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Brief description not available

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a customizable polysaccharide that can be added to nanoparticles to reduce their rejection by the human immune system.

Professor Matthew Conley from the University of California, Riverside has developed heterogeneous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. These catalysts have higher activity than state-of-the-art homogeneous catalysts in metathesis of terminal olefins.  They are combined with state-of-the-art anion capped materials that anchor positively charged Grubbs catalyst to the surface to form active heterogeneous olefin metathesis catalyst. This technology has the potential to produce heterogeneous catalysts that are less expensive, more efficient, and faster than the available homogenous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. Fig 1: Chemical structure of UCR’s heterogneous Grubb’s catalyst supported on functionalized silica for olefin metathesis.  

Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a rapid growth platform that aims to decrease crop production time, allow for tunable sensory attributes, and decrease carbon emissions.

The inventors have developed a novel 3D printing technique, named Non-Planar Granular 3D Printing (NGP), which selectively deposits a liquid binder into granular particles, enabling rapid fabrication of complex 3-dimensional objects. For this new method, an industrial robotic arm is equipped with a dispenser attached to a long metal needle, called a liquid deposition end-effector, and a container of granular particles, such as sand, beads, or powders. The needle moves freely as it injects the binding liquid into the granular material. Like other 3D printing methods, NGP can use a CAD 3D model and conventional slicing software to produce a robotic toolpath following a desired height and width. However, the advantage of the process lies in its ability to 3D print objects non-planarly, by moving the extruder’s dispensing tip freely within the granular medium. The selective application of the binding liquid causes the particles to bond together, forming parts of the 3D printed object. Meanwhile, the loose particles remaining in the container temporarily support the weight of the wet particles while they cure. This unique approach enables the creation of complex geometric forms without the need for supporting structures that are typical in traditional 3D printing methods, thereby eliminating material waste typically associated with such processes. After the completion of the process, and the binding material has cured, the hard objects can be easily extracted from the container, leaving behind the remaining loose particles, which can be repeatedly re-used.   

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a nature-based, plastic-free, non-melting, reusable, sustainable, self-cleanable (anti-fungal), and biodegradable robust cooling system for the applications in cold chains. The system has comparable cooling efficiency to traditional ice and drastically reduces water consumption, prevents potential microbial cross-contamination caused by melt-water, and eliminates the use of plastic and other synthetic materials.

Researchers at UCI have developed a minimally invasive mechanism to help deliver and implant a cardiac assist device inside the body to help patients with heart failure.

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The inventors at UCI have created a method of doping layered cathode materials in sodium-ion batteries. In this method more than five impurity elements are introduced into a host material, in this case a sodium-based layered cathode material, Na0.667Mn0.666Ni0.167Co0.167O2. This technique is being utilized in order to create sodium-ion batteries that are more competitive with the historically used lithium-ion battery.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have constructed a library of glycans containing N-acetyl sialic acids to mimic those containing naturally occurring O-acetyl sialic acids.

This invention, a simple and robust method for ammonia detection, offers high-speed in situ quantification of ammonia concentrations with high sensitivity. The ammonia detection system does not require complex instrumentation, analysis, or labeling, which would allow for widespread adoption in chemistry-based fields and surrounding disciplines.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have identified earth abundant and other relatively inexpensive materials that form the basis of novel molecules (anolytes), with long lifecycles and high energy densities, to be used in redox flow batteries.

The inventor has developed systems and methods for performing continuous 3D roll-based additive manufacturing. This invention is distinct from roll-based micro/nanomanufacturing methods such as imprint lithography, gravure printing, and photo-roll lithography because it enables production of high aspect ratio reentrant features and voids in a single step that are difficult or even impossible with the existing methods.

The inventor has developed novel algorithms and metrology methodologies, including real-time in-situ imaging of part formation, in computed axial lithography printing (CALP). CALP is a form of continuous 3D roll-based additive manufacturing which is distinct from roll-based micro/nanomanufacturing methods such as imprint lithography, gravure printing, and photo-roll lithography because it enables production of high aspect ratio reentrant features and voids in a single step that are difficult or even impossible with the existing methods.

The invention is a ceramic 3D printed smoke reduction wood burner stoves, and methods of making the same.

