The mixture of gases include a source of a p-type or an n-type dopant. The plasma ball is disposed at a first distance from the diamond substrate. The diamond substrate is maintained at a first temperature. The plasma ball is maintained at the first distance from the diamond substrate for a first time, and a UNCD film, which is doped with at least one of a p-type dopant and an n-type dopant, is disposed on the diamond substrate. The doped UNCD film is patterned to define UNCD electrical contacts on the diamond substrate.

Benefits

• Efficient x-ray position detector for synchrotron applications

The mixture of gases include a source of a p-type or an n-type dopant. The plasma ball is disposed at a first distance from the diamond substrate. The diamond substrate is maintained at a first temperature. The plasma ball is maintained at the first distance from the diamond substrate for a first time, and a UNCD film, which is doped with at least one of a p-type dopant and an n-type dopant, is disposed on the diamond substrate. The doped UNCD film is patterned to define UNCD electrical contacts on the diamond substrate.

Benefits

• Efficient x-ray position detector for synchrotron applications 

A method of forming a p-n junction device comprises providing a base layer including a p-type diamond. A monolayer or few layer of a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) is disposed on at least a portion of the base layer so as to form a heterojunction therebetween. The TMDC monolayer is an n-type layer such that the heterojunction between the intrinsic and p-type diamond base layer and the n-type TMDC monolayer is a p-n junction.

Benefits

• Efficient, p-n junction diodes for power electronics and rectification applications

The system includes graphene and graphene oxide formed by an exfoliation process or solution processing method to dispose graphene and/or graphene oxide onto a Substrate. The system further includes an opposing wear member disposed on another Substrate and a gas atmosphere of an inert gas like N2, ambient, a humid atmosphere and a water Solution.

Benefits

• Easy to apply using spray process in air 
• Easily scalable to large area 
• Cost effective, eliminates hazardous waste 
• Virtually eliminates friction and wear 
• Works in dry and humid environment 

Superlubricity in dry atmosphere with no measurable wear for extended time.

The Invention 

Pulsed thermal imaging is widely used for nondestructive evaluation of advanced materials and components. Thermal imaging methods to analyze single-layer materials are well developed. However, a general method for analyzing multi-layer materials and coatings/films has not been developed due to the complexity of material systems and lack of an analytical solution. This technology provides a general method, test system including a filter, and numerical algorithm for automated analysis of thermal imaging data for multi-layer coating materials. 

Argonne’s pulsed thermal imaging-multilayer analysis method can accurately measure coating thermal conductivity and heat capacity (and/or thickness) distributions over an entire component’s surface. The method analyzes a temporal series of measured thermal imaging data to determine the properties for all coating layers based on a multilayer model. Argonne’s invention is currently the only method that can analyze coatings of more than one layer, is fully automated to produce 2D layer property images, and has validated high accuracy.

Argonne’s approach includes an infrared filter for flash lamps to eliminate the flash’s infrared radiation, ensuring accurate detection of surface temperature during pulsed thermal imaging tests. 

Key to Argonne’s thermal multi-layer analysis method is the numerical algorithm used for automated analysis of thermal imaging data for multi-layer materials, implemented in dedicated, Argonne-created software that allows for complete data-processing automation without the need of user intervention.

Benefits 

• Allows fast 2D imaging of multi-layer material properties of an object from one surface 
• All-in-one solution that includes method, optical filter, and analytical software for thermal multi-layer material analysis 
• Imaging is nondestructive and fast 
• Eliminates infrared radiation to assure data accuracy 
• Automated analysis of imaging data 

Applications and Industries 

• Multi-layer coating materials development 
• Manufacturing quality control 
• Coating degradation monitoring 
• Medical applications 

Developmental Stage 

Proof of Concept: the technology has been tested and proven to work for coated engine parts. 

Argonne Inventions 

• IN-05-125, Optical Filter for Flash Lamps in Pulsed Thermal Imaging View the patent.
• IN-14-032, Method and Apparatus for Material Thermal Property Measurement by Flash Thermal Imaging View the patent.
• IN-06-017, Method for Thermal Tomography of Thermal Effusivity from Pulsed Thermal Imaging View the patent

Wide adoption of Materials by Design approaches for nanomaterials such as catalysts, energy storage materials, and new drugs has greatly increased the need for nanomaterials analysis tools.

Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEMs) are widely used by materials researchers. Frequently fitted with ancillary x‐ray detectors for elemental analysis of materials, these instruments are limited in their nanoscale analytical sensitivity because they capture less than 2% of the meager x‐ray signals generated when ultra small particles and thin films are probed by the minute electron beams in today’s SEMs. To address this limitation, scientists at Argonne National Laboratory’s Electron Microscopy Center invented a new x‐ray detection system that increases the detection capability of SEMs during nanomaterials analysis.

π Steradian X‐Ray Detection System

Traditional implementations of solid state x‐ray detectors in SEMs capture only about 0.05–0.1 sR (<2%) of the signal generated, as indicated by the blue shaded region in the figure below. Argonne’s technology overcomes this limitation through an innovative new geometry and positioning of the x‐ray detection system.

For nanoparticles and thin film analysis, this invention facilitates capture of more than π steradians (sR) or ~50% of available x‐ray signal, encompassing both the blue and red regions in the figure. The technology also features a proprietary electron shield to protect the system from electrons hitting the detector and in addition, integrates electron detection to provide the enhanced capability to image the nanoparticles and thin films as well as identify their elemental composition. The Argonne system can be retrofitted onto existing SEMs or provided as an accessory detector for new SEMs.

