SBIR Phase II

Reduction of Tungsten in Cemented Carbide Manufacturing Tooling

MillenniTEK, LLC

TN, Knoxville

8/23/21

8/22/23

MillenniTEK is developing a material that can be used as a direct replacement for Tungsten carbide in many diverse industrial applications such as hard tooling, mining and construction, and metal machining. The new material has the potential to reduce the use of tungsten by 68% in many applications, and eliminate the cobalt completely. This will reduce reliance on the strategically critical materials Cobalt and Tungsten.

AMO POC: Chris Hovanec

STTR Phase II

Reclaim E-Waste

TdVib, LLC

IA, Boone

8/23/21

8/22/23

The dependence of the U.S. upon foreign sources (e.g., China) for the rare-earth elements needed for the products/equipment that drive modern society creates national vulnerability for supply disruptions. The nontoxic, cost-effective recycling process proposed here could help eliminate that key national security vulnerability while benefitting our environment/economy.

AMO POC: Helena Khazdozian

SBIR Phase II

High Ductility Magnesium Alloy Extrusions

Terves Inc.

OH, Euclid

8/23/21

8/22/23

The U.S. is currently lacking a consistent/reliable, domestic magnesium alloy supply chain, critical to the energy infrastructure and light weighting strategy of the Department of Energy. This Phase II program will scale up a novel magnesium extrusion alloy, qualifying an additional vendor for automotive and aerospace applications. Phase II will overcome technical challenges, including the further optimization of the casting and extrusion processes, for a magnesium alloy that can replace 6000 series aluminum at over a 25% weight reduction for automotive components.

AMO POC: Helena Khazdozian

SBIR Phase II

Rare Earth Element Extraction and Recycling

Pioneer Astronautics

CO, Lakewood

8/23/21

8/22/23

The large majority of rare earth metals used in the U.S. are imported from China. The Rare Earth Element Extraction and Recycling process employs green chemistry to recycle dysprosium, iron, and boron.  Samarium cobalt was also initially explored for recycling, but the process was not cost-effective compared to the commercial process already used by one of the partners. This REEER process will enable domestic, cost-effective rare earth recycling to significantly reduce strategic risks and price fluctuations associated with the import of these commodities.

AMO POC: Helena Khazdozian

SBIR Phase II

Novel Membrane System for Lithium Recovery from Oilfield Brines

Bettergy Corp.

NY, Peetskill

8/23/21

8/22/23

Enriching lithium from oilfield brines while performing desalination of the produced water can provide a solution that recovers valuable lithium from highly mineralized brine while at the same time making it possible to reuse and recycle the treated waste water. The proposed technology is based on a novel membrane with uniform pore structure and high ionic selectivity with high flux, excellent fouling resistance, freedom from pore blockage, lower energy consumption, and excellent reliability for various source brines.

AMO POC: Bob Gemmer

STTR Phase II

The Energy and Cost-Efficient E-Waste Recovery Project for Rare-Earths and Precious Metals

Quantum Ventura Inc.

CA, San Jose

8/24/20

8/23/22

Recovering more metal from waste electronics provides an opportunity to convert an exported and wasteful resource into a valuable domestic commodity. Once fully commercialized, E-RECOV’s metal recycling method will reclaim more high value materials, reduce reagent use and lessen the toxicity of remaining materials compared with current practices for salvage of metals from waste electronics. In the lab model, E-RECOV is proven to be 30% cheaper than conventional recovery technologies.

AMO POC: Steve Sikirica

SBIR Phase I

In-operando infrared absorption method for characterization of composite ceramic membranes during roll-to-roll manufacturing

Membrion Inc.

WA, Seattle

6/28/21

3/27/22

Membrion Inc., in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will develop an in-situ infrared thermography characterization technology that is low cost and adaptable for a wide range of advanced materials. New advanced membrane materials must be manufactured at scale because membranes are the largest cost and performance contributor in water desalination systems. The rapid feedback provided by such a system will enable manufacturers to iterate more quickly and be confident in a consistent product through the quality control aspect of this tool.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

STTR Phase I

3D Printed Membranes for Desalination

Triton Systems Inc.

