Energy I-Corps Cohort 18

• Principal Investigator: Zonghai Chen
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Yingying Xie

Shielded cathodes are a simple and low-cost process to modify the surface chemistry of lithium-bearing oxides. This novel surface modification technology effectively converts detrimental surface impurities on cathode materials into beneficial surface coating layers, resulting in extended lifespan of high energy-density lithium-ion batteries. This technology also improves the environmental compatibility of the resulting cathode materials and can enable low-cost, large-scale manufacturing of high-performance cathode materials by flexing their synthesis environment.

Funded by the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Technologies Office (AMMTO) and the Vehicles Technologies Office (VTO).

• Principal Investigator: Anh To
• Entrepreneurial Leads: Martha Arellano-Treviño, Jacob Miller
• Industry Mentor: Evaline Tsai

ReCapture is a reactive carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture solution. This pioneering technology eliminates emissions by capturing and upgrading waste CO₂ in a single unit. The ReCapture process transforms CO₂ into value-added chemicals that are currently made from fossil resources. The team's mission is to add value to climate change mitigation efforts by closing the carbon cycle.

Funded by the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).

• Principal Investigator: Ben McGilton
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Alec Schnabel

Box is a technology designed to provide renewable energy support for disaster relief scenarios. The ICEBox (Integrated Combined Energy Box) intelligently adapts to wind, solar, and wave electrical inputs, allowing first responders to assess the energy sources in an area and utilize the greatest potential. Each input is designed with universal connectors, allowing for a combination of any source in and terminal. Flexible outputs allow for a wide range of usability and compatibility with emergency equipment.

Funded by the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).

• Principal Investigator: Juan Gallego-Calderon
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Kazi Tamaddun
• Industry Mentor: Ushakar Jha

There are around 600 dams in the U.S. that could be converted to produce over eight gigawatts of clean energy. Some of these dams might be suited for energy storage and hydrogen production. The NAIAD team made a national prioritization tool based on benefits to the grid, community, industry, and environment. Now, they are working on a detailed analysis tool to help developers and stakeholders assess the feasibility of a retrofit of these sites and look into benefits beyond electricity generation.

Funded by the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).

• Principal Investigator: Ronen Polsky
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Bryce Ricken
• Industry Mentor: Justin Yang

The InterFluid Sensors team has developed a wearable patch that can be self-applied in a pain-free manner to measure circulating biomarkers continuously in real time. The sensor is comprised of wire electrodes inserted into stainless steel microneedles. Microneedle-enabled analysis systems are advantageous due to their ability to puncture the skin’s stratum corneum and access interstitial fluid without irritating deeper layers of the skin associated with pain, blood flow, or sensation. Microneedle electrochemical sensors could serve as a tool for analysis of complex medical conditions and illnesses allowing for in situ and simultaneous detection of numerous analytes.

Funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

• Principal Investigator: Lianjie Haung
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Mike Craig
• Industry Mentor: Kiran Mangat

Intercept Imaging is a service providing women with non-invasive, cost-effective breast cancer imaging. Combining ultrasound technology and machine learning, Intercept Imaging detects potential early-stage tumors. The technology is non-ionizing and can screen tumors as small as 2mm. These advantages benefit women with dense breast tissue, genetic disposition, and other high-risk factors.

Funded by the Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (SC-ASCR) Program.

• Principal Investigator: Dmytro Bykov
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Hector Corzo
• Industry Mentors: Dayle Smith, Jared Krosser, Eren Sakinc

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions offer considerable benefits but underscore the critical issues of excessive energy use and data security vulnerabilities. The GreenSight team addresses these challenges with a tailored strategy, emphasizing seamless integration of software services while championing sustainability and ensuring data privacy throughout each phase of processing. A fundamental element of our solution is an energy-optimized AI module, designed to seamlessly integrate with conventional hardware, removing the necessity for additional computing resources. The solution places paramount importance on data confidentiality, guaranteeing the security of company datasets from any public exposure.

Funded by the Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (SC-ASCR) Program.

• Principal Investigator: Aashique Rezwan
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Theron Rodgers

Advanced manufacturing methods (like welding, additive manufacturing, etc.) often create materials with microscopic structural patterns that are not well described by traditional metrics. Changing manufacturing conditions alter these patterns, which modifies material behavior. The MatDNA technology uses microscopic data analysis techniques to provide a holistic, quantitative measure of material structure that could be used in fields such as advanced manufacturing, material design, geology, and energy materials.

Funded by the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), and the Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences (SC-BES) Program.

