US – Page 102 – TechConnect Briefs

Hybrid Materials made up of Ionic Liquids Confined in Porous Silica and Chalcogenide

Ori G., Villemot F., Viau L., Vioux A., Massobrio C., Coasne B., UMI CNRS / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US

Hybrid materials made up of an inorganic porous material filled with a room temperature ionic liquid (IL) represent a novel class of materials with promising applications. The structure and dynamics of IL confined in amorphous [...]

Controlling Alignment in Cellulose Nanocrystal Coatings

Haywood A.D., Ashurst R.W., Davis V.A., Auburn University, US

Investigations on the rheology and phase behavior of aqueous CNC dispersions have been used to develop processes for making CNC coatings with controlled properties. We report how the interplay between dispersion microstructure, shear, and drying [...]

Effect of Support Structure on Permeance of Thin Film Composite Membranes

Ponnuru K., Lin H., Furlani E.P., SUNY-Buffalo, US

The production of potable water has become a worldwide concern to meet the demand of a growing population. The reverse osmosis (RO) membrane is the leading technology for desalination installations to produce drinkable water, due [...]

Mechanically Durable Superhydrophobic Nanocomposites from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)

Milionis A., Yeong Y.H., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

We report on the development of nanocomposites based on a combination of ABS with hydrophobically modified fumed silica (HMFS). By tuning the ratio between the two materials we are again able to obtain static water [...]

Durable Icephobic Coatings

Constantinou J., Panwar A., Mitra S., Nahum T., Wagner M., Dodiuk H., Barry C., Kenig S., Mead J., University of Massachusetts-Lowell, US

Accumulation of ice on the surfaces of windmills, airplanes, ships and telecommunications equipment hinders the efficient functioning of this equipmement, which can be overcome by the use of an icephobic coating. Prior work has established [...]

Advanced Coating for Energy Applications

Veedu V., Pollock J., Oceanit, US

Quest for oil and gas has increased in the past few decades and the industry is in a constant change of flux to identify new oil reserves and extraction methods to recover oil and natural [...]

Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Palladium Nanostructured Ensemble Supported in Anodized Alumina Membranes for Hydrogen Sensing Applications

Méndez-Colberg H.G., Martínez-Iñesta M.M., University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, US

A Pd/Anodic alumina membrane (AAM) ensemble was formed by using Solid State Reduction. The ensemble consisted of Pd thin films on both sides of the AAM with connecting nanowires as evidenced with Scanning Electron Microscopy [...]

Microwave Initiated Nucleation for the Synthesis of High Quality Nanocrystalline Quantum Dot Materials

Kim K-J, Chang C.H., Haben P.M., Peterson D.A., Novet T.E., Schut D.M., Shoei Electronic Materials, Inc., US

The colloidal synthesis of nanoparticles, specifically quantum dots, may occur through either a kinetically dominated process where nucleation proceeds rapidly followed by growth via coalescence of nucleates to form larger nanoparticles, or through a thermodynamically [...]

Development of a Platinum Nanoparticle based Microcombustor Power Device

Bakrania S., Rowan University, US

Microcombustors coupled with thermoelectric devices have the potential to provide a prolonged power source for portable devices as opposed to conventional batteries due to significantly higher energy densities. Recharging then can be easily achieved by [...]

Rapid and Controlled Transition of Magnetic Nano- to Micro-particles: A Useful Feature for Bioseparations

Nehilla B.J., Schulte T.H., Nexgenia, Inc, US

This work describes the use of stimuli-responsive polymers to control the transition of magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) to magnetic microparticles. Compared to magnetic microparticles, mNPs are advantageous for bioseparations (e.g., immunoassays, immunoprecipitations) for two reasons. They [...]