MA, Chelmsford

6/28/21

3/27/22

Triton Systems Inc., in partnership with University of Connecticut will build a benchtop apparatus to fabricate membrane samples large enough to build industry standard 1812 size filtration modules. Project builds on a remarkable breakthrough reported by the University of Connecticut in 2020 - 3D printing of thin-film composite membranes for desalination. Initial results show enormous promise for opening up a much wider range of desalination membrane chemistries with tailored properties allowing for highly customizable membranes for an array of desalination conditions, while also reducing fouling.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase I

A Ceramic Membrane Based Micro-/Ultra-filtration Subsystem as Pretreatment to Insure Stable and Economical Operation of An RO System for Desalination

Media and Process Technology Inc.

PA, Pittsburgh

6/28/21

3/27/22

Media and Process Technology Inc. will evaluate three advanced manufacturing strategies focusing on fabrication automation, standardization of the ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes, and optimization of surface properties for pretreatment in desalination. Ceramic ultrafiltration and nanofiltration (UF/NF) membranes hold enormous promise for improving the durability, reduced fouling, resilience and operating expenses of pretreatment systems for reverse osmosis in desalination, but have been hindered by high cost and low production volumes. Automation has the potential to dramatically lower the unit cost of these components, while improving yield and reliability.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase I

Total Residual Oxidant (TRO) Sensor Technology to Enable Control of Chlorination Process throughout Water Treatment Pipeline: Pretreatment, Post-treatment, and Maintenance

Giner Inc.

MA, Newton

6/28/21

3/27/22

The objective of this project is to develop real-time sensors for the inline measurement of total residual oxidants (TRO) species present in the disinfection process in reverse osmosis desalination facilities. Successful work will yield a prototype sensor designed to automatically perform measurements and provide a feedback to the process controls system over a long period of time with minimal maintenance under real conditions. This will reduce costs associated with consumables, protect membranes for longer lifetime/performance, and lower power consumption.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

STTR Phase I

Efficient Compatibilization of iPP and HDPE Blends

Intermix Performance Materials Inc.

6/28/21

12/27/21

Tapered block polymers consisting of iso-polypropylene and polyethylene will be synthesized and used as compatibilizers to stabilize the interfaces of two of the most prolific polymers. By using a tapered architecture, significantly lower volumes of block polymer will be required to enable compatibilization lowering the cost of the technology.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase I

Aramid Copolymers as Reinforcing Compatibilizers for Mixed Plastics Recycling

Luna Innovations Inc.

6/28/21

3/27/22

This proposal will functionalize aramids, a class of polymer most often associated with Kevlar, with polypropylene through deprotonation, insertion of an epoxide, and reaction with polypropylene. The aramids are designed to be copolymers with PET, a commercial material, so that they will compatibilize PET and polypropylene, two very different classes of materials that often are comingled due to their use in bottles.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase I

Low-Cost Manufacturing of High-Performance Ion Exchange Membranes for Electrodialysis using Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition

GVD Corp.

MA, Cambridge

6/28/21

6/27/22

GVD Corp., in partnership with the University of Washington (UW), will demonstrate the fabrication of anion- and cation-exchange membranes using its initiated Chemical Vapor  Deposition (iCVD) technology. Conditions for batchwise depositions will be optimized to obtain conductivities equal to or greater than that of existing commercial ion exchange membranes (IEMs) at the lowest possible cost in an eventual roll-to-roll manufacturing system. GVD will also fabricate monovalent selective bilayer membranes that will be more scaling resistant and useful in mineral separations.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase II

Electro-dewatering of Cellulosic Nanomaterials

Faraday Technology Inc.

