Technology Description:Systems and Methods for Producing Aligned Graphene Polymer Composite MaterialsApplications:1) Lighter stronger and conductive aerospace materials.2) Lighter stronger and more durable materials for energy efficient transport vehicles.3) Production of hydrocarbon and/or hydrogen purification membranes.4) Development of photovoltaics.5) Provide armor and defense against electromagnetic radiation.6) Flexible displays shape-memory composites novel electromagnetic interference shielding novel heat sinks and structural components.7) Dialysis membrane supports artificial repl

Gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) in polymer electrode membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells represent 45% to 50% of the total fuel cell cost. If fuel cells are to be more widely adopted as part of the growing hydrogen economy then the cost of the technology must reduce.

Background: Here are many applications that require the storage of a high density of gas molecules. The driving range of vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen for instance is determined by the maximum density of gas that can be stored inside a fuel tank and delivered to the engine or fuel cell. In certain situations it is desirable to lower the pressure or raise the temperature needed to store a given amount of gas through the use of an adsorbent.

Background: Molecular hydrogen (H2) is one of the world's most important chemicals with an annual production rate at the global scale of approximately 50 billion kg. H2 is mainly used for petroleum refining and for synthesizing ammonia (NH3)-based fertilizers. With continued growth of the global population and petroleum feedstocks becoming heavier the demand for H2 will probably continue to increase.

Background: Hydrogen-fueled cell vehicles could gain ground as global researchers develop better processes to produce hydrogen economically from sustainable resources like solar and wind. On an energy-to-weight basis hydrogen has nearly three times the energy content of gasoline (120 megajoule or MJ per kilogram or kg for hydrogen versus 44 MJ/kg for gasoline). One problem is storing enough hydrogen on-board to achieve a reasonable driving range of 300 to 400 miles.

Environmentally friendly biomass energy conversion produces hydrogen gas or electricity in a compact scalable affordable system as an alternative energy source. Applications: 1) Biomass conversion for green energy 2) Environmentally friendly energy alternative to oil 3) Carbon capture and storage 4) Reduce CO2 emissions 5) Potentially generate carbon credits with carbon-negative system

Domestic biofuels are an attractive alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels. Biofuels are typically produced from plant matter such as sugars oils and biomass. This plant matter is created by photosynthesis a process that converts solar energy into stored chemical energy in plants. However photosynthesis is an inefficient way to transfer energy from the sun to a plant and then to biofuel.

Diamond is a material of significant interest in material science given its collection of impressive mechanical electrical acoustic and chemical properties. One method for fabricating thin-films of synthetic diamond is through chemical vapor deposition. Conductive diamond can be grown in the presence of boron. Platinum can be integrated into the diamond surface to form a Pt/diamond composite that is electroactive for generating key elements in fuel cells and other electrochemical applications.

Need: There is great interest in chemical systems that store and release hydrogen gas. Such systems are expected to find large-scale uses as hydrogen fuel cells in a variety of applications. To date two chemical approaches have been employed to store hydrogen: 1. The absorption of hydrogen within low-density porous materials. 2. The absorption of hydrogen by reactive high-density materials such as metal hydrides. These approaches are promising for the development of viable hydrogen storage systems but each has suffered drawbacks.

Background: Copper Zinc Tin and Sulfide (CZTS) thin films are an exciting development in solar cell technology. CZTS uses abundant materials instead of rare earth elements such as indium in copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells and tellurium in cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. CZTS solar cells are expected to give similar performance characteristics to CIGS and CdTe. Current methods to produce CZTS thin films use metal-hydrazine complexes. Hydrazine is highly toxic unstable and dangerous.