Award Data

Development of a solid with high conductivity of Mg2+ cations will allow application of that substance as membrane in magnesium-air batteries. These batteries will be much cheaper, safer, and at the same time store much more energy than lead-, lithium- or sodium batteries with the same weight. Such batteries would be ideal for electric vehicles and for the off-peak storage of renewable elect ...

Many communities face water scarcity as a fundamental challenge to their economic and social development. Seawater is an abundant source which can be reached by most of the countries in the world. In order to utilize seawater as potable water, it is required to remove the high salinity. Desalination technologies are intended for the removal of dissolved salts that cannot be removed by conventional ...

Detecting electromagnetic (EM) signals generated by electrical and electronic processes and equipment in the presence of large amounts of clutter and unknown obstacles or infrastructure along the channel presents a unique set of challenges, with the most critical being: Lack of signal design, Unknown channel conditions, and Potential active attempts to hide or obfuscate the signals. Recently, ther ...

There is widespread concern regarding carbon emissions from fossil fuels, resulting in a drive towards improved efficiency in reactor (boiler) performance while reducing carbon emissions. Coal will continue to be a primary source of energy for economic growth for the foreseeable future, thus there is a push to reduce net carbon emissions of coal operated plants by replacing part of the coal with b ...

Electrons play a very key role in plasma chemistry and dynamics of low temperature plasmas. Improved capability for measuring electron number density, ne, and electron energy distribution function, EEDF, in weakly ionized low temperature plasmas would benefit both fundamental study and application areas. For example, the capability would directly benefit emerging research targeted at modifying and ...

Improved ignition methods are needed for advanced vehicle combustion systems, in particular those that allow reliable ignition of lean mixtures in gasoline engines at elevated pressures. Laser ignition is a candidate technology having the potential to address these needs. However, despite more than 40 years of laser ignition research, the technology is not yet in commercial use. A critical proble ...

Maximizing the value proposition for solar and distributed energy resources to consumers requires a more integrated and coordinated approach to utilizing these resources on-site. Commercial solutions are not yet widely available to provide optimal use of combined on-site resources locally, while at the same time optimizing their value to the electric power distribution system as well. Solutions st ...

Novel electron gun features are required to enhance the peak and/or average beam brightness by reducing the emittances of electron bunches while allowing the guns to operate at a high repetition rate using laser excitation of the photocathode. The generation of surface acoustical waves (SAWs) on piezoelectric substrates is known to produce strong piezoelectric fields that propagate on the surface ...

High selectivity in chemical reactions is the key to reducing costs, energy consumption and emissions in chemical processing. More selective and active catalysts will reduce the need for recovering unreacted chemicals for recycle and removing byproducts. Reducing the burden on separation processes will greatly reduce the energy required for chemical production. We propose to design macromolecular ...

Most digital systems being software intensive are also vulnerable to attacks that exploit software weaknesses. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, “exploiting weaknesses in digital technology could be the most attractive route for those terrorists seeking to attack nuclear facilities without fear of interdiction.” Recent publicized events about cyber-attack on critical infrast ...