OH, Englewood

8/19/19

8/16/22

Faraday Technology Inc. is developing an economical manufacturing method and apparatus for electrochemical dewatering (not drying) of cellulosic nanomaterials including cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). During Phase II the reactor design and electro-dewatering process will be optimized to increase the solid content from 20 wt.% to 30 wt.% while lowering energy requirements and maintaining nanocellulose structural integrity. At the end of Phase II, an alpha-scale reactor will be designed, built and tested by processing large volumes of nanocellulose; a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and a preliminary design of Beta-scale electro-dewatering system for installation at a commercial partner will also be completed.

AMO POC: Steve Sikirica

SBIR Phase II

Sliding Element Energy Recovery (SEER) for Water Purification Systems

Amorphic Tech, Ltd.

PA, Allentown

8/23/21

8/22/23

The sliding element energy recovery (SEER) technology is based on recovering hydraulic energy from the brine in the turbine section of the device by means of dual sliding vane rotor assembly that works like a “pressure exchanger” to feed mechanical energy into the pump section. Phase I objectives to design a scaled-down version of this technology has been met and Amorphic has shown excellent progress on the development and refinement of the SEER device during the phase I SBIR effort. The fabrication of six prototype SEER devices during the phase I SBIR enabled the team to rapidly see impacts of variations in casing, rotor and vane materials at the small 5 gpm scale.  Prototypes A to E will help reduce risk when Amphoric scales up and produces the larger SEER 10 based design (50 gpm) prototypes in phase 2.

AMO POC: Melissa Klembara

SBIR Phase IIA

Processing Mixed Salts for CO₂ Utilization

Luna Innovations Inc.

VA, Roanoke

8/24/20

8/23/22

Luna Innovations proposes a dual phase separation membrane for the generation of sodium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate from bittern in salt waste. The proposed HCl extraction technology is a part of a core cluster of gas separation and conversion technologies that Luna is developing that use the capabilities of molten electrolytes to selectively absorb and transport specific gases at high rates, which allow for the separation membranes to exceed the performance limitations of conventional membranes by combining both high permeability and high selectivity. This innovation would allow for stockpiled salt systems to be processed into more valuable and useful chemicals for sale.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase I

Innovative Aerogel Production for Low-Cost and High-R Insulation

Optowares Inc.

MA, Woburn

6/28/21

3/27/22

The project will develop ambient pressure dried poly-DCPD aerogel blankets using high-throughput production methods at atmospheric processing conditions without using CO2-supercritical drying and hydrophobicity agents. The Phase 1 work will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed processing approach, including synthesis of poly-DCPD aerogels, optimization of material and processing variables, and testing and material evaluation. AMO and BTO relevant applications for the low-cost aerogel blanket includes commercial and residential buildings and many industrial sectors.

AMO POC: Antonio Bouza

SBIR Phase I

Production of Low-Cost Aerogel Insulation by a Continuous Manufacturing Process

Amsen Technologies LLC

AZ, Tucson

6/28/21

3/27/22

The project will develop a novel aqueous-based ambient pressure drying (APD) process for production of low-cost aerogel insulation, using continuous mass-production manufacturing. The Phase I work will involve optimization of the innovative synthesis process, as well as full characterization of the aerogel materials. Its high thermal resistance, thin and lightweight, and low manufacturing costs will drive AMO and BTO relevant applications in commercial and residential buildings, transportation, aerospace, marine, and other industrial sectors.

AMO POC: Antonio Bouza

STTR Phase II

Polysulfide-Blocking Polymer Membrane Separators for Rechargeable Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Sepion Technologies

CA, San Francisco

4/10/17

4/6/22

Rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery technology is critical to allow consumers expanded choice to productively integrate renewables to serve their daily energy needs. Novel polysulfide-blocking membranes have shown promise in laboratory-scale demonstrations, however, a low-cost manufacturing process for these membranes has yet to emerge. In Phase I, the viability of translating the laboratory results into large-area ion-selective membranes suitable for developing lithium-sulfur battery prototypes will be assessed. A batch process for the large-scale synthesis of leading edge polysulfide-blocking membrane materials will be established. Thereafter, a roll-to-roll coating process will be developed, whereby inks of these membrane materials are deposited in a continuous manner onto large-area porous polymer supports. The influence of coating strategy on membrane performance metrics will be carefully evaluated in order to advance a process to a pilot coater in Phase II and beyond.

