List

Determination of soil gas concentrations and isotopologue ratios are a critical tool in plant, microbial and ecosystem ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry studies, and interrogation of environmental remediation. In addition, the most abundant elements utilized and exchanged by plants, microbes and ecosystems are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N), all of which respond to redox c ...

Functional metabolic imaging of plant and microbial systems requires a sensitive, high spatial resolution microscopy method that can image metabolically important compounds in situ. This will require new chemically sensitive imaging methods to be developed. In this SBIR/STTR, we will develop a new coherent Raman-based microscopy technique that will improve ensitivity over existing stimulated Raman ...

Detailed accurate data on temperature variations and water vapor concentration distributions are needed for weather and climate forecasting. Water vapor is particularly important for predicting precipitation amounts from storms. Measurements are needed from the ground to the top of the troposphere at about 10 km altitude. Existing ground-based instruments often have measurement uncertainties due t ...

As the United States aging fleet of nuclear reactors approach the end other their lifetimes, a new generation of nuclear reactors (Generation IV) are being developed to ensure national energy security without emissions or pollutants as a byproduct. However, there are many technological hurdles associated with the extreme corrosive environments required by molten salt reactor designs. This presents ...

While science and technology fields greatly benefit from Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in surface characterization, time-resolved chemical imaging on the single-molecule level, e.g., Near-Field Scanning Optical Spectroscopy and Ultrafast Tip-Enhanced Spectroscopy, lags far behind — current scanning probe microscopy only obtains information about mechanical, but not chemical/optical properties. T ...

For the foreseeable future, the Nation’s energy demand will continue to come largely from indigenous fossil energy resources and hydrocarbon fuels. Specifically waste coal plus other opportunity fuels need to be utilized as a feedstock to eliminate a waste stream and optimized to maximize energy yield and cleanly minimize pollutant emissions. Modular equipment is needed for installation in coal ...

The chemical industry is seeking new domestic feedstocks that are independent of imported oil. Waste CO2 is an abundant and low-cost domestic source of carbon for making chemicals but there is a need for new technologies to cost-effectively capture and convert CO2 into useful materials. The objective of this project will be to develop an economically viable process that converts waste CO2 from sou ...

Low concentrations of contaminants in hydrogen fuel can foul or damage fuel cells in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Currently there is infrequent monitoring of hydrogen quality at filling stations. There is no instrumentation available to perform this function at the station. In this project, a diode laser instrument is being developed that will be able to perform these measurements at filling stati ...

Geothermal brines used in power generation can be a potential source of critical elements, such as lithium. However, current technological approaches cannot achieve high selectivity of target elements available in trace concentrations from a complex geothermal brine matrix with high concentration of non-desirable mineral content. StratoFire and Southern Research propose to develop and optimize an ...

Vast amounts of impaired waters are produced in gas and oil wells. Energy-efficient desalination systems are needed to treat these waters to produce fresh water and concentrated brines. Mineral recovery systems can also yield valuable critical materials as byproducts. Savengy Technologies and University of Central Florida (UCF) will develop and commercialize an energy efficient system to treat sha ...