Chemical | Office of Technology Licensing

Available Technologies by Category
Tunable MEMs Gas Sensor Improves Selectivity and Sensitivity	Versatile: Customizes MEMS chemical sensors, compatible with a variety of sensing materials, allowing for the detection of numerous gas-phase analytes Easy to manufacture: Uses batch-fabricated sensors compatible with COTS electronics Highly sensitive: Offers sub parts-per-million detection limits for volatile organic compounds Enhanced selectivity: Combines gravimetric and impedimetric responses to demonstrate enhanced discrimination between multiple VOCs Powerful: Enables the simultaneous observation of both mass loading and dielectric changes in polymeric sensing films upon sorption of an analyte Innovative: Uses the transient response characteristics of a sensor response to a gated exposure event, rather than steady-state sensor data	8269, 8987
Recirculation System for Aerosol Collectors Maximizes Particle Concentration for Improved Pathogen Detection	Enhanced detection: Continuously recirculated collection buffer increases the concentration of targeted particles collected and improves detection of pathogens Increased sampled air volume: Recirculating the buffer enables running the system for longer periods of time and with larger volumes of air to improve pathogen detection in entire buildings Increased control: Users have active control of the volume of fluid introduced during collection via the system’s recharge pump	8903
Thin Current Spreading Layers Improve Breakdown Performance	Increases current uniformity: Improves cumulative current flow distribution from ~40% to ~100% of the p-type contact Improves breakdown performance: Avoids premature breakdown at the mesa edges making quasi-vertical devices comparable in performance to more expensive vertical devices. Improves Immunity to Etch Variation: Because current flow is no longer crowded along the mesa edges, process related variations in the mesa etching are less important to the diode performance.	8789
p-type Be-Doped AlN Films and Layered Films	Enabling: Leverages MME method to provide the first access to p-type AlN:Be films, a superior ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor material good for high-power, high-temperature diodes and transistors Ease of fabrication: Avoids costly and complicated methods unfavorable for beryllium doping Improved breakdown performance: Achieves high reverse breakdown voltage—a significant advantage over WBG materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and GaN	8810, 8666, 8786
Scalable Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity for Chemical Separations	Scalable: Uses simple chemistry and eliminates production steps to enable large scale polymer manufacturing Solution-processable: Permits the development of a variety of membrane morphologies including dense flat sheets, thin film composites, and hollow fibers High chemical stability: Results in stable structures able to withstand exposure to solvents and other chemicals, enabling stable separation performance and industrial application	8113
Micro Ammonia Production System (MAPS)—Systems and methods for making nitrogen-based compounds	Higher yield and efficiency: Uses hollow hybrid nanoparticles instead of solid nanoparticles for a three-fold enhancement in electrocatalytic activity due to the increased surface area and higher number of successful reactant collisions Sustainable production: Leverages renewable electricity sources and offers clean and sustainable ammonia electrosynthesis, unlike the current industrial method for ammonia production that is energy intensive and heavily relies on fossil fuels Simplified process: Enables production of ammonia via gas-phase system with few or no additional steps for separation and purification	8056
A Biomimetic Nose with Machine Learning for Advanced Threat Detection	Enhanced chemical detection: Reduces proximity issues and enhances detection Functional in air and liquid mediums: Can detect single or multiple chemical agents even when the medium contains both a liquid and a gas. An attachment makes it possible to use the device in liquid with air monitoring sensors. Continuous improvement: Uses machine learning algorithms to continually improve agent characterization	7796
Advancing Mass Spectrometry with Novel Interface	Flexible: Allows for integration with a range of operational modes and analytical workflows for different ESI-MS techniques High performance: Offers enhanced sensitivity and a significantly improved limit of detection Robust and effective: Minimizes charged ion loss and enables sampling of the most analytically “valuable” droplets	4182
Virtual Sensing Integrated for Predictive Reliability (VIPR)	Advanced: Acquires system data via virtual sensing, without the need for physical sensors in all desired locations Cost-reducing: Aims to reduce maintenance and planning costs for solid rocket motors and potentially other vehicle propulsion systems Predictive: Provides useful, repeatable, extensive data sets to predict rocket performance and enable proactive plans for propulsion system maintenance, upgrades, and replacements, potentially reducing downtime and failures	8555
Next-Generation Flow Battery for Large-Scale Energy Storage at One-Tenth the Cost	Higher power density: This design has achieved ultra-high power densities of 630 W/Ldevice (charge) and 170 W/Ldevice (discharge), compared to existing flow battery designs that achieve only 500 W/Ldevice (charge) and 90 W/Ldevice (discharge). Ultra-high current density: The design has achieved current densities of >300 mA/cm3 per device. Dramatically lower cost: The elimination of parts reduces fabrication costs by 90%. Cost is ~$330 rather than ~$4,400.	8284, 8571
Innovative Ion Mobility Spectrometry with Open-Air Assembly	Protective: Potentially helps protect the technician against contact with ionic hazards Rapid: Separates ions through fast detection of differences in their mass, charge, and cross-section Convenient: Leverages an open-air arrangement that significantly reduces time for experiment setup and sample preparation	4885
Tautomeric Sensing with a Covalent Organic Framework	Fast: Provides highly responsive color change within seconds Passively reversible: Does not require external stimuli for regeneration Long-term stability: Sensing ability extends for months	8262
Optical Architecture Enables High-Performance Chips	High performance: Provides efficient, practical, and manufacturable optical computing solutions for a variety of platforms Efficient: Permits a new way of designing high-performance computing and decision-making tasks using manufacturable solutions with high-speed processing, despite fabrication imperfections Flexible: Offers photonic chips in a variety of material platforms (i.e., silicon, silicon nitride) and meta-surface arrays implemented in hybrid platforms that combine dielectrics and nonlinear/reconfigurable materials	8437
Hybrid Meta-Surfaces for Active, Non-Volatile Light Manipulation	Fast: Enables highly dense pixels with fast (nanosecond) switching capability Scalable: Can be fabricated with features down to nanometer sizes; the overall device can incorporate several meta-surfaces with different features over a large-size wafer Agile: Offers high switching robustness (up to 1012 cycles)	8530
Hybrid Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks for Effective Gas Separation	Tunable: Provides a mechanism for adjusting the porosity and functionality of ZIF materials to be used in a range of applications Advanced: Demonstrates significantly higher levels of separation selectivity from molecular mixtures of interest than previous ZIF models Scalable: Holds potential for large-scale CO2 separation in different materials, such as membranes and adsorbents	5925
Detecting Change of Dielectric Constant	Enables detection of materials based on changes to the effective dielectric constant of a circular resonator Measures the index of refraction to detect the change in optical wavelength that is occurring Able to detect the power of the electromagnetic wave in the circular resonator at resonance condition and/or during build-up stage	2839
Method for Imaging Mass Spectrometry	Precise – Method allows for automatic, precise control of molecule deposition Scalable – Deposition method can be done on large or multiple samples Solvent-Free – Improved imaging quality by eliminating solvent in deposition	4202
Eliminating Phase Separation Issues	Phase separation is eliminated Growth process is faster Processing temperatures are lower and over a wider range	5459
Reduced Cyanine Dyes	Simple Synthesis - Easy one-step synthesis from commercially available cyanine dyes Dependable - Exceptional sensitivity Versatile - High stability and wide range wavelength tunability	4430
Chemically Resolved Microscopy Using Microplasma Discharges	Can be operated under ambient temperature and pressure Higher chemical and spatial resolution than currently exists Has the ability to pair mass spectrometry to microscopy	4340

Technologies