molds fabricated in the laboratory. Flow consistency results indicated that waste glass powder can be used as a suitable replacement of fly ash in flowable fill. Compressive strength results showed improvement with increase in finer portion of the glass powder. More research is required for determining optimum percentage and size of waste glass powder which can be used to achieve required minimum strength of flowable fill.
Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorinated Hydrocarbon Anion Exchange Resins for the Extraction of Perfluorinated Chemicals
We propose to design and test a continuous-flow water purification device that uses a novel fluorinated anion exchange sorbent for removal of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) including PFOA and PFOS from drinking water. Our idea improves upon adsorption technologies such as activated carbon and anion exchange resins, which are not specific for perfluoroalkyl compounds. We have preliminary data showing the synthesis of a mixed-mode fluorinated polymer-anion exchange resin is straightforward and the ratio of fluorocarbon/anion exchange functionality can be potentially tailored. The fluorous affinity plus the anion exchange interaction should result in improved selectivity for PFCs and reduced competition by organic matter in water. Adsorption kinetic studies in both the batch and column modes are outlined. Because of the complete polymeric nature of our adsorbent, facile cleaning and long term stability permitting reuse of the material is expected. Our expected outcomes are: (1) Synthesize and characterization of fluorinated polymer- anion exchange resins (2) Build a continuous flow point-of-use water purification device and characterize binding of PFCs (3) Characterize adsorption in the presence of organic matter and (4) Demonstrate reusability of adsorption columns.
Green nanosolder paste for next generation electronics assembly and manufacturing
In electronic device manufacture, soldering is a widely utilized joining strategy involving the melting of a metallic paste into conductive interconnection between components. For decades, the primary solder alloy for manufacturing was eutectic tin/lead, chosen for its superior electrical and mechanical properties. However, recent investigations into the detrimental health impacts of lead-based pollution have curtailed this usage, impelling the use of alternative interconnect materials with elevated processing temperatures and reduced reliability. Our proposed technology employs metallic nanoparticles in the formulation of solder paste, establishing a new lead-free alternative with improved material properties and thermal processing parameters. Melting temperature depression of nanomaterials has been demonstrated with decreasing diameter, in addition to improved hardness and elastic modulus of the melted interconnect. Fundamentally, the use of nanoparticles also enables the miniaturization of solder pitches to levels impossible with conventional microsolder powders.
CompPair Technologies (www.comppair.ch)
Fibre-Reinforced Composite structures are widely used in aerospace, automotive, windmills and sports industries. However, these are marked by a design limitation: the brittleness of the thermoset matrix results in sensitivity to small damage events. A trade off exists with common systems between the increase in toughness (and mechanical properties) and ease of manufacturing, restricting the potential of composite materials. We however developed and patented a material that is able to heal cracks caused by these damage events, therefore tackling this design limitation, a paradigm change for the industry. The novel concept results in a structural composite that (i) is tougher (i.e. higher resistance to crack propagation) than benchmark epoxy composites, (ii) can heal repeatedly matrix microcracks and (iii) has a manufacturing route compatible with conventional processes. Current repair solutions in composites involve monitoring failure, removal of the damaged zones and costly repair. With our technology, these damage events can be repaired during service of the part at minor cost. The opportunities for the industry are two-folds: (i) reduce the maintenance cost of composite structures; (ii) increase life-time of composite parts. Our product is a technical textile with the healing agent integrated, to be directly used on a production line.
Accelerated Neutral Atom Beam (ANAB) technology for nanoscale processing of solid surfaces and thin films
Existing surface modification technologies fall short of nanoscale requirements due to high particle energy and electrically charged nature of traditional ion beam and plasma-based techniques. Our Accelerated Neutral Atom Beam (ANAB) technique imparts beneficial functionality on metal, ceramic, glass, and polymer surfaces without such detrimental effects associated with existing technologies. The beam is created by expansion of gas through a specially shaped nozzle into vacuum. Due to adiabatic cooling, nanometer size clusters are formed, consisting of 500-5,000 gas atoms. The clusters are then turned into cluster ions by electron impact ionization and accelerated by high-voltage electric field. Finally, cluster dissociation is promoted by gas collisions, resulting in an intense, highly collimated beam of energetic, electrically neutral gas atoms with controllable energy ranging from less than 10 to beyond 100 eV per atom, an ideal range for many nanoscale surface modifications. ANAB enables highly controlled material removal from the surface, at a rate ranging from a few angstroms to about 20 nm per second. Due to a property known as lateral sputtering, ANAB can reduce surface roughness down to 1 angstrom level, while delivering surface modification to no more than 2-3 nm, levels unachievable with any other technique.
Advanced Adsorbents
Clean energy and air require novel techniques for trapping single molecules rather than populations of molecules while bypassing the perils of surface attachment chemistry. But managing the dynamics of a single molecule has been problematic. Until now... framergy® created precise molecule traps, opening up a new avenue for the design of adsorbents with ultra-high surface area, and permanent porosity. To create advanced adsorbents, we mimic the way nature builds materials at a nano-level. AYRSORBTM is a line of adsorbents based on Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Porous Organic Polymers (POPs), collectively coordination polymers, inspired by innovations from the labs of Hongcai ‘Joe’ Zhou and Christian Serre. We hope our offerings will help you find your next great application.
Room Temperature Metal 3D Printing at the Micron-Scale
Georgia Tech inventors present a solid-state technology to electrodeposit layers of a metal compound at room temperature for building three-dimensional (3D) geometries. The demonstrated additive fabrication technology exhibits a dispenser-free nozzle as it operates in solid-state phase. Layers of copper are electrodeposited through a solid media on a conductive substrate and the printed pillar is imaged and its material composition characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy. Since no dispensing mechanism is required, the system complexity is reduced to a level that the use of micro-engineered nozzle in many multiples is possible for parallel 3D printing. Unlike the current metal, the new pump-less, solid-state nozzle exhibits a simple structure that can be employed in multiples to enable parallel printing for batch fabrication. This addresses the inherent challenges with additive fabrication for mass manufacturing and potentially expanding the capacity of 3D printing for rapid prototyping and high volume production. This development not only addresses metal 3D printing constrains but also enables scaling additive fabrication technology for mass manufacturing.
Cancer catcher - Early detection of circulating tumour cell (CTC)
We have strategically designed a novel and magnetic nano-sized contrast agent - Neurostem imaging, for an in situ dual-mode cell tracking. This novel technology enables surgeon to visualize the target cells or neural stem cells for precise location and navigate the whole isolation process in real time under magnetic resonance imaging. By combining this latest nanotechnology with the current commercial available CTC fishing kit, it could enhance the sensitivity of the detection compare with the existing technology. Our innovative technology could promote the healthcare and clinical practices for restoring health and extending life of patients with incurable diseases in order to reducing the medical burden to the society. Besides, we believed that our technology could advance the medical technology and inspire researchers on innovative medical technology solutions, so as to develop more curable treatments for the incurable diseases.
Anti-scratch Sapphire Thin Film Coating
“Hard-coating” is always a hot topic in surface enhancement, because all designers want their product to be more robust and durable. Currently, manufacturers have several hard-coating methods, such as DLC & SiN etc. However, each methods still have their bottleneck, which can only apply in particular product due to the non-transparent feature, size limitation, high capital investment. The HKBU spin-off, Cathay Photonics Limited (CPL) believes new technology should be able to enhance surface capability of all component with different shape, and meanwhile to reduce its manufacturing cost. Therefore, CPL invented a unique sapphire thin-film coating by using PVD process, which is mature and cost effectively in modern display manufacturing. Also, our sapphire thin-film is highly transparent, in which the appearance and properties of substrate remain unchanged after coating.