AMO POC: Bob Gemmer

SBIR Phase II

Compact Power Converter with High Waveform Quality for Direct-Drive Renewable Energy Generators

Fastwatt, LLC

NY, Clifton Park

8/23/21

8/22/23

The focus of the proposed work is the development of a compact power converter with high waveform quality for direct-drive renewable energy generators that does not require heavy transformer oil. A 2X smaller and 10X lighter system as compared to state of the art, is also achieved through the use of high-frequency 10 kV SiC MOSFET semiconductor switching devices. A third improvement is the replacement of archaic insulated gate-controlled thyristors (IGCT) with SOA WBG power semiconductors. The IGCTs with much slower switching speeds yield high distortion waveforms and lower energy efficiency. The faster switching silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors produce a high-fidelity waveform with significantly less distortion needed to minimize eddy current losses in the superconducting windings of the extremely high torque 17 MW wind turbine. This project is managed jointly with the Water Power Technologies Office.

AMO POC: Allen Hefner

SBIR Phase II

Reduced Environmental Controls in Perovskite Solar Cell Manufacturing Enabled by Vacuum-Deposited Gas Barrier Coatings

GVD Corp.

MA, Cambridge

8/24/20               

8/23/22

GVD will develop a vapor barrier coating to enable the economical manufacture of next-generation solar cells based on perovskites in ambient conditions. The coating will reduce the cost and improve reliability of the manufacturing process and enable more rapid commercialization of perovskite solar cells. This project is managed jointly with the Solar Energy Technologies Office.

AMO POC: Brian Valentine

SBIR Phase IIC

Low-Cost, Low-Defect, 2” GaN epi-Ready Substrates Processed with E-Grinding

SixPoint Materials Inc.

CA, Buellton

8/24/20

8/23/22

The U.S. imports over 90% of gallium nitride substrates used for developing energy, defense, and industrial electronics. SixPoint aims to establish a robust domestic supply chain of gallium nitride substrates through improvement of production yield and productivity with this SBIR program.

AMO POC: Allen Hefner

SBIR   Phase II

Rugged, Long-Life Flow Monitoring for Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Ozark Integrated Circuits

AR, Fayetteville

8/27/18

6/1/22

Establishing a subsurface well requires monitoring electronics that can produce temperature, pressure and flow profiles at depths of up to 10,000+ feet at temperatures as high as 450°C. In Phase II of this project, OzarkIC will develop a robust, flow, temperature, and pressure system that can withstand these conditions but is also designed to be networkable through the use of SiC electronic “smart nodes.” This project is managed jointly with the Geothermal Technologies Office.

AMO POC: Brian Valentine

SBIR Phase I

Technology Transition Opportunity: Metal Carbon Composite Manufacturing

Directed Vapor Technologies Internat’l

VA, Charlottesville

6/28/21

3/27/22

DVTI plans to utilize its existing, industrial scale equipment to scale and commercialize manufacturing advances developed at Argonne National Laboratory for highly conductive materials. The ability to manufacture these materials in significant quantities will enable enhancements to DVTI’s existing product line of lightweight wiring and electromagnetic interference shielding materials as well as the development of energy-related additional products, including advanced electrodes for renewable energy devices.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase I

Enhanced Aluminum Conductor for Overhead Electrical Transmission Application

QuesTek Innovations LLC

IL, Evanston

6/28/21

3/27/22

QuesTek will utilize their leading integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach to design a high conductivity aluminum alloy with enhanced strengthening efficiency, thermal stability, and thermal softening resistance for improved conductivity without a reduction in strength. The application area of interest is overhead transmission lines, where improved conductors can reduce electricity losses and increase strength. This project will first design an ICME-based Al conductor alloy (designing the framework, then validating and developing the model), then perform lab-scale and pilot-scale melting and extrusion.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase I

Copper-Encapsulated Carbon Nanotubes to Enhance Copper Transmission Cable Properties

Mainstream Engineering Corp.

