Available Technologies by Category
Mechanocatalytic Depolymerization of Plastics
  • A new process for recycling plastics has been created where plastics are broken down simultaneously by mechanical and catalytical forces.
  • This chemical recycling has less economic costs, produces less wastes, and allows for an increase in the number of different types of plastics that can be recycled.
  • The process also provides a convenient solution as it is highly scalable, requires less volumes of catalysts, and can be fueled by electronic and renewable energies.
8370
A Brayton Electrochemical Refrigerator/Air-Conditioner
  • The Brayton Electrochemical Refrigerator/AC is a new, electrochemistry-based method of highly efficient cooling. 
  • Based on the Brayton cycle, the process provides continuous cooling while also providing near-zero global warming potential (GWP) refrigeration.
  • This technology is highly efficient with a measured coefficient of performance that exceeds 8 as well as a non-flammable and non-toxic technology.
8711
Device Continuously Separates Functionalized Magnetic Microparticles from Solids to Yield Benefits for the Pharmaceutical Industry and More
  • Magnetic force is used to enhance traditional solid-solid separation techniques to yield a high-purity product stream and continuously return catalyst to a reactor.
  • The device is capable of continuous separation for multiple hours and can be parallelized or ran in series to improve solids throughput and separation efficiency.
  • This technology could help accelerate the adoption of continuous, heterogeneously catalyzed reactive crystallizations and, more generally, expand the chemistries and processes fit for continuous manufacturing. 
8806
Superluminescent Light Projection (SLP) System Decreases Nanoscale Printing Costs by 10–50 Times
  • This superluminescent light projection (SLP) system decreases overall nanoscale printing costs by 10–50 times. 
  • A parallel writing mechanism supports higher throughput speeds: up to 100 times higher than existing metal printing methods and four times higher than existing polymer printing methods. 
  • SLP creates sharp-edged images with minimal speckling patterns, resulting in high-resolution images and structures on both polymer and metal-based films. 
9066
Anodically Coloring Molecular Electrochromics (EC) Improve Contrast, Color, and Transitions
  • True black-to-clear transitions with high contrast and color tuning are now possible with anodically coloring electrochromics.
  • Broad absorption supports color mixing and color tunability in the charged state, and color tuning is enabled by manipulating the oscillator strengths of radical cation transitions.  
  • Energy required for practical electrochromic applications is effectively decreased by much lower oxidative potentials, as compared to their corresponding polyamides.
7745
Synthetic Hydrogel for Satellite Cell Delivery in Dystrophic Skeletal Muscle
  • Addresses the critical need for a viable treatment for deterioration of the diaphragm, which is a leading cause of respiratory failure and death in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy patients
  • Engineered hydrogels comprised of synthetic polymers and peptides are designed to enable successful muscle satellite cell (MuSC) transplantation to the diaphragm or other dystrophic skeletal muscle tissue
  • Shown to support MuSC survival, proliferation, and differentiation, which can enable restoration of dystrophin – a protein absent in DMD and critical to strengthening and repairing muscle fibers
7841
Hybrid Molecular Catalysts: A New Blueprint for Catalyst Design, Preparation, and Testing
  • Attachment of molecular catalysts to solid supports can lead to new reactivity not seen under homogeneous conditions
  • At an optimal atomic layer deposition (ALD) layer thickness, the molecular catalyst remains highly active while still being resistant to surface detachment and subsequent deactivation
  • Catalyst separation and recovery achieved via a simple filtering and washing process rather than energy- and time-intensive distillation or re-crystallization processes
  • In addition to the simple filter-and-wash process mentioned above, encapsulation requires only about 10 reaction cycles, making this process technologically and economically viable for large-scale manufacturing
8537
Eco-Method Mordant that Improves Natural Dye Adhesion to Synthetic Fabrics
  • Eco-friendly: An improved industrial dyeing process because it reduces excessive heat and water contamination during manufacturing.
  • Wide applicability: Demonstrated to be successful with other materials beyond polyester, including Kevlar and polyacrylonitrile (PAN).