Ultra-high Performance Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) for Electronic Cooling
Overheating is one of the biggest problems of electronic devices causing loss of performance and reduced lifetime. Introduction of smaller and more powerful electronic devices have made the electronic industry seek better thermal management strategies. The dissipation of heat during the operation is often facilitated by thermal interface materials (TIMs), which are placed between devices to heat sinks. Currently used TIMs include thermal greases, polymer-composites and solders. Limitations of these TIMs - such as low thermal conductivity in thermal greases and polymer composites, and thermally-induced stress failures due to high thermal expansion in solder TIMs – have led to failures in electronics. We are dedicated to developing novel TIMs to overcome these limitations For this purpose, we aim to develop and fabricate metal nanocomposite TIMs, involving integration of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS), soft organic linkers, and copper matrix. The developed hybrid nanocomposites demonstrate an exceptional combination of thermal and mechanical properties (elastic modulus); over 210 W/(m K) and 20 GPa, respectively. The developed TIMs show a compatible thermal expansion, forming a mediation zone with low thermally-induced axial stress on the mating surfaces. Exceptional properties of the developed TIMs will enable enhanced efficiency in electronics cooling.
Novel Antimicrobial Coatings
Inhibits Coatings uses novel silver nanofunctionalisation to produce highly antimicrobial coatings. The novel functionalisation gives the coatings significant advantages of currently available antimicrobial coatings. Firstly silver is a well known antimicrobial agent effective against over 650 different microorganisms. Independent testing of Inhibit's coatings using the JIS-Z-2801 standard have shown a > 99.997% reduction in CFU against E. coli, S. aureus and L. monocytogenes demonstrating a significant improvement over a competing commercially available antimicrobial coating which only achieved an 83.3% reduction in CFU. The novel nanotechnology used in coatings utilises very low biocide concentrations (< 0.1%) and exhibits an extremely low leaching < 0.1 ppb/cm2 over the period of one week fully immersed. This low leach rate and biocide concentration gives rise to robust coatings with a very long antimicrobial lifetime that withstands wash cycles without compromising the physical properties of the resin system such as hardness, abrasion resistance. The technology can be applied to a number of resin systems, including epoxies, acrylics, urethanes and polyamides. These coatings have proven to retain their antimicrobial activity after numerous cleanings with common cleaning agents, making them ideal for food safety, medical and HVAC applications.
Electrically conductive construction materials for resistive heating applications
Many methods and techniques have been explored for pavement anti-icing and deicing because snow and ice removal is expensive and failure for expedient and complete removal is dangerous and potentially destructive to existing infrastructure. Many of the current ice removal methods are chemical, which can be harmful to concrete, steel structures, viaducts, tunnels, airport runways, as well as the environment. Iowa State University researchers have developed electrically conductive concrete that uses high volumes of electrically conductive additives without compromising the structural strength of the material. The design has been tested on a limited basis at the Des Moines International airport and has shown to be highly effective at removing snow and ice. Additional construction materials are also being developed in order cover a variety of application areas.
Si-Li-O nanocomposites as an anode material for Li-ion battery
- New nanoparticles which is composed of metal Si and Lithium silicate with particle sizes of 80 ~ 150 nm - New nanoparticles have high performance-active material as a Li-ion battery’s anode - Initial discharge capacity 900 mAh/g, initial columbic efficiency 85%, retention 90 %(@50cycle) - Production method was based on evaporation and condensation process
Eco-Friendly Manufacturing Technology of Iron-Ore-Based Catalysts for Production of Liquid Fuels and Chemicals from Syngas
Conventional manufacturing technology of iron-based catalysts for FTS (Fischer-Tropsch synthesis) requires a large amount of chemicals and water, labor-intensive procedures, and inevitable discharge of environmentally harmful waste. This innovation offers a new manufacturing method of iron-based FTS catalysts, which is much more eco-friendly and economical than a conventional technique in terms of the amounts of water and chemicals used and discharged. In this innovation, the iron-based catalysts are prepared from natural iron ore samples through a combination of a wet-milling process and a wet impregnation method. The iron-ore-based catalysts show catalytic performance favorable for low-temperature FTS using hydrogen-deficient syngas (H2/CO = 1) in all aspects of CO conversion, CO2 selectivity, and C5+ selectivity in hydrocarbons. The overall catalytic performance of iron-ore-based catalysts is much greater than that of unmodified iron ore samples and comparable to that of conventional precipitated iron-based catalysts.
Manufacturing Method of Repeatedly Attachable Flexible Energy Storage Devices for Wearable Electronics
A conventional battery has standardized shape, such as cylinder, square, and pouch, and has a limitation in integration of energy storage capacity, which makes it difficult to apply to wearable devices or micro-devices. Research into the development of future batteries, such as curved, flexible batteries, and micro-supercapacitors is actively underway. However, the curved, flexible, and cable-type batteries have some problems such as high costs, safety problems, low capacity, low efficiency, and complicated manufacturing processes. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new future energy storage device that surpasses ideas commonly known and is characterized by high capacity, high efficiency, high safety, a long life, design flexibility, and low cost. KIER’s novel energy storage devices are repeatedly attachable and flexible energy storage devices that use unique 3D conductive microelectrodes enabling high capacity, high efficiency, and long life characteristics. KIER’s 3D conductive microelectrodes are fabricated in a desired pattern using a specially designed 3D printer, offering design flexibility and low cost. The prepared 3D conductive microelectrodes are transferred to the surface of a main substrate constituted by the material having the surface adhesion property. This makes it possible to manufacture repeatedly attachable flexible energy storage devices and wearable sensors.
Berkeley, CA
www.lbl.gov/ https://ipo.lbl.gov/for-industry/tech-index/
Booth: 303
Miniature Ion Accelerator
The miniature ion accelerator is a new type of ion accelerator in which 1) the accelerator is now made from stacks of low cost wafers and 2) the number of ion beams in one accelerator can be massively scaled. Acceleration to desired energies are achieved in increments, avoiding hazardous high voltages. The result is an advanced manufacturing tool that reduces cost dramatically compared to present standards. Using MEMS techniques, components are made from scalable, low cost fabrication processes to permit generation of greater ion beam power. The technology suits ultra-compact accelerator structures and large-scale installations as well. The mini-accelerator can operate with multiple beams and combines an ion source with electro-static quadrupole (ESQ) focusing elements and high voltage gaps for acceleration. An acceleration gradient of about 2 kV in a 3x3 array of beamlets formed from electrostatic quadrupoles has been demonstrated.
Berkeley, CA
www.lbl.gov/ https://ipo.lbl.gov/for-industry/tech-index/
Booth: 303
Bijels with Sub-Micrometer Domains
LBNL and University of Massachusetts, Amherst researchers have developed bicontinuous jammed emulsions (bijels) with sub-micrometer domains by homogenization rather than spinodal decomposition. This advance is achieved by using nanoparticle surfactants – polymers and nanoparticles of complementary functionality that bind to one another at the oil-water interface. As a result, the bijel is stabilized far from the demixing point of the liquids, with interfacial tensions on the order of 10 mN/m. The solvent, nanoparticle, and ligand can vary, adding versatility to the approach. Bijels are tortuous, interconnected structures of two immiscible liquids, kinetically trapped by colloidal particles that are irreversibly bound to the oil-water interface. Large domain sizes (5 micrometers or larger) and difficulty in fabrication have posed barriers to using bijels for catalysis, energy storage, and molecular encapsulation. Achieving nanoscale bijels in this simplified, versatile way is an essential step in formulating bijels for industrial applications such as multiphase microreactors, microfluidic devices, membrane contactors, and multiscale porous materials. The improved stability of this technology could improve shelf life of personal care products, fragrances, and flavors, by substituting bijels for emulsions currently in use. Details about this platform technology were published in Nature Nanotechnology, 12, 1060-1064, 2017.