Benefits

Argonne’s π Steradian X‐Ray Detection System can substantially reduce the time and cost for conducting routine analysis of nanomaterials by increasing detection capabilities of SEMs at the nanoscale by up to 500%. It enables highresolution rapid imaging and analysis, which facilitate new discoveries and scientific understanding of nanomaterials not practical using conventional detector implementations. The new system also accelerates ​“materials design and discovery” by enabling effective characterization of nanostructures engineered to evoke specific functionality in a timely fashion, in sync with the modeling and synthesis steps.

The cost of the new Argonne detector system is estimated to be an incremental addition to the cost of a traditional detector.

The Invention

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have created a stable, non-reactive nanofluid that exhibits enhanced heat-transfer properties with only a minimal increase in pumping power required relative to the base-heat transfer fluid. 

Nanofluids—liquid mixtures with a small concentration of nanoparticles in suspension—have unique properties that make them potentially useful for heat transfer. The study of nanofluid heat transfer is a relatively new area of scientific exploration, and although industrial applications for nanofluid technology are still in their infancy, some mixtures have been shown to substantially increase the heat-transfer characteristics of the nanofluid over the base liquid. 

Argonne’s nanofluid is composed of ceramic nanoparticles suspended in a base-heat-transfer fluid made up of water and water/ethylene glycol mixtures. Ceramic nanoparticles are not susceptible to surface oxidation, and enjoy significantly better chemical stability over longer periods of time than metals. Although ceramics generally have low thermal conductivity, some ceramics have properties that make them attractive candidates for use in nanofluids for commercial and industrial heat-transfer applications. 

Benefits 

• More efficient cooling systems 
• Higher productivity 
• Energy savings

Applications and Industries 

• Heat exchangers for engines, fuel cells, cooling towers and more 
• Cooling of power and microelectronics 
• Refrigeration and other cooling systems 
• Nuclear reactors 
• Aerospace 
• Defense 
• Grinding and machining

Developmental Stage 

Proof of concept 

The Invention 

An ultra thin surface coating composed of metal oxides that, when applied to granular electrode materials on a large scale, promises to solve the structural instability of electrode materials and the resulting rapid fade of cell capacity at high voltages and high temperatures in lithium-ion batteries. 

Argonne’s innovation, a powder nanocoating technology using metal oxides, has the following features: 

• Gas-phase surface chemical reactions; 
• A layer of extremely uniform metal oxide ultrathin film on granular cathode materials with precisely controlled surface morphology: smooth, conformal, and pin-hole free so that the electrode degradation reactions in the battery can be suppressed; and 
• Film so ultra thin and precisely controlled in its thickness that the transfer of the charge across the electrode/electrolyte interface takes place with a very limited, or even a reduced, interface resistance. 

In developing a surface coating for the electrodes of lithium-ion batteries, Argonne scientists sought to satisfy two requirements simultaneously: 

• Create a uniform coating that will fully isolate electrodes from the electrolyte, and 
• Create an ultra thin film that will allow the lithium ion and electron to easily tunnel without a large increase in impedance. 

Conventional technologies have been unable to fulfill those requirements and have proved incapable of precisely controlling the coating film properties of film thickness and morphology. As a result, battery performance can be unstable.

Benefits 

The new powder coating technology provides: 

• Smooth fluidization of ultrafine powders via non-linear processing control; 
• Online, real-time monitoring of powder fluidization status and surface chemical reaction; 
• Well-controlled properties of the nanocoated film (conformity, thickness, and composition); and 
• A novel process that is scalable, less energy-intensive, and at a lower cost. 

Lithium-ion batteries made of these novel coated materials offer: 

• Isolation of electrode from electrolyte, creating greater structural stability and effectively enhancing capacity retention; 
• Greater stability; 
• Longer lifespan; 
• Higher energy/power densities; 
• Greater safety; and 
• Reduced cost and increased performance (figure 2) reliability. 

Applications and Industries 

• Hybrid electric vehicles 
• Solar cells 
• Ultracapacitors 
• Cosmetics 

Developmental Stage 

Proof of concept. Lab scale has been demonstrated; small pilot scale up is on schedule. 

The Invention 

Gloveboxes are used in research, product development, process development, scale-up, testing and production labs across the world. They allow safe handling of materials such as nano powders, noxious chemicals, flammable vapors, radioactive materials, DNA/RNA snippets, battery materials and more. Gloveboxes are used to guarantee worker safety, experimental integrity and assure that testing batches are not contaminated. However, most gloveboxes today are task-specific and can only be used for one kind of scientific protocol; in addition, often material must be transported in or out of the glovebox without loss of containment. To meet these challenges, Argonne invented CURLS for gloveboxes, with the flexibility to apply to any containment system. 

CURLS is a ​“tunnel” that installs in an existing glove port along with various co-designed resource cartridges that allow easy and rapid change-over of resources without losing containment. With CURLS, when a different resource is required, the user merely inserts the specific resource cartridge into the CURLS tunnel until it engages, causing the used resource cartridge to drop into the glovebox — all while maintaining complete containment. 

The novel CURLS continuous sleeve ring revolutionizes material transfer in and out of gloveboxes. All CURLS resource cartridges are designed to break into several pieces so that used cartridges can be easily removed from the glovebox via ​“bag-out” so that used cartridges do not clutter the work space.

Benefits 

• No breach of containment or batch contamination 
• Quick change-over of resources 
• Allows gloveboxes to be ​“multi-tasking” and reconfigured ​“on the fly” 
• Fewer lost experiments and production batches 
• Simplifies containment procedures 

Applications and Industries 

• Nuclear industry 
• Material science, chemistry and physics laboratories 
• Pharmaceutical industry 
• Biotech industry 
• Semiconductor and battery industries 
• Any industry where containment systems are used

Developmental Stage 

Prototyping – demonstration unit already used to process 38 drums of plutonium powder-laced materials