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) techniques and associated spectroscopic (STS) methods, such as dI/dV point spectroscopy, have been widely used to measure electronic structures and local density of states of molecules and materials with unprecedented spatial and energy resolutions. However, the quality of dI/dV spectra highly depends on the shape of the probe tips, and atomically sharp tips with well-defined apex structures are required for obtaining reliable spectra. In most cases, STS measurements are performed in ultra-high vacuum  and low temperature (4 K) to minimize disturbances. Advance tip preparation and constant in situ tip conditioning are required before and during the characterization of target molecules and materials. A common way to prepare STM tips is to repetitively poke them on known and bare substrates (i.e. coinage metals or silicon) to remove contaminations and to potentially coat the tip with substrate atoms. The standard dI/dV spectra of the substrate is then used as a reference to determine whether the tip is available for further experiments. However, tip geometry changes during the poking process are unpredictable, and consequently tip conditioning is typically slow and needs to be constantly monitored. Therefore, it restricts the speed of high-quality STM spectroscopic studies. In order to make efficient use of instrument idle time and minimize the research time wasted on tip conditioning, UC Berkeley researchers developed software based on Python and machine learning that can automate the time-consuming tip conditioning processes. The program is designed to do tip conditioning on Au(111) surfaces that are clean or with low molecular coverage with little human intervention. By just one click, the program is capable of continued poking until the tip can generate near-publication quality spectroscopic data on gold surfaces. It can control the operation of a Scienta Omicron STM and automatically analyze the collected topographic images to find bare Au areas that are large enough for tip conditioning. It will then collect dI/dV spectra at selected positions and use machine learning models to determine their quality compared to standard dI/dV spectra for Au20 and determine if the tip is good enough for further STS measurements. If the tip condition is not ideal, the program will control the STM to poke at the identified positions until the machine learning model predicts the tip to be in good condition.

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Inspired by biological systems, Prof. Jinyong Liu’s lab at UCR has developed a novel heterogeneous, bimetallic catalyst MoOx-Pd/C. The catalyst contains earth-abundant molybdenum (Mo) and the carbon support of Pd/C has a high capacity to accomodate MoOx species. The incorporation of a MoVI yields a highly active and robust catalyst. The porous carbon mimics the enzyme protein pocket (of microbes) to accommodate the oxygen atom transfer metal site. The representative figures shown below demonstrate the high activity and robustness of the catalyst for both chlorate and perchlorate reduction. The effect of concentrated salts on the reduction of 1 mM ClO3− by the MoOx-Pd/C catalyst at a loading of 0.2 g/L. The reactions were conducted at 25 oC and under 1 atm H2. Chlorine balance for ClO4- reduction Fig. 3 shows the profiles of the reduction of 0.18M ClO3− spikes in a multiple-spike reaction series. The decrease of activity was only caused by the gradual build-up of concentrated Cl− (see details in the publication).  

UCLA Researchers in the Departments of Bioengineering and Mathematics have developed a method to generate uniform, thermodynamically stabilized microdroplets with digitizable solid structures.

Researchers in the UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have developed an energy-saving approach to controllably fabricate cemented solids with hybrid microstructures and enhanced properties.

Prof. Ming Lee Tang and her colleagues from the University of California, Riverside have developed a promising new material for photonic devices utilizing hybrid materials composed of inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals and organic acene molecules. The material allows for photon upconversion, a promising wavelength shifting technology for photon management. This multi-photon process has potential applications in biological imaging, photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Regarding solar energy systems, the conversion of low energy near-infrared (NIR) photons to higher energy photons is particularly appealing, considering NIR radiation comprises 53% of the solar spectrum. Current solar panels are greatly limited in efficiency due to this. Reshaping the solar spectrum to match the optical properties of common semiconductors will allow the efficient use of all incident light. This holds the potential to solve the largest issue that current solar panel systems face.

UCLA researchers in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Material Science and Engineering, have developed a single-atom tailoring method to boost the electrocatalytic activity of platinum-based catalysts with low loss of generatable current.

Drosophila spp., also known as fruit flies, are widely used in genetic research. Drosophila lines (e.g. flies with a particular mutation) can only be stored as live animals – they cannot be frozen and remain viable. So to maintain the stocks, the live flies are manually transferred from an old vial to a new vial on a regular basis (every 1-2 weeks). Some Drosophila labs maintain hundreds or even thousands of individual lines and so maintenance of these lines can be very time consuming. A UC Santa Cruz Drosophila researcher has developed a simpler and more efficient method of transferring the flies that requires significantly less hands-on work.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the process of making 3D objects from a computer model data by joining materials layer by layer under computer control using a 3D printer.   Poplar systems, even for home use, can be purchased that use various polymer plastics. In more robust application areas, metal alloys are required and their manufacturing is much more costly and time intensive. Metal parts created by additive manufacturing are often difficult to dimensionally characterize due to the complex surface structures created by welding phenomena present in state-of the art printing machines. The most holistic techniques involve measuring the surface of each sintered layer of powder, however, this is complicated to perform in a non-contact, non-destructive, and in-situ manner. Techniques such as Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography can be used to perform this task, but are limited to large pointwise measurement, limiting the speed and resolution of measuring the surface topography of each layer.  Due to the cost associated with additive manufacturing with alloys, reliable inspection methodologies are necessary to ensure that the part being fabricated is free of defects and meets all user specifications.