Berkeley, CA
www.lbl.gov/ https://ipo.lbl.gov/for-industry/tech-index/
Booth: 303
Diversity Oriented Libraries of Intrinsically Microporous Polymers
LBNL has identified a new class of monomers from which diversity-oriented libraries of intrinsically microporous polymers prepared with highly desirable characteristics for manufacturing and service life as a membrane, or other component, for applications such as gas separations, fuel cells, batteries, water purification, and others. The new technology enables membranes with higher conductivity, transport selectivity, and chemical stability than current options. The polymers can be manufactured using solution-phase processing. Polymer pore dimensions range from 0.5 nm to 2 nm, and porosity falls ranges from 5% to 40%. The research team also identified a new class of electrochemical devices that make use of the microporous polymer membranes to extend cycle life and enhance energy efficiency, relative to both non-selective porous polymer membranes and partially selective polymer membranes currently available. Until now, generating functional monomers suitable for polymerization and identifying chemical reactions to effectively interconvert functionality on the polymer after it has been synthesized have been difficult. The limited synthetic strategies to diversify the way functionality is displayed along the polymer backbone have not enabled the manufacture of functionalized microporous polymers due to poor solubility and processability of the modified polymers. LBNL’s diversity-oriented polymers technology overcomes these limitations.
Corrosion inhibition technology for mild steel
The problem: While the most effective (and possibly industrially viable) graphene coatings are achieved by the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of graphene. Fe and its alloy such as mild steels have very high solubilities of carbon at the temperatures at which CVD process for graphene deposition is accomplished (650-1000 Degree Celsius) and also cooled. Dissolved carbon is rejected rapidly during cooling, resulting in formation of carbon soot at the surface (instead of forming thin graphene layer). Our solution: We have developed a coating process which overcomes this problem and allows graphene to be deposited by CVD. Our graphene coating provided x100 fold superior corrosion resistance in comparison to the bare mild steel, as demonstrated by the potentiodynamic polarization plots.
Delivery of speciality agricultural products through encapsulation technology
This new technology focuses on functionalised encapsulation of speciality agricultural chemicals with a targeted release. Our encapsulation technology can be functionalised to adhere to plant cuticle wax. This adherence triggers the targeted delivery of the payload into the leaf rather than roots or soil, through a broadly applicable, yet strong and stable interaction. The encapsulation technology increases the accuracy of desired chemical deployment, release can occur slowly to provide sustained action or triggered to provide a burst in response to external stimuli (light, water, salt, et cetera). The technology is based on materials commonly used in agricultural contexts, that are known to biodegrade. The technology can be used for delivery of a broad range of agricultural products including: 1. Fungicides 2. Insecticides 3. Pesticides 4. Nutrients
Chemical and Biological Sensor Tape
This adhesive tape sensor technology with colorimetric, fluorescent, or biological indicators enable the tape to detect and report the presence of target chemicals (e.g. heavy metal ions, salts, etc.) and biomolecules (e.g. proteins, biofilms, blood antigen-antibody identifications and other contaminants). A weakness of current paper sensors is that analytes deposited in a paper sensor could be washed (or leached) away when an indicator solution is added to paper which this technology overcomes. It can be applied to solid surfaces, particulate materials and liquid samples. It can obtain a rapid analytical appraisal of the presence of target chemicals and biological substances and simultaneously protect them behind the tape substrate. This minimises contamination as well as preserves the sample for further analysis if required. These sensors are not restricted by the wettability of the surface and they can be applied to hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces for chemical analysis; Chemical responsive adhesive tape are also able to display the distribution of analyte on a surface, since indicator can be immobilized on the tape by formulating into the glue component. This system is able to perform analysis on highly variable surface topologies.
Gold recovery from e-waste and mine tailings using novel chemical encapsulation
This new technology focuses on encapsulation for gold extraction 1. Functionalised capsules seek gold regions in e-waste or mine tailings 2. Chemicals for gold dissolution are released in a highly localised fashion promoting rapid dissolution. 3. The highly specific encapsulation process occurs to capture gold. 4. >90% Capsules with gold can be separated in a pure concentrated stream in 2 to 5 hrs from the low value-e-waste or tailings 5. Capsules can be re-loaded and recycled for use. Other e-waste metals can be targeted for encapsulation technology
MultiMech - Multiscale Material Simulation Software to Reduce Material Development Time & Cost
MultiMech is a multiscale modeling and simulation software tool that allows engineers to virtually test advanced materials. Before MultiMech, the lower accuracy of existing simulation tools meant that products sent to be certified often failed, even after extensive virtual and physical testing. This lengthened the already-cumbersome certification process and slowed the transition from metals to composites. MultiMech’s unique approach considers how the material microstructure, part, and manufacturing process are all connected. Its unique ability to test how manufacturing will affect the material microstructure, and thus part performance, means it can capture common manufacturing defects occurring at the microstructural level. This holistic view, combined with MultiMech’s speed and 99% accuracy, gives companies the ability to send only their best material ideas to be physically tested and have more confidence that the design will pass certification. The ability to only send the most promising designs with confidence will lead to companies being able to increase the success rate of the testing process. This in turn can lead to more widespread adoption of composites, which will reduce fuel consumption, reduce the cost of transportation to both consumers and companies, and make the world a greener, safer place.
MultiMech's AutoCalibration Tool
Currently, there is a large gap between experimental testing and material simulation - especially with new advanced composites. This is because classic modeling approaches used in industry cannot confidently predict composite failure, due to the many complex failure mechanisms in this material. Unreliable models lead to expensive and time-consuming physical testing. On the other hand, research groups have been able to characterize the micromechanics involved in these models and shown accurate results. Yet, these models are often created by scientists with years of focused experience, in-house code, and complex material models. Migrating these models into commercial engineering workflows has proven difficult and infeasible due to the specific experience and lack of standardization. The MultiMech AutoCalibration Tool aims to close the model-experiment gap by giving engineers a tool that only requires simple, readily available inputs. With these data inputs (which are publicly available), a microstructural model is created that can be applied to any finite element model achieving the high accuracy and efficacy that is inherent to multiscale simulation. With this accuracy, validated models do not require the extensive physical testing currently done, saving material manufacturers, part manufacturers, and OEMs up to 40% on designing and certifying composite materials or structures.
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Aerogels
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber aerogel were successfully invented from recycled PET fibers obtained from plastic bottles and using various cross linkers such as tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and/or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and/or glutaraldehyde (GA). Recycled PET aerogels were obtained through the ambient pressure drying or freeze drying processes. In order to dissolve and functionalize the fibers, recycled PET fibers were treated with dichloromethane or any alkaline/acid solution and neutral condition with the use of water or steam (pH=7). Then the final PET aerogels can be fabricated. The developed PET aerogels showed low density (0.018-0.345 g/cm3), super-hydrophobicity (140.4-149.9o), low thermal conductivity (0.033-0.047 W/mK), high oil absorption (12.5-49.5 g/g) and very elastic (compressive Young’s moduli, 0.87-4.98 kPa). This technology provides an approach to fabricate cost-effective and promising PET aerogels used for several applications such as thermal insulation and absorption applications.
