LLNL’s researchers use physical vapor deposition (sputter deposition or electron beam deposition) to coat an inert gasket material (i.e. PTFE) with a conductive metal (i.e. copper). The gas diffusion electrode overlaps onto the copper coated gasket to allow for electrical conductivity between the catalyst surface and the flow field/current collector of a CO2 electrolyzer. The coated gasket…

Using their computational design optimization, LLNL researchers have developed copper-based dilute alloy catalysts (contains <10 at.% of the minority metal alloy component) and demonstrated these novel catalysts have improved energy efficiency and selectivity of the methane conversion reaction.  By alloying copper with a small amount of the electropositive minority metal element, the…

Rapid monolith development at scale is achieved through use of a functionally equivalent optic simulant made from a low-cost material to substitute the functional optic. Monolith optical performance is affected not only by thermal expansion but also by temperature inhomogeneity due to the temperature dependence of refractive index.

Aeroptics are a proposed new class of monolithic optical system in aerogel fabricated by molding around a master mandrel. This approach combines the intrinsic stability of proven monolithic telescopes, with the ultralow density of silica aerogels. In Aeroptics, the monolith is hollow with an aerogel substrate providing a supporting structure. Theoretically, Aeroptics could enable 1-m aperture…

This invention achieves both a wider field of view and faster f-number within a monolithic substrate by incorporating an aspheric convex refractive first surface and a planar aspheric field corrector surface on the final refractive surface. These two refractive surfaces work in conjunction with a concave aspheric primary and convex aspheric secondary mirror (e.g. Cassegrain type) to improve…

LLNL’s innovation offers an alternate synthetic route to graphite at lower cost using a molten salt mixture of CaCl2-CaCO3-CaO.  The synthetic production of graphite and other high-value carbon materials is accomplished in molten salt media via electrochemical reduction and transformation of the carbon from the carbonate ion. The broad electrochemical window of molten salts enables the…

A set of images generated by multiple passes over the same area can be coherently integrated by this technology developed by LLNL researchers.  The primary difficulty with coherently combining different passes is registering the images obtained from each pass, particularly if a pass only partially covers a given area.

The novel LLNL approach is to use projection microstereolithography (LAPµSL), starting with a photocurable methacrylate resin formulation consisting of a combination of a photoinitiator, photoabsorber, inhibitor, solvents, and other additives.  Prior to use, the resin is pretreated to control viscosity for easier handling.  The resin is fed to a LAPµSL printer which employs a near UV…

The inventors have developed a 3% Yttria partially-stabilized Zirconia (3YZ) ceramic ink that produces parts with both nano and microporosity and is compatible with two AM techniques: DIW and projection microstereolithography (PμSL). The 3YZ nano-porous ceramic printed parts had engineered macro cavities measuring several millimeters in length, wall thicknesses ranging from 200 to 540 μm, and…

LLNL researchers have developed a lightweight drone-based GPR array that when flown over a surface with laid and/or buried objects could image the field of view and be able to detect targets and discriminate them from clutter. The imaging method employs a modified multi-static architecture to provide the highest signal to noise with the lowest system weight, making it ideal for airborne or…

This technology uses three different frequency bands to create intensity maps of returned signals.  Signals have traditionally been displayed as raw return data. The intensity of the return is represented by level of brightness. Assignment of a scalar value for intensity is used to determine the brightness of the image.   In this technology, each frequency is given a designated…

This invention describes a multiple nozzle microfluidic unit that allows simultaneous generation streams of multiple layered coaxial liquid jets. Liquids are pumped into the device at a combined flow rate from 100 mL/hr to 10 L/hr. Droplets are created with diameters in the range of 1 µm to 5 mm and can be created with 1-2 shell layers encapsulating fluid. Droplets created from the system can…

Monolithic Telescopes are a novel implementation of a solid catadioptric design form, instantiated in a monolithic block of fused silica.

LLNL has developed a wide band (WB) ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology to detect and image buried objects under a moving vehicle. Efficient and high performance processing algorithms reconstruct images of buried or hidden objects in two or three dimensions under a scanning array. The technology includes a mobile high-performance computing system allowing GPR array sensor data to be…

LLNL is developing the Space-based Telescopes for Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris (STARE). STARE is a constellation of low cost nano-satellites (less than 5Kg) in low-earth orbit dedicated to the observation of space debris in conjunction with a ground-based infrastructure for maintenance, coordination and data processing. Each nano-satellite in the constellation is capable of recording an…