FL, Rockledge

6/28/21

6/27/22

Mainstream is developing carbon nanotube (CNT)-enhanced copper conductors for application in undersea and underground power cables. Subterranean and subsea cables require increased strength, reliability, and efficiency, and incorporating CNTs into copper wires can significantly improve fatigue life and ampacity. Mainstream will demonstrate a scalable production process to integrate CuCNTS into copper wires, optimizing across mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. 

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase I

High-Performance Lower-Cost Plastic Heat Exchangers

T2M Global, LLC

CT, Danbury

6/28/21

2/27/22

The project will develop a mass producible plastic heat exchanger (P-HEX), which can be extruded at very high speeds, making it affordable. Very thin walls made of conductive polymer composites make it efficient and cost-effective. In addition, the very thin tubes can be packaged into custom designs of most any shape and size for different target markets such as food and beverage, air/water for traditional boiler, chemical applications, etc.

AMO POC: Tony Bouza

STTR Phase I

Fabrication and Evaluation of EV Charging System Subcomponents Made from Enhanced Conductivity Copper

NAECO, LLC

GA, Peachtree City

6/28/21

6/27/22

NAECO will work with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to develop enhanced conductivity copper wire for use in coupler and cable components in the SAE J1772 DC charging system to reduce energy losses in charging couplers used for vehicle recharging.  The project will utilize the PNNL developed Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) technology to manufacture the copper wire, with the objective of moving the ShAPE technology to commercial scale manufacturing.  They will conduct testing of the developed cables and couplers to verify performance enhancements, as well as evaluate the impact of cold working, welding for longer length, oxidation behavior on the materials physical and electrical properties. 

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase IIA

Fabrication of high-quality zeolite membranes with a novel plate and frame configuration for molecular-scale mixture separations

Engi-Mat Co.
(as of Jan. 2019; formerly nGimat, LLC)

KY, Lexington

9/21/20

9/20/22

Energy-efficient membrane separation technologies are considered a highly cost-competitive alternative to PSA process for bioethanol concentration and purification. In Phase I, nGimat made great progress in generating high-separation-performance NaA zeolite membranes on cheap porous supports. Phase II will be concentrated on further optimization and scale-up production of the best-performing NaA zeolite membranes to meet the demand of energy efficiency.

AMO POC: Brian Valentine

SBIR Phase IIB

Novel Probes for Tip-Based Atomically Precise Manufacturing

Tiptek LLC

PA, West Chester

5/03/21

5/02/23

Atomically precise manufacturing (APM) is an emerging manufacturing technology in which materials, structures, devices, and finished goods are fabricated such that every atom is positioned at an exactly specified location relative to the other atoms. However, one factor limiting this technology is the short lifetime of the probe that manipulates individual atoms. The key goal of this program is to develop commercial probes with extended lifetimes for tip-based atomically precise manufacturing. The current project will leverage the atomically precise hydrogen resist lithography method developed by Lyding as an enabling technology for APM.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

STTR Phase IIB

High-Speed Platform for Highly Parallel STM Lithography and Hierarchical Assembly

Zyvex Labs

TX, Richardson

5/03/21

5/02/23

Atomically Precise Manufacturing (APM) technology fabricates materials, structures, and devices such that every atom is positioned at an exactly specified location relative to the other atoms and the finished goods have no defects or imperfections. This project targets a key component of an APM system: a high-speed sub-nm-precision manufacturing platform for atomic precision patterning and hierarchical assembly using arrays of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators. The overall objective of this project is to devise a platform for Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)-based high-speed and high-throughput imaging and lithography.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase II

Atomically Precise Ultra-High Performance 2D Micro Electronics

Zyvex Labs

TX, Richardson

8/23/21

8/22/23

Conventional semiconductor manufacturing is reaching its limits. In this project, atomically precise advanced manufacturing will create a new class of analog transistors (bipolar junction transistors -- BJTs) with breakthrough performance and energy savings. The atomically precise lithography allows more accurate nanopositioning of the tip and real-time adaptable current feedback (to avoid tip crashing) to enable atomically precise doping geometries using both donor and acceptor atoms on the same device. Low noise, high bandwidth, high gain analog devices are sought after in ultra-sensitive sensors, defense, space, and quantum technology applications with trillions of connected devices.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase II

Atomic Precision Manufacturing for CNTFETs

Carbon Technology Inc.

CA, San Clemente

8/23/21

8/22/23

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have unique, remarkable properties that make possible an up to 90% reduction in power use for semiconductors with linear performance at high power.  Major manufacturing obstacles have limited commercialization including: high purity semiconducting nanotubes, tight diameter distribution and high density (number of CNTs per unit width). To build CNT Field Effect Transistors (CNTFETs), clean processes for contacts and dielectrics are also needed. This SBIR will deliver high-performance and high-efficiency RF CNTFETs. All major goals of the Phase I SBIR were achieved demonstrating the needed progress on the required elements of CNTFETs and an early commercialization opportunity in sensors. Phase II work on CNT materials and dielectric will deliver prototypes with breakthrough energy savings and RF performance. CNT devices, in general, can have a huge impact on the RF electronics market which in 2021 is estimated at $18.9 billion with a CAGR of 8.5% to $26.2 billion by 2025.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase II

Atomic Layer Deposition of Ovonic Nonlinear Switches for the Advancement of Microelectronic Industry Roadmap

Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc.

MA, Watertown

8/23/21

8/22/23

The future growth of memory demands will outstrip global silicon supply, presenting an urgent need for radically new memory storage solutions. Phase change memory offers such an opportunity to address the needs for future memory storage. It is imperative that such critical technologies are developed within the U.S. to ensure national security. The proposed research plan, if successful, will reduce the cost of fabrication for phase change memory dramatically and simultaneously provide a huge performance boost to device scalability, endurance, and energy efficiency. The atomic precision manufacturing of phase change materials will enable in-memory computing (e.g., IoT) and neuromorphic computing, which will further reduce the latency and energy consumption for data intensive computations in applications such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

STTR Phase II

Atomically Precise Scanning Probe Based Analysis of Activated Dopants for 2D Micro Electronics

Zyvex Labs

TX, Richardson

8/23/21

8/22/23

Remarkable developments in placing small numbers of dopant atoms have made quantum and other remarkable electronic devices possible, but you can’t control what you can’t measure. This program is developing techniques to be integrated into the fabrication tools to measure and therefore control the number and placement of these atoms. In particular it already enables, high-frequency current measurements with very high signal-to-noise ratios, and as result, highly accurate dI/dV images, including imaging of buried dopants. It also will be useful for quality control and failure analysis.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase IIB

Hierarchical Zeolite Catalysts for Renewable Surfactants Platform

Sironix Renewables

MN, Saint Paul

8/24/20

8/23/2022

This research aims to implement a new separations technology to produce a new class of cleaning product ingredients from plant-based sources that are superior and cheaper than current ingredients, enabling cleaning products with higher concentration, reduced environmental impact through elimination of 1,4-dioxane byproducts, and reduced manufacturing and transportation energy consumption.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg

SBIR Phase IIC

Oxygen Separation with Dual Phase Nanocomposite Membranes

Global Research and Development Inc.

OH, Columbus

8/24/20

8/23/22

During previous awards, nanoceramic membranes on ceramic supports were developed that were smooth and defect-free and able to selectively separate O₂ from air at temperatures of 300°C – 500°C. Additional improvements were made to the Gadolinium-doped cerium oxide and platinum nanoparticle membrane layer as well as the tubular supports for the membranes. Global Research and Development is now building a full oxygen module and will perform long term testing on the modules and will also work on designs to scale the membrane process for two market areas for separating oxygen from various gas streams for a variety of medical, environmental and industrial applications:  1-10 ton/day capacity and 100-500 ton/day capacity.

AMO POC: Tina Kaarsberg