Cotton Aerogel
Cotton aerogels were successfully invented from recycled cotton fibres from textile waste and using various binders such as wet-strength resin (Kymene 557H) and/or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) following the freeze drying. The cotton aerogels may further comprise paper cellulose fibres and/or one additive such as chitosan or water repellent chemical (MTMS) for the purposes of the applications. The developed aerogels showed ultra-low density (5-23 Kg/m3), hydrophobicity (up to 143o), low thermal conductivity (35-40 mW/m.K), high oil absorption capacity (38-100 g/g). The cotton aerogel pellets comprising cellulose fibres demonstrated fast expansion time (less than 5 seconds) with the expansion ratio up to 16 and the hydrostatic pressure up to 11.5 mmHg.
Quantum Dot Polymer for Next-gen Screens
The material is a thiol–yne nanocomposite polymer tailored to hold light-emitting quantum dots, tiny semiconductors whose size and composition can be precisely tuned to produce bright, clear, and energy-efficient colors. According to a study published by the lab’s Optical Sciences Division in March 2018, the thiol-yne polymer binds strongly to the quantum dots with a novel ligand and has a uniform distribution throughout the matrix. The material can be polymerized by ultraviolet light or thermal curing.
Conductive Oxide Thin Films from Aqueous Solution
The technology provides solution processing methods to make high quality conductive oxide thin films. The precursor solutions are aqueous, utilizing dissolved salts of various compounds to make high purity films of indium oxide or tin oxide and variations containing other metals. The films are high quality, with low resistivity, high transparency, high purity, and they are very smooth. With solution deposition methods, the films can easily be deposited with a range of thicknesses over a large surface area on a variety of substrate.
3D print system for soft silicone elastomers
The technology is a novel 3D printer and printhead that allows for the printing of large and complex objects made with flexible silicone elastomers. The system can mix, extrude, and rapidly cure the elastomer in real time, in a way that both enables the printing of free standing shapes while also extending print time by avoiding clogging of the printhead.
State College, PA
invent.psu.edu/program/intellectual-property-navigator/
Booth: 326
Graphene Hybrids for Biological and Chemical Sensing
The technology is based on creating atomically-thin metals by sandwiching the metal atoms between a substrate and graphene. The unique structure of the metal atoms creates a strong plasmon resonance in the visible/ Near IR wavelengths and extreme non-linear optical properties that are >2000x better than gold nanoparticles. These materials will enable unprecedented sensitivity and precision in spectroscopic detection of chem/bio molecules. Beyond the optical properties, this technology will enable new forms plasmonic metasurfaces, plasmon-enhanced catalysis, and even next generation quantum technologies.
University Park, PA
invent.psu.edu/program/intellectual-property-navigator/
Booth: 326
Engineering Nano/Micro Structure in C-C Composites by Templating for Self Reinforcement
An improvement in the synthesis of carbon-carbon (C-C) composites has been made. Instead of using carbon fiber for reinforcing and control of macroscale properties, this technology uses the matrix for self-reinforcement. Penn State researchers have improved the properties of C-C composites by using carbon allotropes as additives to control and direct the microstructural evolution of the C-C composite during its fabrication. As a result, extensive pre-fabrication of filaments, yarns, and weaves are bypassed. The technology allows for the properties of graphene and nanotubes to be magnified in non-graphitizing matrices based on polymeric resins which will increase strength and conductivity of C-C composites.
Non destructive technology having a resolution at the size of the atom
POSITHÔT la Manufacture d’Antimatière provides industrial applications of positrons spectrometry for nondestructive testing or materials and surface analysis using positrons as the mean for analysis. We develop transportable, non-radioactive positron generator, the core element for this innovative technique, and dedicated analysis systems. Instruments manufacturer, POSITHÔT designs and realizes transportable and nonradioactive positron generators, which replace the radioactive sources. POSITHÔT generators deliver a flow from 50 to 200 times higher than the conventional radioactive sources, for a specific cost of positrons divided by 3. In term of positron production, we cover the space between radioactive based isotope sources and nuclear research plant. POSITHÔT is the only company in the world managing positron production without consumption or generation of radioactivity.
Collagen for enhanced tissue repair and replacement.
Injuries to tendon and ligaments are widespread, debilitating and often problematic to difficult to heal. Tendon and ligament repair is a multi-billion dollar market in need of an improved medical solution. Collagen in the main structural component of nearly all tissues in the body (tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, skin, bone, teeth). Injuries to mainly collagen-based tissues (tendons and ligaments) are notoriously difficult to heal. We are able to control the assembly of tropocollagen, a collagen precursor, into highly organized collagen structures (collagen sheets, tubes and 3D printed structures). Our method of collagen assembly results in high-density materials with high mechanical strength which is advantageous for surgical replacement and repair. Once implanted, we have developed technology to deliver tropocollagen to damaged tissues. Tropocollagen undergoes self-assembly at the site of injury to assist defect repair without the need for cells. This is particularly beneficial for tendons and ligaments that have few cells.
Green Base Oils for Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants
RiKarbon Inc. is developing next generation enabling technology to produce Bio-Lubricant base-oils from inexpensive, abundantly supplied, and sustainably sourced feedstock (biomass, natural oils and/or waste cooking oils). Our technology innovation, based on energy-efficient and atom-economic coupling and deoxygenation reactions, offers the flexibility to produce BioLubes with tailored molecular architecture and tunable specifications from commercially available bio-based raw materials (derived from biomass and fatty acids) for safer personal-care products and high-performing lubricants.
Shaker Shield: Seismic Hazard and Kinetic Energy Risk Reduction
Our technology is a rapidly deployable, seismic shield. Initial 3D model and fabric tests ave indicated that our patent pending design a will provide superior protection from falling debris during seismically induced structural failure events. It is based upon a urethane-based fabric (augmented with a proprietary resin) that is deployed via rip-cord initiation of a solid propellant. This technology will also offer benefits in a variety of other scenarios such as flash flood events and other natural disasters due to its inherent ability to be used as a flotation device that is durable and immediately available. Eventually may also have the potential for use in certain additional situations such as defense.
Plasma Jet Printer for Additive Manufacturing
The plasma jet printer is a multi-material additive manufacturing platform which supports a variety of materials including metals, polymers, and ceramics. Aerosolized nanoparticles of the desired material are directed through a stream of plasma which impinges on a target substrate. The plasma jet enables the deposition of oxidation-sensitive materials such as copper and functionalizes polymer substrates to enable deposition of optical and electronic materials. Plasma jet deposition accelerates and simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating pre-treatment of the surface or post-processing with material sintering. The low temperature deposition process enables multiple materials to be deposited without detriment to the underlying deposited material(s). In addition, the plasma activates and accelerates the aerosol material for deposition onto a substrate surface and the plasma can modify the substrate surface energy to enhance adhesion of the aerosol material to the substrate surface. Potential applications include electronics, optical devices, sensors, and MEMS systems.
Multi-scale chemical reactor modeling
The multi-scale simulation platform combines all relevant scales for modeling chemical reactor processes in a comprehensive and user-friendly fashion. Through optimizing processes first in silico, expensive experimentation can be reduced by focusing on the most promising changes in catalyst, additives, and operating conditions. Ultimately more efficient reactors can be designed by end users in the chemical industry, who will be able to optimize their processes to reduce operational costs in terms of feed-stock and energy consumption. By saving on the environmental impact in terms of chemicals and energy during testing and implementation as well as delivering a cleaner process in the end, the societal impacts of a predictive multi-scale reactor modeling platform will be substantial.
Novel Polymer, Hydrogel Including the Polymer
The present disclosure is to provide a novel polymer having a reversible CO2 reactivity, a pH sensitivity, and/or a metal ion absorption. Further, the present disclosure is to provide a novel hydrogel including the polymer. Furthermore, the present disclosure is to provide a method for producing the hydrogel.
Multi Carbon Layer Coating & Manufacturing Method Using Multi Carbon Layer Coated
The present invention is directed to providing a method of manufacturing a metal composite powder by wire explosion in a liquid in a simple manner. The present invention is also directed to providing a metal composite powder that is coated with multi carbon layers and exhibits excellent dispersibility. According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method of manufacturing a metal composite powder by wire explosion in a liquid includes a process of forming a first carbon layer on a surface of a metal wire consisting of a first metal, a process of forming a metal layer consisting of a second metal, which is different from the first metal, on a surface of the first carbon layer, and a process of forming a metal composite powder coated with a multi carbon layer by wire exploding the metal wire containing the first carbon layer and the metal layer formed on a surface thereof in a solution.
Delayed Fluorescence Material and Organic Light Emitting Device Having the Delayed Fluorescence Material
a delayed fluorescence material with a molecular structure containing, as an electron acceptor unit, an indolocarbazole group having at least one acceptor functional group bound thereto such that the delayed fluorescence material is structurally and thermally stable and has highly luminous efficiency. The present disclosure is further to provide an organic light emitting device comprising the delayed fluorescence material. In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a delayed fluorescence material having a molecular structure, wherein the molecular structure includes an electron donor unit and an electron acceptor unit coupled to the electron donor unit, wherein the electron acceptor unit includes an indolocarbazole group having at least one acceptor functional-group bound to the indolocarbazole group.
Delayed Fluorescence Material and Organic Light Emitting Device Having the Delayed Fluorescence Material
a delayed fluorescence material with a molecular structure containing, as an electron acceptor unit, an indolocarbazole group having at least one acceptor functional group bound thereto such that the delayed fluorescence material is structurally and thermally stable and has highly luminous efficiency. The present disclosure is further to provide an organic light emitting device comprising the delayed fluorescence material. In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a delayed fluorescence material having a molecular structure, wherein the molecular structure includes an electron donor unit and an electron acceptor unit coupled to the electron donor unit, wherein the electron acceptor unit includes an indolocarbazole group having at least one acceptor functional-group bound to the indolocarbazole group.
Platform Technology for creating Functional Additives for Corrosion Protection, Corrosion Detection, Antimicrobial, Superhydrophobic and Personal Care Products.
SynMatter’s founders have invented a method to create functional additives that augment the performance of numerous materials. These intelligent additives, Smart Particles, contain active chemical compounds, however, they are inert, and easy to handle and incorporate into a broad range of matrices, including coatings, films, plastics, powders, liquids and gels. When exposed to an environmental trigger, such as a change in pH, temperature or light, the Smart Particles release the active chemical compounds. This trigger release capability enables these additives to impart a wide variety of functionalities to the matrices, such as corrosion protection, corrosion and pH detection, antimicrobial and antifouling activity, enhanced UV and temperature resistance, superhydrophobicity, color changes, and improved material processing and curing, as well as the delivery of skin and hair actives in personal care products. Smart Particles are a transformational technology. They are produced using an environmentally friendly, scalable, cost-effective method and can be designed to deliver a very wide range of active agents to customer specifications. Simple incorporation is a straight-forward way to add intelligent functionality into existing products without requiring significant changes to current production methods. They are a leading contender for accelerating the adoption of smart materials in the marketplace.
High Performance Biodegradable Lubricants for Non-Crankcase Applications
This lubricant technology is a molecular analog and fractional component of an FDA GRAS approved food ingredient. It is a food safe and food grade lubricant that is bio-based/renewable, biodegradable, and non-bioaccumulating. The lubricant possesses greater oxidative stability, hydrolytic stability, and a significantly lower pour point than vegetable oil lubricants. Compared to Group III mineral oils the lubricant is less volatile, has a higher flash/fire point, higher viscosity index, and provides better lubricity and detergency. When comparing to other synthetic lubricants, esters and PAO, this technology is on par in performance but is significantly cheaper than those currently available products. The biggest impact for this technology is that it poses negligible environmental risk in the event of a spill while maintaining the high performance expected of synthetic lubricants. It is a high-performance lubricant that happens to be "green". It is sourced from renewable stocks and is a sustainable technology and can be manufactured to even meet Kosher food standards, unlike mineral/fossil derived materials, Group I-IV oils.
Stabilization of Soil
Within many construction projects, the very ground a structure is built on has to be considered. Not all soils are created equal and one of the most problematic ones is clay. Clay soils can be very susceptible to swelling and shrinking when different amounts of moisture are present. This phenomenon can obviously be a big problem when buildings or roads are built on top of an unstable foundation. Unsurprisingly, efforts have been made to reduce these effects and make structures safer. This technology is a treatment for expansive clay soils that is comprised of a geopolymer mixed with gypsum. Results of the experiment have shown that this treatment reduces swelling by over 90%. For comparison, this approach is more than three times as effective as lime treatment and also works on soils containing sulfate.
Seeded sonochemical coatings
Fast method, room temperature method (no external heating; only that from the synthesis process), occurs in ambient air and at atmospheric pressure. Cheaper and more efficient process; allows high-quality, pure products to be obtained. All other known, feasible techniques utilise combinations of high temperature, low pressure &/or specialised gaseous environements etc. Markets: functional/smart clothing (>US$2BN). Functional/smart glazing (>US$2BN).
Fabric organic electrochemical transistors for glucose biosensor
The organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) used for biosensing is a new type of biosensor. It can provide in situ amplification of target analyte signal in solution (electrolyte). Its high sensitivity and low detection limit can guarantee the noninvasive detection of glucose in body fluids at sub-micro molar concentration which cannot be detected by current commercial glucose meter. By assembling the OECT biosensor on the fabric substrate, the wearability of OECT can be achieved and body fluids can be easily absorbed to the detection area due to capillary effect of fiber. Due to the huge market of diabetics, the wearable and noninvasive glucose sensor could promote the revolution of traditional blood glucose meter and development of healthcare monitoring system.
An Innovative Lignin-Porphyrin Green Nano-polymer for Fast Screening of Heavy Metals
Porphyrin and its families are widely applied in various commercial products, such as chemical sensors, bio-imaging agents and cancer drugs. These products are usually applied the synthetic & petroleum-based polymers as the building block or supporting materials. During incorporating these building block and supporting materials with porphyrin, the complex procedures are usually involved to achieve the its application functions. Moreover, the environmental unfriendly and hazardous chemical reagents are also involved in the traditional manufacturing process. While for our prototype, a natural plant-based polymer (Alkali lignin) is applied for incorporating with porphyrin to achieve the rapid heavy metal sensor function and photoluminescence enhancement in high water fraction environment by a simple one step synthesis process. Lignin-porphyrin polymer demonstrated remarkable performance and represent a significant outlet of biorefinery and effective utilization of lignin to fabricate a new generation of functional advance material. It could offer significant benefits to support waste valorization and water industry.
Pt-free heterostructured catalyst for efficient water splitting for hydrogen and oxygen production at a lower cost
We developed nanostructure catalysts for water splitting for hydrogen and oxygen generation. Instead of using expensive Pt-based catalyst, we synthesized heterostructured CoP@a-CoOx plate, consisting of the embedded crystalline cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanoclusters and amorphous cobalt oxides (CoOx) nanoplates matrix, through a combined solvothermal and low temperature phosphidation route. The CoP nanoclusters and the CoOx nanoplates showed synergistic effect due to the strong nanointerfaces electronic interactions between CoP and CoOx phases. This composite material exhibits very high oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and good hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, which are comparable to IrO2 OER catalyst and Pt/C HER catalyst. In an alkaline condition, water splitting for H2 and O2 production is achieved at a relatively low voltage of 1.66V at 10mA/cm2 for continuous 30hours’ operation. The developed water splitting catalyst showed comparable performance with the expensive Pt and IrO2 catalyst but the cost is much lower and the performance is more stable than the expensive catalyst. The technology can potentially decrease the cost of hydrogen production and facilitate hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development, which in turn contribute to a smart and sustainable transport and smart city development.
