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Self-limiting optoelectronic thinning for transition mental dichalcogenides monolayers fabrication
Background
Dr. Yuebing Zheng and his team have developed a self-limiting optoelectronic thinning (SOET) technique to prepare atomic monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) in a commercially scalable manner. Dr. Zheng is the Temple Foundation Endowed Teaching Fellowship in Engineering #2 and an associate professor at UT Austin, with primary...
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Atmospheric water irrigation enabled by super moisture absorbent gels
Overview
The global population is projected to reach 9.6 billion people by 2025, requiring food production to increase by 70% to meet the demand of the huge population. Water is most limiting natural resource for agricultural production due to the freshwater shortage and enormous need for irrigation. Dry cropland accounts for 84% of the cultivated...
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Oxygen-tolerant photopolymer resins
BackgroundLight-driven polymerization methods for 3D printing are particularly attractive due to unparalleled speed and resolution, yet the reliance on high energy UV/​violet light in contemporary processes limits the number of compatible materials due to pervasive absorption, scattering, and degradation at these short wavelengths. Such issues can be...
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Lithium selective organogels
Background
Lithium (Li) is a highly reactive alkali metal with excellent heat and electrical conductivity properties, making it useful for a variety of industrial applications. Because of Li’s high reactivity, pure elemental Li is not found in nature but is present as a constituent of salts or other compounds found in brines, mineral ores, clays,...
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Monolithic, unetched BTO strip waveguides
Background
Electro-optic technology relies on the operation of systems/devices through the propagation and interaction of light with various tailored/optically active materials. Typical electro-optical devices are designed to modulate the properties of a light wave (e.g., phase, polarization, amplitude, frequency, direction of propagation) and include...
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Mercury isotope composition for improved fluorescent lighting efficiency
BackgroundEvery fluorescent light bulb on earth uses a small amount (several milligrams) of mercury. This element has seven naturally occurring isotopes. The opacity of the mercury vapor causes the resonance UV photons emitted by the atoms in a glow discharge plasma to be reabsorbed by adjacent atoms, leading to a much longer effective lifetime or lower...
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Surface treatment to shape atomic layer deposition
BackgroundAs device dimensions for integrated circuits continuously scale downwards, significant focus has been devoted to developing alternate processes for the nanofabrication of functional structures. One of the processes being explored is called area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD). In contrast to conventional lithography techniques,...
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Visible to near-infrared light activated photopolymer resins
BackgroundResin 3D printing has many advantages, such as high precision, smooth surface finish, and rapid printing speed. Conventional LCD or DLP devices use ultraviolet (UV) light to activate photo-initiators in the resin. A cheaper, less power hungry, and more biocompatible alternative would be to use visible light to activate photo-sensitizers in...
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Low-cost photothermal composites for solar-assisted desalinization and oil-spill cleanup
Problem
Current methods for water decontamination and desalination of ocean water to provide clean drinking water are time consuming and expensive. The materials that have previously been reported for these functions are difficult and expensive to synthesize. Additionally, these materials usually have drastic limitations such as being mechanically...
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Silver carriers stabilized by ionic liquids under presence of hydrogen gas
Problem statement Silver ions in facilitated transport membranes are often unstable under desirable operating conditions for facilitated transport of olefins. Upon exposure to hydrogen gas, the silver ions irreversibly reduce to elemental silver and become immobilized within the membrane, limiting the ability of these membranes to be effective for long-term...
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