• Principal Investigator: Jacob Harvey
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Scott Cilke
• Industry Mentor: Koichi Arimitsu

This team has developed a unique generative machine learning platform, HEMatGan, for rapidly predicting high entropy materials (HEMs) with pre-determined properties. HEMs are materials containing more than 5 metal cations, and display unexpected stabilities in extreme environments including high temperatures and pressures. However, with a myriad of possible metal combinations, exploring all possibilities is intractable. HEMatGan operates by asking the algorithm for a material with a particular property, thereby inverting the materials design process and instead of designing a material followed by property prediction, you set the property requirements and are directly given a material that meets your needs.

Funded by the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), and the Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences (SC-BES) Program.

• Principal Investigator: Justin Weber
• Entrepreneurial Leads: Pranjali Muley, Dallas Mullett
• Industry Mentor: Dale Keairns

Utilizing innovative microwave heating, this modular gasification technology efficiently turns diverse feedstocks, including waste plastics, biomass, and tar, into hydrogen-rich syngas. This approach transforms traditional gasification technology by employing direct, localized microwave heating, leading to greater energy efficiency and a more compact, modular reactor. It notably increases hydrogen output by four times and reduces tar production by 30% compared to standard gasification methods, presenting substantial benefits over existing commercial technologies, and lowering the cost of hydrogen.

Funded by the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO).

• Principal Investigator: Jim Tobin
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Vipin Kumar
• Industry Mentor: Ben Colgrove

This team aims to enhance the lifespan of wind turbine blades (land-based and offshore) and reduce their service downtime by 50% due to lightning strike damages and weathering conditions. It has become more critical to safeguard the wind turbine blades and increase their serviceability with their ever-increasing sizes and remote operating locations. They developed a nano-engineered multi-functional coating for blades to provide lightning strike and rain erosion protection. Lightning strikes and extreme weather account for almost 80% of the downtime of wind turbines. The use of carbon/glass fiber reinforced polymer composites to enable larger, lighter wind turbine blades (up to 120 meters long) is growing. Lightning strikes, especially offshore, cause high repair/logistics costs and downtime and prevent additional use of carbon fiber. 

Funded by the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO).

• Principal Investigator: Jochem Weber
• Entrepreneurial Leads: Elena Baca, Mohamed Shabara
• Industry Mentors: David Hume, John Halkyard

Ocean data is critical for a wide variety of high impact missions including ocean health, carbon capture, offshore renewable energy and environmental law enforcement; supporting ecological, societal and economic health. The PoSeiDOn (Powering the Smart Data Ocean) team is developing a self-charging wave-powered ocean glider underwater vehicle that delivers the relevant data and introduces a paradigm shift in the world of ocean observation and knowledge of our oceans. 

Funded by the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).

• Principal Investigator: Leandro Stefanazzi
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Daiane Possebon Colombo
• Industry Mentor: Conner Prochaska

Quantum computing is moving at a very fast pace with governments, industry, and research institutions investing time and effort to move science and technology forward. The QICK is a cheap instrument developed with scientists and for scientists. This team focuses on providing researchers and scientists with the tools needed to make experimentation seamless without spending much money. The expectation is to provide medium- to long-term support for the platform to unlock cutting edge experimentation.

Funded by the Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (SC-ASCR) Program.

• Principal Investigator: George Larsen
• Entrepreneurial Lead: Tyler Guin
• Industry Mentor: Adam Wallen

The CECIE (combined equilibrium catalytic isotope exchange) process efficiently synthesizes deuterated organic compounds. Most deuterated compounds retail for high prices due to the difficulty and wastefulness of conventional approaches. The CECIE process eliminates deuterium loss and reduces costs by directly converting conventional compounds to their deuterated forms. Aside from lowering the cost of current commercial materials, a host of follow-on products are enabled by lowering the cost of deuteration without sacrificing purity. These include deuterated polymers, which are ideal inertial fusion energy target materials, seals for tritium fuel cycle, and neutron-resistant materials for high radiation areas.

Funded by the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC).

• Lisa Morey
• Paul Neumann

Colorado Earth's nature-based solution for the building envelope integrates an ancient building material with recently used phase-change materials. The work is based on the need to develop an energy-efficient building approach that requires no highly insulated assemblies.

Funded by the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO).

• Pilanda Watkins-Curry
• Lacey Reddix

Olokun Minerals' process aims to provide global clean water security and a reliable supply of critical minerals like lithium and magnesium to help the United States become more energy independent in its transition to renewable energy sources.

Funded by the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO).

• Yaman Peksenar
• Sylvia Luebben

While plastics offer industry an affordable, reliable product, they pose an environmental threat; the plastics industry is the fastest-growing source of industrial greenhouse gases in the world, and plastic in Earth's oceans is projected to surpass fish by 2050. To mitigate the environmental repercussions of the plastic industry, Sustainable Chemicals' bioplastic provides a viable alternative that offers high-quality, environmentally friendly materials.

Funded by the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO).