Award Data

FERROELECTRIC SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYERS ARE BEING CREATED BY CHEMICALLY MODIFYING MONOLAYERS OF ADSORBED N-ALKANETHIOLS IN VACUUM. THE SURFACE POTENTIALS OF THE RESULTING THIN FILMS ARE MEASURED AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE AND PYROELECTRIC COEFFICIENTS AND FIGURES OF MERIT FOR THE MODIFIED FILMS DERIVED. THESE MONOLAYERS SHOULD BE EXCELLENT MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED ROOM TEMPERATURE PYROELECTRIC D ...

ANALYSIS OF THE STABLE ISOTOPES IN ATMOSPHERIC METHANE SAMPLES CAN BE USED TO IDENTIFY LOCAL SOURCES AND TO DEFINE THE GLOBAL BUDGET OF THIS RADIATIVELY IMPORTANT GREENHOUSE GAS. THE PROJECT IS DEVELOPING A PORTABLE AND LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE TO ISOTOPE MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR MEASURING (13)CH4 AND CH3D COMPONENTS IN METHANE SAMPLES. THE METHOD IS BASED ON INFRARED ABSORPTION USING A HELIUM NE ...

N/A

N/A

ADVANCED METHODS FOR THE CONVERSION OF NATURAL GAS TO LIQUID FUELS ARE NEEDED SO THAT NATURAL GAS ENERGY RESOURCES CAN BE BETTER UTILIZED. IN RECENT RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGHS, CERAMIC MONOLITHS HAVE BEEN USED IN PARTIAL OXIDATION TO CATALYZE VERY FAS, HIGH SELECTIVITY SYNTHESIS OF HIGHER HYDROCARBONS FROM METHANE. USE OF METAL MONOLITHS (SOLID METAL PLATES PERFORATED WITH SMALL, UNIFORM HOLES) IS P ...

PARTIAL OXIDATION REACTIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT ROUTES TO CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS. A SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF ALL CATALYTIC PROCESSES ARE OXIDATION REACTIONS AND THERE IS A PRESSING DEMAND TO IMPROVE YIELD AND REDUCE WASTE BYPRODUCTS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF A WIDE VARIETY OF SPECIALTY CHEMICALS. IN RECENT RESEARCH BREAK-THROUGHS, CERAMIC MONOLITHS HAVE BEEN USED IN PARTIAL OXIDATION PROCESSES TO CATALYZE V ...

ROBOTS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY. THEY ARE COMMONLY USED TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, LOWER OPERATING COSTS, ENHANCE WORKER SAFETY, AND REDUCE RADIATION EXPOSURE TO WORKERS. HOWEVER, THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING ROBOTS ARE LIMITEDBY THE SYSTEMS USED TO SENSE THEIR SURROUNDINGS. ALTHOUGH EXISTING ROBOTS OFTEN HAVE VISUAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AND NUCLEA ...

POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET) IS A NON-INVASIVE MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNIQUE, WHICH PROVIDES AN IMAGE OF A POSITRON EMITTING RADIO PHARMACEUTICAL AND ITS DISTRIBUTION IN THE BODY ON A METABOLIC LEVEL. AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS INSTRUMENT IS LIMITED BY THE NUCLEAR SENSORS USED. RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED A PROMISING DUAL DETECTOR CONCEPT FOR GENERATING HIGH RESOLUTION POSITRO ...

SILICON AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APDS) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE NEARLY AN IDEAL REPLACEMENT FOR PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBES (PMTS) IN SCINTILLATION DETECTION APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THEIR GREAT EXPENSE (TYPICALLY APDS COST TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS AN EQUIVALENT PMT) APDS HAVE NOT BEEN WIDELY USED. THE HIGH COST OF APDS IS DUE TO THE LOW YIELD, LABOR-INTENSIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESS USED TO PRODUCE THE ...

THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND USEFULNESS OF SCINTILLATOR DETECTORS ARE OFTEN LIMITED BY THE EFFICIENCY OF LIGHT COLLECTION BY THE PHOTOSENSOR USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THEM. MOST SCINTILLATORS THAT EMIT IN THE ULTRAVIOLET REGION (UV) HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY EXPLOITED, CHIEFLY DUE TO THE DIFFICULTY OF MEASURING THE LIGHT OUTPUT IN THAT RANGE. FOR EXAMPLE, BAF2 IS AN ATTRACTIVE SCINTILLATION DETECTOR FOR ...