Award Data

TDAs proposes to develop a novel RF heating process for rewarming cryogenically preserved tissues and organs. TDAs approach is to optimize the RF frequency and power, along with the chemical composition, size and morphology of infused nanoparticles so that they heat tissue samples rapidly and uniformly. In this manner, the cryoprotectant solutions pass from the vitrified state to the liquid stat ...

Atmospheric aerosols, also known as particulate matter (PM), play important roles in weather, climate and human health. Aerosol number, size and chemistry can all exhibit high degrees of spatial and temporal variability, thereby increasing the need for highly time-resolved analyses obtained over extensive time periods (weeks to years). Instrumentation for monitoring the physical characteristics of ...

Polyurethanes (PUs) are made by reacting two components, one of which has two or more hydroxyl (OH) groups (diol or polyol) while the second has two or more isocyanate (NCO) groups. Unfortunately, not only is the isocyanate component a powerful irritant, but sensitized subjects can suffer severe asthma attacks and even death when exposed to trace quantities that are well below permissible exposure ...

Small drinking water systems consistently provide safe, reliable drinking water to their customers. However, challenges of such systems include lack of financial resources, aging infrastructure, cost of scale, and technical/logistical challenges associated with regulation compliance. The deployment of new cost-effective monitoring technologies, such as improved, low cost, in-line, in situ, and rem ...

Military personnel must be protected from diseases transmitted by ticks and fleas, including Lyme disease. Effective surveillance of tick and flea vectors is vital to determine the population present, whether they are carrying disease, and whether control campaigns are working. Unfortunately, current surveillance tools are ineffective. In Phase I TDA designed, prototyped, and tested a novel ti ...

Biodiesel is a fuel that is made by processing vegetable oil or animal fats into a liquid fuel that can be combusted in a standard, unmodified diesel engine. The use of biodiesel reduces CO2 emissions by over 80% compared to petroleum and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil while promoting economic opportunities in rural America. When biodiesel is made from low-cost waste oils or fats the e ...

Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the most rapidly growing waste problems worldwide. Improper handling of e-waste results in vast amounts of toxic waste being sent to landfill and leaching into the water supply. Due to there concerns e-waste recycling is a rapidly growing industry. Unfortunately, most current e-waste recycling processes rely on either manual hand sorting or differential dens ...

Isobutanol can be produced biotechnologically from the same biomass sources as ethanol. Compared to ethanol, however, isobutanol is a superior biofuel due to its higher energy content and its compatibility with existing fuel infrastructure. In addition, due to the vapor pressure issues posed by ethanol, requirements to produce gasoline that meet the specifications for reformulated gasoline (RFG) ...

In the event that vehicles of buildings become contaminated by hazardous chemical or biological materials, a well-studied and effective decontaminant is hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV).  Unfortunately, the current technology for generating HPV requires 35 weight percent hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a precursor, which is dangerous and cumbersome to transport and is classified by the Department o ...

Isobutanol can be produced biotechnologically from the same biomass sources as ethanol. Compared to ethanol, however, isobutanol is a superior biofuel due to its higher energy content and its compatibility with existing fuel infrastructure. In addition, due to the vapor pressure issues posed by ethanol, requirements to produce gasoline that meet the specifications for the reformulated gasoline ( ...