Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a leading new chemicals and materials creation with a broad array of applications including batteries, catalysts for clean technology, ceramics, composites, additives and more. The Lab’s unique Advanced Manufacturing capabilities go hand in hand with the creation of novel methods to create new concepts altogether.
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LLNL, Penn State, Columbia University, Tufts University, University of Kentucky, Purdue University and industry partner Western Rare Earths will use microbial and biomolecular engineering to develop a scalable bio-based separation and purification strategy for rare-earth elements
A trio of LLNL scientists have been inducted into the laboratory's Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame. Each developed technologies during or after their Lab careers that created major economic impacts or spawned new companies.
LLNL held its first-ever Machine Learning for Industry Forum on August 10-12. Co-hosted by the Lab’s High Performance Computing Innovation Center and Data Science Institute, the virtual event brought together more than 500 participants from the Department of Energy complex, commercial companies, professional societies and academia.
LLNL inventors have shown that the optical material properties (transmission, reflectance, color) of an assembled device can be dynamically tunable using innovative core-shell nanomaterials and a structured composite crystal/colloid design. These smart optical materials are assembled from nanosized constituents that have a native surface charge. The nanoparticles can be manipulated by an…
LLNL inventors have created innovative steps in the synthesis, carbonation and activation steps of aerogel manufacturing that allows for large scale production. These steps are:
1. Synthesis: a novel pre-cure step with subsequent gelation (RF precursor solution is heated with stirring to achieve a mixed liquid intermediate temperature, the precursor solution is then allowed to cool,…
CMI—a DOE Energy Innovation Hub—is a public/private partnership led by the Ames Laboratory that brings together the best and brightest research minds from universities, national laboratories (including LLNL), and the private sector to find innovative technology solutions to make better use of materials critical to the success of clean energy technologies as well as develop resilient and secure…
To overcome challenges that existing techniques for creating 3DGs face, LLNL researchers have developed a method that uses a light-based 3D printing process to rapidly create 3DG lattices of essentially any desired structure with graphene strut microstructure having pore sizes on the order of 10 nm. This flexible technique enables printing 3D micro-architected graphene objects with complex,…
The approach is to use peroxides to modify the reaction kinetics in the production of polysiloxanes. A radical initiator in the presence of a hydride-terminated polysiloxane will increase the rate of curing and reduce manufacturing costs. At a minimum a formulation would contain a hydride-terminated polysiloxane, a platinum catalyst, and an initiator that generates radicals. The content of…
The novel technology developed at LLNL is a new, effective means of separating and concentrating Sc from lanthanides and non-REEs in unconventional, waste-derived feedstocks, thereby transforming an essentially valueless solution into valuable Sc concentrates. The results represent an important advance in the development of an environmentally sustainable alternative to organic solvent-based…
LLNL researchers along with collaborators at Pennsylvania State University have found that a newly discovered natural protein named Lanmodulin (LanM) could be a potential candidate for extracting REEs from ore or other sources such as coal ash as well as purifying the REE material. Through joint research, the scientists found that LanM undergoes a large conformational change in response to…
LLNL researchers have developed a custom formulated extreme low viscosity reactive silicone resin base modified with a temperature dependent thixotrope along with a modified catalyst package. The uncatalyzed composition is capable of accepting loadings of polymer microspheres sufficient to produce a cured bulk rubber that has a density as low as 0.3 g/cc, thus compatible with high-resolution…
The innovators have modified a epoxide-assisted sol-gel method to produce chlorine-free, monolithic REO aerogels in just a matter of hours. This method was demonstrated for the lanthanide series. An important factor in realizing the sol-gel transition with the nitrate precursor was the addition of a key ingredient and moderate heat.. These alcogels can then be dried and calcined to produce…
Livermore researchers have developed two novel TiCl4 based non-alkoxide sol-gel approaches for the synthesis of SiO2/TiO2 nanocomposite aerogels. Composite SiO2-TiO2 aerogels were obtained by epoxide-assisted gelation (EAG route) of TiCl4/DMF solution in the presence SiO2 aerogel particles. Additionally, the same TiCl4/DMF solution was employed to prepare SiO2@TiO2 aerogels by a facile one-…
The LLNL method is based on freeze‐casting of aerosolized and pressurized metal salt solutions and subsequent thermal processing. This method generates both porous particles with sizes down to one micron and macroscopic monoliths with nanometer scale ligaments/struts. The material's density can be controlled during the freeze‐dried stage. Compared to conventional approaches, this method…
LLNL uses the additive manufacturing technique known as Electrophoretic Deposition to shape the source particle material into a finished magnet geometry. The source particle material is dispersed in a liquid so that the particles can move freely. Electric fields in the shape of the finished product then draw the particles to the desired location to form a “green body”, much like an unfired…
The LLNL charged particle deposition technology enables fabrication of material via the charged particle induced dissociation of precursor molecules. For the case electron beam induced fabrication of boron carbide, gaseous boron precursor is delivered to a substrate in a vacuum chamber. Surface adsorbed molecules are dissociated by a beam of electrons. Non-volatile fragments remain on the…
LLNL has developed a liquid-free method that increases the overall mechanical resistance of self-supported, carbon nanotube assemblies through nanoscale reinforcement by gas-phase deposition of a thermally cross-linkable polymer. Polymer-reinforcement increases the strength of CNT yarns after crosslinking. For example, a minimal amount (<200 nm) of poly-glycidyl metacrylate (PGMA) deposited…
By combining 3D printing and dealloying., researchers at LLNL have developed a method for fabricating metal foams with engineered hierarchical architectures consisting of pores at least 3 distinct length scales. LLNL’s method uses direct ink writing (DIW), a 3D printing technique for additive manufacturing to fabricate hierarchical nanoporous metal foams with deterministically controlled 3D…
LLNL researchers have developed an alternative route to protective breathable membranes called Second Skin technology, which has transformative potential for protective garments. These membranes are expected to be particularly effective in mitigating physiological burden.
