Award Data

Cathodes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that run on hydrogen are coated with a thin layer of conductive ionomer- The ionomer facilitates proton conduction to the costly platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst in the cathode, where oxygen reduction and reaction to form water occurs- Higher catalyst efficiency and lower catalyst loadings are desirable for industry PEMFC cost reductions- ...

C4 olefins are important petroleum refinery and petrochemical plant products- They are used in a variety of downstream processes, such as the production of alkylate fuel for gasoline- About 65 million metric tons of alkylate fuel is produced globally from C4 olefins- Other downstream products are secondary butyl alcohol, maleic anhydride, and butylene oxide, butyl rubber, and methyl methacrylate, ...

Xergy and RPI will develop a novel composite membrane that enables electrochemical hydrogen compression at > 1 kg/hour at 875 bar with an energy consumption of 1.4 kWh/kg, given hydrogen input at 100 bar. Phase I of this research will include synthesis of membrane samples, followed by bench-top evaluation of key performance characteristics, including polarization curves, Tafel plots, and evaluatio ...

ABOM has developed a novel active anti-fog technology platform that has solved the problem of eyewear fogging. These fog-free and ballistics-rated polycarbonate lenses provide the individual soldier with sustained distant visual acuity and improved situational awareness. Under this proposed SBIR Phase I project, ABOM will perform evaluation and feasibility studies for four proposed Military Combat ...

Ethylene demand is expected to increase by 50% domestically and worldwide over the next 5 years with a scramble to increase supply via expansion or grass root facilities. US capacity will remain at about 20% of the world’s supply and exceed 100 BPPY. To meet this challenge, US-DOE has invented a mixed metal oxide catalyst, M1 for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (C2-ODH) to ethylene at hi ...

Synchrotron-based science has had a great scientific impact and will continue to have great impact going forward. For high brightness 3rd and 4th generation light sources, errors are almost completely due to distortion in the front-end optics caused by the high heat loads generated by the broadband radiation from the insertion device. Diamond offers a solution because of its low x-ray absorption a ...

Solar module warranties are typically 25 years or longer, a striking reliability requirement that allows only a slow performance degradation with time. There are very few products built today that are required to exhibit this type of longevity. In the past decade, to improve the quality of their products, high-performance cell manufacturers developed and implemented various inline process control ...

With development of shale gas fracking, large amounts of methane and ethane have now become available at low cost. With this low cost ethane it is desirable to convert low cost ethane to high value ethylene. Oxidative dehydration (ODH) for low cost conversion of ethane to ethylene is a potentially attractive route. ODH is an exothermic process for converting ethane to ethylene. By contrast process ...

Excessive moisture transport into building enclosures can lead to increased energy use as well as mold growth and structural rot when moisture condenses in wall cavities. Currently, architects and builders must use passive membrane products as weather resistant barriers which exhibit a single permeability irrespective of environmental conditions. Membranes with a single high permeability may allow ...

Nanoparticle synthesis chemistry has developed tremendously over the last several decades, achieving great control over size, shape, and composition. This has led to much greater understanding of material optical, electronic, and surface properties, and myriad applications, from solar cells and photodetectors to medical therapy. Currently, processes for building nanoparticles are largely based on ...