System Development/Field Test/ Commercialization

Method for electropolishing niobium surfaces with environmentally benign electrolytes. Niobium is one of the best materials for superconductor radiofrequency cavities. Conventional methods for making the interior of niobium optimally smooth are hazardous to the environment as they use concentrated sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids. Contrarily, Faraday Technologies electropolishes niobium with the repeated use of bipolar electric fields. This process uses less concentrated sulfuric acid compared to traditional methods and eliminates hydrofluoric acid.

Soldering process that eliminates the use of wave oil and solvents by installing hoods over the solder pots to maintain an inert atmosphere over the molten solder. Conventionally, soldering involves synthetic oil, soldering fluxes, and solvent cleaning (uses large amounts of TCA and TCE). The No-Clean process eliminates the use of wave oil and soldering fluxes, consequently eliminating the need for solvent cleaning. This process reduces the environmental impact of manufacturing solid ceramic resistor networks by reducing the amount of raw materials consumed.

Electricity-free mobile refrigeration technology using only sun and water. Refrigeration unit that is lightweight, easy to carry, and fully portable. Product requires no electricity and emits no greenhouse gas emissions. Uses PhaseTek™ technology; when the internal reservoir of the product is filled with any water source, the product undergoes evaporative cooling, reducing the internal storage space by 10-15 degrees Celsius. Refrigeration reduces spoilage, which reduces waste.

Thermal paper free of chemical color developers that releases images from a purely physical process. This product consists of three layers: a base paper, a colored paper, and an opaque paper layer. The opaque layer is comprised of polymeric particles (opaque styrene acrylic resin hollow spheres) that hide the pigmented-colored layer. When the opaque layer is exposed to heat, it becomes transparent, creating the print by revealing the colored layer underneath.

Toner made from soy and corn biomass. This toner uses polyester, polyamide, and polyurethane resins made from soy oil, protein, and carbohydrates extracted from corn. Conventional petroleum-based toners that use synthetic resins (such as styrene acrylates and styrene butadiene) are challenging to remove from papers during recycling. While toners that facilitate the de-inking process have been developed, they are much more expensive than traditional toners. Contrarily, these soy and corn-based toners have a more competitive price.

Uses photothermography to produce imaging technology that uses heat for medical imaging applications. The photothermography process consists of a latent image that is initially generated from the revelation of a sensitized emulsion to suitable light energy. The image is made visible by exposing it to heat. This process produces no liquid waste and does not require chemical developers and fixing solutions. This process eliminates large amounts of toxic chemicals and waste generated in traditional chemical photographic processing.

Manufacturing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents. PCR is used in research, genetic engineering, forensics, infectious disease identification, food safety, and personalized medicine. The conventional production of key chemicals for PCR tests (such as deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates, or dNTP) is hazardous, inefficient, and not atom economic. This new method for the manufacturing of dNTP consists of only three steps in a single pot, eliminating hazardous reagents and solvents such as zinc chloride, triphenyl phosphine, aldrithiol, dimethyl formamide, and dichloromethane.

Economic production of 100% renewable chemicals and second-generation advanced biofuels from any cellulosic waste stream. This company converts lignocellulose to levulinic acid. The cellulosic waste feedstock consists of woody biomass, municipal solid waste, cellulosic crops, and recycled paper and cardboard. Levulinic acid is versatile and has the potential for downstream derivative production, such as biofuels and renewable chemicals.