  • Improved quality: Improving commercial dye methods without losing the desired properties of polyester such as flexibility is beneficial to industries like medical supply.
9048
Submersible Water Activity Meter (SWAM)
  • Submersion allows rapid determination of water activity (aw) levels onsite, without returning samples to a bench-top aw system in a lab
  • In-situ measurement capabilities can inform other kinds of sampling decisions very rapidly, allowing discretionary sample collection
  • Membrane is permeable to water vapor but not liquid water, preventing liquid (or other media) from entering the sample volume, reducing contamination and protecting the electronics
8902
Capillary Flow Control in Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) via Delaminating Timers
  • ASSURED: LFAs readily satisfy the majority of the ASSURED (affordable, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid and robust, equipment-free, and deliverable to end-users) criteria reported by the World Health Organization to establish capabilities of POC devices.
  • Agile: The addition of timers to LFAs provides an opportunity to develop more complex multi-step testing, as well as additional benefits such as built-in signal amplification and POC DNA extraction and purification.
  • Automated: The ability to sequentially deliver different reagents into a reaction via programmable timers imprinted on paper makes it possible to automate multi-step assays that otherwise could only be performed in laboratories or with manual intervention.
8462, 8634
New Class of Tissue-Targeting Agents Inhibits Fibrosis, Inflammation, and Cancer Growth
  • Potent: Candidates among these agents are 1,000 times more potent than pirfenidone, the standard treatment of IPF.
  • Specific: The compounds may potentially exhibit tissue-targeting properties for sustained levels at disease sites.
  • Minimal toxicity: Enhanced tissue specificity inhibits inflammation and growth of targeted cancer cells while minimizing off-target effects and toxicity.
8374
Next-Generation Custom-Fit Reusable Mask for Respiratory Protection
  • Aims to eliminate fit-testing: Designed to remove the expensive and time-consuming federal (i.e., OSHA) mandate for annual fit-testing for workplace use
  • Improved fit: Adapts to fit specific facial features, increasing comfort and enhancing efficacy and potentially eliminating face-seal leakage to enhance performance
  • Reusable: Withstands cleaning and decontamination
6635
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
Unique Processing Method for Highly Durable Bismaleimide Plastic
  • Highly durable: Demonstrates an impact strength of up to 69 kilo joules per square meter—a 392% increase over BMI that did not undergo HSSM processing
  • High-fidelity: Overcomes the typical limitations of BMI without the use of chemical additives
  • Straightforward: Requires only simple, conventional equipment for development
7994
Novel Chemical Compounds Support Excess Copper Removal in Biological Systems
  • Powerful: Displays an affinity for copper that is unprecedented among synthetic ligands, with a complex stability constant of logK = 20.0
  • Specific: Functions without interference by other metals in the body
  • Effective: Possesses a strong copper coordinating ability, even in the complex chemical environments of different biological systems
8151
Recovery Strategy for Carbon Dioxide and Solvents
  • High quality - superior quality lignin produced that is sufficient for chemicals, pulp, and paper
  • Useful - aids in isolating lignin and recovering and concentrating carbon dioxide 
8234
Contact Potential Difference Sensor to Monitor Flowing Oil Properties
  • Real-time: provides real-time electrochemical analysis of engine oil by placing sensors in the oil flow
  • Cheaper: by monitoring for early signs of engine damage, this technology can help avoid expensive repairs
  • Increased oil life expectancy: owners can extract maximum life from their increasingly expensive motor oil
2463
Alternative Methods for Producing Fixed Nitrogen
  • Increased efficiency - directly oxidizes nitrogen to create nitric acid
  • Sustainable practice - less energy-intensive process than existing practices
  • Cost saving – elimination of heat and pressure during production 
7924
Method for Measuring Quality of Dielectric Liquids
  • Broad applications — can be used for any system that uses weakly-electrolytic fluid
  • Low cost — more accurate results prevent premature fluid changes
  • Efficient — highly sensitive measurements in very short time periods
3900
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