For additional information see article in Advanced Materials “Ultrabreathable and Protective Membranes with Sub-5…
The novel LLNL technique uses electric fields to drive and control assembly. In the literature such methods have heretofore only formed disordered ensembles. This innovative method increases local nanocrystal concentration, initiating nucleation and growth into ordered superlattices. Nanocrystals remain solvated and mobile throughout the process, allowing fast fabrication of ordered…
LLNL researchers have developed a process and direct ink writing (DIW) inks for fabricating structured carbon aerogels. This approach gives control over channel size and geometries of organic and carbon aerogels. The 3D printed Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (RF) ink structures are activated to yield high surface area carbon aerogels.
LLNL researchers have developed a novel method of 3D printing regular microstructured architectures and subsequent complex macrostructures from additively manufactured bio-based composite thermoset shape memory polymer composite materials. This technology for 3D additively manufactured parts utilizes up to a 4 axis control DIW system for fabricating bio based thermally cured epoxy based SMP…
LLNL researchers have developed the hardware and chemistry to allow additive manufacturing of short carbon fibers in a thermoset polymer matrix which have a high degree of structural alignment over conventional cast or pressed short/chopped carbon fiber polymer composites.
The invention is based on the shear dispersal, alignment and concentration of fiber fraction within a resin…
Conventional membranes tend to be two dimensional and with relatively large thickness, which limit the achievable permeability. The ultimate goal in membrane technologies is to combine high permeability and high selectivity. LLNL has developed a transformational 3D nm-thick membrane structure using ALD (atomic layer deposition) template approach. Our membrane structure has two independent…
LLNL’s polymer/carbon composites exhibit a strong temperature dependent conductivity response. Below a critical temperature such as the glass transition temperature ( Tg) or melting temperature, Tm of the polymeric network, the composite material is electrically insulating, having measured conductivities in the range of 1E-10 S cm-1. Upon being heated through a phase transition, the…
LLNL has developed a method for electroplating nickel oxide/hydroxide electrode materials with very high energy- and power density onto a current collector. The method is especially suitable for coating porous current collectors with high surface areas.
LLNL has developed a new class of nitrogenous ligands for metals and their complexes chosen for their known propensity to chelate metal ions. Further chemical modifications of this scaffold were performed to furnish a novel series of ligands that are capable of coordinating different metal ions.
Dubbed the "LLNL Chemical Prism", the LLNL system has use wherever there is a need to separate components of a fluid. A few examples include:
- Chemical detection for known and previously unknown chemicals or substances
- Separation of biomolecules from a cellular extract
- Fractionation of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons
- Forensic analysis of…
Redox ion-exchange polymers ("redox-ionites") and membranes possessing cation- and anion- exchange, amphoteric, complex-forming and oxidation-reduction abilities have been developed on the basis of the biocompatible synthetic and chemically modified natural polymers. In addition, developments have been made towards methods of obtaining of water-soluble and spatially cross-linked ionites of…
LLNL seeks partners interested in developing and commercializing any or all of these and additional processes for its project as fits the partner's business interest. Examples of novel processing and resultant materials are described below.
High Explosive Consolidation (HEC) is conducted in a unique facility in Georgia that permits the explosive consolidation of powders at temperatures…
Chemical and biological sensors based on nanowire or nanotube technologies exhibit observable ultrasensitive detection limits due to their unusually large surface-to-volume architecture. This suggests that nanosensors can provide a distinct advantage over conventional designs. This advantage is further enhanced when the nanosensor can harvest its meager power requirements from the surrounding…
To overcome limitations with cellular silicone foams, LLNL innovators have developed a new 3D energy absorbing material with tailored/engineered bulk-scale properties. The energy absorbing material has 3D patterned architectures specially designed for specific energy absorbing properties. The combination of LLNL's capabilities in advanced modeling and simulation and the additive…
Nanomaterials that are emerging out of cutting edge nanotechnology research are a key component for an energy revolution. Carbon-based nanomaterials are ushering in the "new carbon age" with carbon nanotubes, nanoporous carbons, and graphene nanosheets that will prove necessary to provide sustainable energy applications that lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.
Carbon aerogels (CAs)…
An invention at LLNL uses a mixture of solid and liquid dielectric media. This combination has properties that are an improvement over either separately. The solid phase, in the form of small pellets, inhibits fluid motion, which reduces leakage currents, while the liquid phase (dielectric oil) provides self-repair capabilities. Also, since the media is removable, the high voltage equipment…
The nanosphere synthesis process works when a nanostructured substrate is heated above a critical temperature in the presence of a small amount of metal on the nanostructured surface. The metal acts as a particular type of catalyst for nanowire formation. It is periodically segregated within the nanowire in a thermodynamically well-defined process as nanowires grow. The result is…
LLNL has developed novel nanoporous carbon materials for the surface-stress-induced actuator technology. The morphology of these materials has been designed to combine high surface area and mechanical strength. The process allows for the fabrication of large monolithic pieces with low densities and high structural integrity. One actuation technology relies on electrochemically- induced changes…