US – Page 83 – TechConnect Briefs

Potential artifacts when evaluating the ecotoxicological effects of nanomaterials

Petersen E.J., Henry T.B., Zhao J., MacCuspie R.I., Kirschling T.L., Xing B., Dobrovolskaia M.A., Hackley V., White J.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

Novel physicochemistries of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) offer considerable commercial potential for new products and processes, but also the possibility of unforeseen and negative consequences upon ENM release into the environment. Investigations of ENM ecotoxicity have [...]

Assessment by Ames Test and Comet Assay of Toxicity Potential of Polymers Used to Develop a Field Capable Biosensor

Hebert A., Torosian S., Gleason K., Food and Drug Adminstration, US

Current methods of detecting food-borne pathogens take days to show and confirm results. There is a need for devices that decrease detection time. A field-capable rapid-detection device is being developed and in this study it [...]

Advancements in Microelectronics-Grade Carbon Nanotube Materials for NRAM® Device Manufacture and Analysis of Carbon Nanotube Mass in End User Devices

Lamb J.E., Gibbons S., Trichur R., Jiang Y., Mangelson K., Kremer K., Janzen D., Brewer Science, Inc, US

Providing materials for use in semiconductor manufacturing is challenging due to the extreme quality levels required for low metal ion and defect levels. This challenge is much greater for suppliers of materials containing long, high-aspect-ratio [...]

More Efficient Hydrokinetic Turbines

Farb D., Pioneer Valley Renewables, US

Pioneer Valley Renewables applies fluid dynamic technologies to make a large advance in the performance of underwater river and tidal turbines--a synergy of unique fluid dynamic foil shapes with propeller blades that better direct the [...]

Reducing Energy Footprint of a Waste Water Treatment Plant by Increasing Harvesting Efficiency of Solids following Primary Clarification

Lancaster C.D., Chang N., Kole A., Stephenson M., PARC, a Xerox company, US

This presentation describes a novel hydrodynamic separation (HDS) technology that has the potential to dramatically reduce the energy footprint of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) by reducing the energy required for aeration and by increasing [...]

Innovative Treatment of Shale Fracturing Flowback and Produced Water for Reuse or Discharge

Pakzadeh B., Mastin B., Chatterton B., Vaillancourt A., Renew J., Wos J., Philbrook D., Min J., Wardle C., Southern Research Institute, US

Southern Research Institute, with project partners M2 Water Treatment, Inc. and BKT United received an award from Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America to develop an innovative, cost-effective, and robust approach for shale fracturing [...]

Bulk-Size Transparent Gadolinium Oxide-Polymer Nanocomposites for Gamma Ray Scintillation

Chen Q., Cai W., Hajagos T., Kishpaugh D., Liu C., Cherepy N., Dooraghi A., Chatziioannou A., Payne S., Pei Q., University of California, Los Angeles, US

Heavy element loaded polymer composites have long been proposed to detect high energy X- and -rays upon scintillation. The previously reported bulk composite scintillators have achieved limited success because of the diminished light output resulting [...]

Nanocoating Testing for High Voltage Transmission Applications

McGuire D., Phillips A., Engelbrecht C., Gould A., Southern Company, US

The availability of reliable and affordable electric power is one of the most important characteristics of a modern society. Each citizen of the modern world has the expectation of light at the touch of a [...]

Adsorption of Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles on Swelling Clay Minerals

Pham H-T, Nguyen Q.P., The University of Texas at Austin, US

Successful application of nanoparticles is dependent on understanding the mobility, retention, and transport fate of nanoparticles in natural formations. These aspects are greatly influenced by subsurface environmental conditions such as electrolyte type and concentration, temperature, [...]

Interaction of Surface Modified Silica Nanoparticles with Clay Minerals

Metin C.O., Nguyen Q.P., The University of Texas at Austin, US

The interaction of silica nanoparticles with montmorillonite clay was investigated by visual swelling tests, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The adsorption of silica nanoparticles onto montmorillonite was also studied with a UV-Vis [...]