Geopolymer foam concrete
The technology details a new method to fabricate lightweight, high strength, acid- and fire-resistant geopolymer foam concrete by using a mixture of surfactants (foam stabilisers) through wet processing. The method has been developed based on the fundamental understanding of how surfactant polarity and stabilisers affect foam-ability, foam-stability, its interaction with cement slurry as it is mixed, and how these factors affect porosity, pore size, mechanical strength, and durability of the formed concrete. Specifically, the process involves preparing an aqueous foam by entraining air into a surfactant mixture and polysaccharide thickener composition. The foam is then mixed with a geopolymer slurry to form a geopolymer foam that can be cured to form the geopolymer foam concrete. By controlling the ratio of surfactants with the polysaccharide gum, foam-stability can be maximised resulting in uniform porosity and optimal pore size which allows the formed geopolymer concreate to observe a good balance of insulation and mechanical strength.
Geopolymer foam concrete
The technology details a new method to fabricate lightweight, high strength, acid- and fire-resistant geopolymer foam concrete by using a mixture of surfactants (foam stabilisers) through wet processing. The method has been developed based on the fundamental understanding of how surfactant polarity and stabilisers affect foam-ability, foam-stability, its interaction with cement slurry as it is mixed, and how these factors affect porosity, pore size, mechanical strength, and durability of the formed concrete. Specifically, the process involves preparing an aqueous foam by entraining air into a surfactant mixture and polysaccharide thickener composition. The foam is then mixed with a geopolymer slurry to form a geopolymer foam that can be cured to form the geopolymer foam concrete. By controlling the ratio of surfactants with the polysaccharide gum, foam-stability can be maximised resulting in uniform porosity and optimal pore size which allows the formed geopolymer concreate to observe a good balance of insulation and mechanical strength.
Super-elastic graphene foams with extraordinary physical properties
Graphene is extremely tough, flexible, light-weight, and conductive. These unique characteristics make graphene a useful substitute for existing materials in applications including conductors, composites and sensors. Currently, commercial adoption of graphene is limited by manufacturing processes that are unable to mass-produce defect-free graphene cost-effectively. The method described circumvents the need to produce defect-free graphene and does not compromise the superior properties graphene endows. The method controls the 3D structure of bulk graphene materials, thereby extending the range of properties and applications of existing bulk solids, including flexiblility and broad sensing capability. The method is a simple, world-first scalable freeze-casting method, which efficiently assembles graphene sheets at a structural level. Proof-of-concept studies reveal the foams have ultra-low density and retains structural integrity under loads < 50,000 times its own weight over 1000 loading cycles. Unlike commercial soft polymeric materials which can only measure frequencies up to 5 Hz, the graphene foams exhibit near frequency independent piezoresistive behaviours, and can conduct instantaneous and high-fidelity electrical responses to dynamic pressures with a broad frequency range (quasistatic to 2000 Hz). The foams have proven manufacturability for use as flexible sensors with promising application for ultra-high sensitivity broad frequency forces.
CZTS solar cell
The technology is a method for synthesizing CTZS nanoparticles. This first involves preparation of tin metal chalcogenide, by which two routes can be undertaken to form identical solutions. The redox route relies on pure tin and sulphur powders, and the dissociative route relies on tin sulphide. The aqueous chalcogenide solution cannot be stored for long periods due to a slow degradation reaction. The dissociative route had a significant slower rate degradation as compared to the redox route, and no other differences in the synthesis of the solution or resulting nanocrystals were observed. CZTS nanocrystals is then synthesized by mixing the chalcogenide solution with a combination of thiourea solution, Milli-Q water, zinc nitrate and cupric nitrate. The yield by mass was >95%. CZTS nanocrystals of different elemental ratios and concentrations can be synthesized stoichiometrically by the addition of different amounts of copper, zinc, and tin precursor solutions while maintaining 1.2-fold excess of thiourea to copper ions in solution. As-synthesized CZTS ink powders can be obtained by vacuum drying. Purified CZTS nanocrystal powders were obtained by adding ethanol or isopropanol as an antisolvent, centrifuging, disposing of the supernatant, and redispersing the precipitate in Milli-Q water and vacuum drying the precipitate.
Making urine-odor-free absorbent products for people with adult/urinary incontinence
Current absorbent products for incontinence incorporate additives for odor control. Unfortunately, however, such compositions have proven ineffective in obtaining the full level of odor control desired in many applications. Unicus Pharmaceuticals, LLC has developed a patent-pending SENSEUO™ (Safe, Effective, Non-Toxic, and Spontaneous Elimination of Urine Odor) technology using urine odor eliminating material (UOEM) that would dramatically change the lifestyle of people who are suffering from adult/urinary incontinence. Disposable absorbents have been introduced back in the 1980s but until today no technology could address the related malodor of urine-exposed absorbents. Our novel technology addresses the root cause of the urine malodors which is a unique strategy and one of a kind invention. The potential new products based on our SENSEUO™ or incorporation of SENSEUO™ technology into the existing marketed products will address, for the first time, the malodor coming from urine-soaked absorbent products. This invention will have positive impacts in patients’ quality of life, in various healthcare and care facility settings, and for commercial industries that require large scale urine odor control.
Graphene chalcogenides : a green synthesis method of functionalizing graphene
The proposed innovation consists of a method for functionalizing graphene in one step. This procedure does not generate chemical waste and allows better performance compared to other protocols reported in the literature. Graphene is functionalized with chalcogenides, negative ions formed from an element of the chalcogen family (O, S, Se, Te, Po, Lv). The link formed between graphene and chalcogenides in the protocol proposed here is a covalent bond, which gives homogeneous nanostructures. The reaction is carried out in an ampoule filled with an inert gaseous component. Graphen and sulfur, separated at first, are then heated and then mixed together for several hours. The resulting product is an interesting graphen-sulfur coupound with superior properties.
Self-Driving Laboratories for Accelerating Materials Discovery
We have built “Ada”, the world’s first integrated self-driving laboratory for thin film materials discovery. Ada is automated, autonomous, and adaptable for a variety of materials systems. Advanced robotics and AI equip our self-driving platforms like Ada with the capacity to make, test, and learn from new materials on the fly. Leveraging automation in materials science enables higher research throughput, and AI-driven autonomy crucially facilitates more efficient exploration. Together, these strategies have the potential to revolutionize the R&D process: our self-driving laboratories will accelerate materials development over 10x relative to conventional approaches. Automation has already resulted in unparalleled advances in many fields; however, its implementation in materials science is in its infancy due to complexity of laboratory workflows and challenges associated with the integration of material synthesis with analysis. The limited equipment options that are commercially available for automating materials development have long lead times, and these units are customized for a very specific and fixed experimental workflow. Our approach embraces versatility, and allows for rapid and ongoing design and implementation of flexible hardware and software. A video of Ada in action after only 6 months of development can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2CUjhwg.
High Pressure, Laser Floating Zone Crystal Growth Furnace
Using the floating zone technique, this technology allows wider range of materials to be produced compared to any commercially available furnace. The technology would increase the pressure range up to 1000 atm, while the existing highest pressure available is 300 atm, which opens up new compounds to materials research since it allows for the growth of crystals of highly-volatile components and components that only form under high-pressure conditions. Examples of materials include volatile precious metal oxides, alkali metal containing materials such as high performance cathode compounds, and nitride systems which sublimate or decompose at low growth pressures. Moreover, the use of lasers with optical focusing allows for extremely small hot zones, the sharp heating gradients of the sample is advantageous for the growth of volatile compounds and small-diameter (2-3mm) samples. Optical floating zone furnaces are widely used in the materials research community. This transformational technology would be extremely helpful in conducting materials research, which would potentially lead to more groundbreaking findings and research in the industry.
Colloidal Lithography-Enables Creation of Metasurface-Integrated MicroLEDs and Devices
This technology enhances and controls directional light emission in Light Emitting Diodes. Existing incumbent cavity reflector technology in light-emitting devices is the Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR). However, a DBR introduces significant thermal transport problems and has a bulky structure when integrated into micron-scale LEDs. Metasurfaces, which are compact optical structures, are able to manipulate the wavefront of incident light through precise phase control, enabling deflection, focusing, reflection, and/or absorption of light. This technology is more compact and versatile than its competitors. With its unique scalability, reliability and range of pattern dimensions, it solves current limitations in existing lithography.
Hydraulically Actuated Textiles
This technology enables the potential for wearable muscles. For those lacking mobility or function could be life-changing. Previous actuator robotic technologies were too rigid and unable to apply and modulate high levels of strain. However, this technology offers a soft, planar, actuator controlled by the flow of hydraulic fluid in elastic fibers that can withstand and modulate high levels of strain. Unlike other technologies using potentially explosive gases, this one employs the use of hydraulic fluid to ensure that the devices remain safe for contact with humans, even when high forces or pressures are applied. Experiments also reveal that these soft actuators can effect strains approaching 100%, with forces that can be readily scaled according to application requirements. As it can be both flexible and responsive, unlike many other compression technologies, it has potential applications in healthcare applications to produce active compression. This technology is easily fabricated using a large variety of materials, is flexible and can apply a wide range of strains which allows it to address needs in numerous fields including wearable robotics, wearable computing, healthcare, and technical apparel.
Safer Solvents for Contact-Adhesives
Solvent-based contact adhesives are used in everyday construction items and are typically used to bond wood, metals, leather, fabric etc. Solvent blends including toluene, hexane, acetone, and other solvents are typically being used to solvate polymers (rubbers and resins) in contact adhesive formulations. These solvents fall in the classification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and present potential health, safety and environmental concerns to both the user and the surrounding environment. Inventors at UML have identified solvent blends that substitute for these hazardous solvents in these solvent-based contact adhesives to avoid the negative health effects. Few solvent blends have been identified as possible solutions to this problem: • Ternary solvent blend comprised of methyl acetate, methyl cyclohexane, and cyclohexene • Binary solvent blend comprised of methyl acetate and methyl cyclohexane. • Ternary solvent blend comprising Acetone, PCBTF (Parachloro-benzotrifluoride) & Cyclo-hexane. Solvent-based contact adhesives are used in everyday construction items and are typically used to bond: o Wood o Metal o Leather o Fabric • Particleboards to create countertops for kitchens and bathrooms
Nano BST - A Novel Ferroelectric Ink for Flexible Electronics
Nano BST is a new 3D printable ink composed of a composite of Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) particles and a polymer. The dielectric properties of the ink can be tuned based on the alloy composition (Ba-Sr-Ti) and size of the BST particles. These factors allow tuning without requiring high temperature sintering or annealing step. These inks can be used to process at extremely low temperature on flexible (or rigid) substrates using additive (printing) technologies. The tunable dielectric composite is made by suspending nano-sized particles of BST in a thermoplastic polymer, namely Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC). After printing with the ink, only a light curing process is required at temperatures below 200°C, thus allowing fabrication on flexible, plastic substrates. This allows for realizing an all-printed high-frequency voltage variable capacitor on a flexible substrate to be used in tunable RF and microwave applications such as phased array antennas, conformal antennas, and tunable frequency selective surfaces. Applications: - Fully printed, high frequency, electrostatically variable capacitors (varactors) - parallel plate (MIM) or In-plane - Fully Printed RF and Microwave devices like Tunable phase shifters; Frequency-agile Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS); Phase Array Antennas; Adaptive and reconfigurable antennas; Voltage controlled Oscillators (VCO)
Alternate Precursor for Carbon Fiber (CF) Formation
The invention proposes an alternate precursor for CF formation using Polyparaphenylene (PPP). PPP is a rigid-rod linear polyaromatic polymer containing only C and H atoms. Using PPP as a precursor for CF production will: (i) eliminate the need for an oxidative stabilization stage, due to the high thermal stability and rigid-rod, polyaromatic structure of PPP, (ii) simplify the carbonization and graphitization steps, resulting in a faster and less-energy intensive manufacturing process, and (iii) potentially result in a higher grade CF. Currently, PPP is synthesized in small quantities and not produced in fiber form. However, PPP is known to have high strength and excellent thermal stability. In this novel process, obtained PPP fibers were carbonized by pyrolysis under inert atmosphere to form CFs. - Fibers pulled out from pre-PPP polymer melt using glass micropipette and placed on quartz glass slides - Aromatization of pre-PPP fibers to from PPP fibers occurred in inert atmosphere - Carbonization of PPP fibers to form CFs
Toughened Isotactic Polypropylene
Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) is intrinsically brittle under fast load or at low temperatures, limiting its use as a high-performance engineering plastic. Past attempts to improve toughness through compounding or blending with rubber have been most effective at high rubber content (>20 wt%) which significantly reduces other mechanical properties and optical clarity of the final material. This new technology imparts toughness while maintaining desired mechanical properties and optical clarity. Low concentrations of hydrogenated styrene/butadiene diblock copolymer are added to the isotactic polypropylene to improve toughness. By simply melt-blending these copolymer agents with iPP, impact strength and toughness of the blend dramatically improves. Because the diblock copolymers are rubbery in nature and designed to disperse into 200-500 nm droplets during melt blending, increased toughness can be achieved with low loadings (5-10% wt%), preserving high clarity and strength. Dispersion of copolymer droplets in the iPP matrix does not substantially increase melt viscosity so the modified iPP retains molding and melt blowing ability. At the same time, clarity of the modified iPP is retained because the copolymer is not melt blended into the iPP matrix. This technology could offer a new toughening agent for commercial iPP applications that require high impact strength.
Advanced, Cost Effective Propylene Separation
Propylene/propane separation is one of the most important, challenging and energy-intensive processes in petrochemical industry. The separation is traditionally performed by a highly energy-intensive, and therefore expensive, distillation process. It has been proposed that significant energy and capital cost savings are possible by replacing or combining the distillation processes with membrane separations. A new nanocomposite membrane shows excellent propylene/propane separation. The membrane consists of propylene-selective coordination compounds uniquely embedded inside a mesoporous oxide matrix. Previous propylene-selective membranes were made by forming a continuous membrane layer on the surface of a porous support, but these membranes are susceptible to mechanical damage during handling and operation and suffer from other stability issues. By creating a propylene-selective nanocomposite membrane with the membrane materials embedded inside a mesoporous oxide matrix, this first-of-its-kind nanocomposite membrane offers enhanced propylene separation performance and membrane stability at an expected lower cost than previous technology.
Minneapolis, MN
www.research.umn.edu/techcomm/
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Bio-based Process to Produce Acrylic Acid, Acrylate monomers and Propionic acid in High Yield
Acrylic esters are currently derived directly from acrylic acid produced from byproducts of ethylene and gasoline production. Use of bio-renewable starting materials is of key interest, and the technology presented here provides a viable route from bio-derived lactate esters to acrylic esters via a catalytic, two-step process. The synthesis can be done under neat conditions, avoiding the need for solvent, and takes place at just 80 degrees Celsius, a significant improvement over other methods that require temperatures higher than 250 degrees Celsius. This new, sustainable method synthesizes acrylic acid and acrylate esters starting from alkyl lactates. The method reacts alkyl lactate with carbon monoxide and ethylene in the presence of a palladium catalyst, resulting in catalytic hydroesterification of the alkyl lactates yields alkyl 2-(propionyloxy)propanoates. Pyrolysis of the alkyl 2-(propionyloxy)propanoates yields acrylate esters and propionic acid, and further hydrolysis of the acrylate esters yields acrylic acid. The synthetic method provides quantitative yields of the 2-(propionyloxy)propanoates, making it ideal for industry use, and the catalytic species can be generated in situ in both in the neat alkyl lactate and in organic solvent from inexpensive and readily available starting materials.
Silica fibrous material for sorption, separation, catalytic and battery applications
Silica (SiO2) fibrous material is a special functional material with unique properties represented by amorphous fiber structure. These silica fibers can adsorb significantly more water than commercially available silicagel of the same mesoporous character. This feature is especially apparent in the range of medium relative humidity (30-70 % RH), which is industrially the most important range for adsorption (in electronics, food, chemical industries, and numerous others). Owing to its porosity the fibrous sorbent can be desorbed for its next use at significantly lower temperature (at least 20°C lower), which has positive effect on the cost figure of the process. High specific surface area and mesoporosity are the main advantages and make the material especially suitable for sorption and catalytic applications. The material can be used as an adsorbent, catalytic carrier, battery electrolyte etc. It is produced by Centrifugal Spinning technology which enables to produce fibers with diameters between 800-1200 nm. Fibers can be delivered in different modifications, either as COTTON or POWDER (after milling that leads to fiber shortening to several microns) and can be produced in large volumes with easy and fast upscaling capacity.
Bismuth-based electrochemical desalination cells and desalination battery
The inventor group recently discovered that bismuth (Bi) can serve as an effective and practical chlorine (Cl) storage electrode. This is achieved through the use of a nanocrystalline Bi foam, which stores Cl ions in the form of BiOCl. Utilizing this innovation, the group was able to develop a practical desalination cell using Bi as the Cl storage electrode and readily available materials as the sodium (Na) electrodes. This cell requires an energy input for desalination, but during the reverse cycle (salination) the energy released can be utilized for any desired work, thus dramatically lowering the overall energy input required for the desalination cycle. Unlike other electrodialysis (ED) based desalination systems, this technology will operate at full efficiency regardless of the salt concentration in water. Using standard calculations to estimate operating voltage, the theoretical limit for this technology is at least 35x lower energy consumption than reverse osmosis (1kw/m3 vs 0.028kw/m3). This will enable ED to be a viable standalone option for seawater desalination or combined with RO in a hybrid process. Longer term, the Bi electrode technology could be used in a battery configuration to further reduce the net electrical requirement for desalination.
Fabrication of Slippery Anti-Fouling Coatings on Flexible Catheters
Recent advances toward the design of so-called ‘liquid-infused surfaces’—materials fabricated by the infusion of oily liquid lubricants into chemically compatible surfaces—have enabled the development of new classes of synthetic and highly ‘slippery’ materials with robust anti-fouling properties. Unfortunately, existing liquid-infused materials do not completely inhibit microbial colonization, and fundamental questions remain regarding the long-term stabilities of these materials and the ability of microorganisms to adapt to or breach the infused liquid barriers. In addition, existing SLIPS cannot kill microorganisms and it remains challenging to fabricate SLIPS on the inner and outer surfaces of tubing, such as that needed to manufacture central venous or urinary catheters. We recently developed a strategy for the design of polymer-based SLIPS that both inhibit microbial adhesion and promote the sustained release of conventional antimicrobial agents. Our technology is based on SLIPS fabricated by the infusion of a hydrophobic liquid oil into nanoporous polymer multilayers fabricated by reactive/covalent layer-by-layer assembly. This advance permits the facile fabrication of these coatings on the surfaces of topologically complex objects, including the inner and outer surfaces of flexible polymer tubing used to manufacture indwelling catheters, and provides a matrix for the loading of active pharmaceutical agents.
Ultra high strength and lightweight components via scalable nanocrystalline alloy technology
The Veloxint technology exploits Hall-Petch strengthening to boost alloy properties by controlling grain structure at the nanometer scale. The Veloxint team uses technology platform developed at MIT to develop proprietary alloy compositions and industrial processes to create thermodynamically stable nanocrystalline structures, thereby locking in the exceptional properties derived from grain-size strengthening. These alloys can be made into high performance components via both conventional and advanced powder metallurgy approaches, such as press and sinter, metal injection molding (MIM) and additive manufacturing. While the Veloxint technology is a platform technology that applies to many alloy systems, the company is currently focusing on two alloy systems. Veloxint Hard Metal (VHM) alloys are among the hardest metals in the world. Their superior strength, toughness and elevated temperature performance offer unparalleled performance, productivity and value for a broad range of cutting and wear applications. Veloxint Stainless (VS) alloys offer some of the highest strength to weight and stiffness to weight ratio among engineering metal alloys. VS alloys empower designers and engineers to create and produce exceptional components with up to 50% weight and footprint reduction for a broad range of end use applications..
Super-Tough Light Metal Matrix Composites
New composite materials based on lightweight metal alloys combined with inorganic nanopowders, exhibit supreme toughness among other excellent mechanical properties. Aluminum and magnesium alloys were combined with small amounts (up to 0.5 wt%) of tungsten disulfide nanopowder, using a conventional melt-stirring reactor, to form metal matrix composites. Despite the small amounts of added nanostructures, their addition led to remarkable improvements in the mechanical properties of the alloys. Surprisingly, both the tensile strength of the alloys and their elongation were improved by approximately 10-50% and 40-100%, respectively, consequently leading to increased fracture toughness as well. In addition, alloy hardness was significantly improved. For example, the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and ductility of aluminum alloy AA6061 reinforced with 0.2wt.% WS2 nanotubes improved by 15%, 21%, and 68%, respectively. Physical considerations suggest that the main mechanism responsible for the reinforcement effect lies in the mismatch between the thermal expansion coefficients of the metal and the nanostructures. The observed high specific fracture toughness may render the super-tough light metal matrix composites advantageous in various critical applications in the automotive and aerospace industries, both in casting and wrought alloys.
Novel CNT Hybrid Films Used as Porous Electrodes
A new hybrid carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion and self-assembly platform developed by a group of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, enables simple and large-scale production of CNT films. The technology utilizes readily available, hydrophobic perylene diimide derivatives as the base component for the production of organic nanocrystals (ONCs) that are later dispersed at different CNT/ONC ratios, to form adjustable films. While known methods for the formation of CNT films are both complicated and costly or are hampered by the qualities of the material, causing conductivity reduction, the new suggested technology is simple and potentially cost-effective. In addition, the films preserve the high electrical qualities of the original CNTs, show high mechanical and thermal stability and can be integrated into existing platforms, such as porous electrodes, with an easily adjusted pore size. Films prepared in this method were recently efficiently incorporated into perovskite solar cells to replace gold electrodes and resulted in a dramatic increase in cell photo-stability. The CNT films are also expected to improve the electrical and environmental properties of batteries and super-capacitors, which will enable their utilization in rapidly increasing markets requiring higher-energy and power density electrodes.
