FLC Business Search Labs Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)
Agency/Department
Dept. of Energy
FLC Region
Security Lab
Upton, NY 11973-5000
Laboratory Representative
Tech Transfer Website:
http://www.bnl.gov/partner/
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Established in 1947 on Long Island, Upton, N.Y., Brookhaven is a multi- program national laboratory operated by Brookhaven Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Six Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries made at the Lab. Brookhaven has a staff of approximately 3,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff and over 4,000 guest researchers annually. Brookhaven National Laboratory's role for the DOE is to produce excellent science and advanced technology with the cooperation, support, and appropriate involvement of our scientific and local communities.
The fundamental elements of the Laboratory's role in support of the four DOE strategic missions are the following:
To conceive, design, construct, and operate complex, leading edge, user-oriented facilities in response to the needs of the DOE and the international community of users.
To carry out basic and applied research in long-term, high-risk programs at the frontier of science.
To develop advanced technologies that address national needs and to transfer them to other organizations and to the commercial sector.
To disseminate technical knowledge, to educate new generations of scientists and engineers, to maintain technical capabilities in the nation's workforce, and to encourage scientific awareness in the general public.
Technology Disciplines
12-31: Nanowires
The electrical, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of nanostructures depend on their physical dimensions and chemical compositions. Current methods of forming nanowires rely on knowing the average values for these parameters. As a result, there is poor control over local properties of the nanowires, which may vary from spot to spot in an uncontrolled fashion. By using knowledge of the size-dependent phase diagram, the inventors have developed methods of controlling the properties of nanowires precisely over regions on the order of a nanometer. These nanowires can be used in robust and reliable optical and electronic devices.
Vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires is tailored to achieve complex one-dimensional material geometries using phase diagrams determined for nanoscale materials. Segmented one-dimensional nanowires having constant composition display locally variable electronic band structures that are determined by the diameter of the nanowires. The unique electrical and optical properties of the segmented nanowires are exploited to form electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Control over the local diameter of nanowires allows for design of nanostructures with specific location-dependent electrical and optical characteristics.
3-D TRENCH ELECTRODE DETECTORS
A three-dimensional (3D) Trench detector and a method for fabricating the detector are disclosed. The 3D-Trench detector includes a bulk of semiconductor material that has first and second surfaces separated from each other by a bulk thickness, a first electrode in the form of a 3D-Trench, and a second electrode in the form of a 3D column. The first and second electrodes extend into the bulk along the bulk thickness. The first and second electrodes are separated from each other by a predetermined electrode distance, and the first electrode completely surrounds the second electrode along essentially the entire distance that the two electrodes extend into the bulk such that the two electrodes are substantially concentric to each other. The fabrication method includes doping a first narrow and deep region around the periphery of the bulk to form the first electrode, and doping a second narrow and deep region in the center of the bulk to form the second electrode.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2012313196
Patent Issue Date
3D-TRENCH ELECTRODE DETECTORS
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2011049832
WO2011049832
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BIOLOGICAL PURIFICATION OF WASTES
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP897374
EP897374
Ludmila Shelenkova
Eugene T. Premuzic
John A. Lucido
Mow S. Lin
Daniel Keenan
ATMOSPHERIC RADAR
Technologies are described effective to implement an atmospheric radar system. An antenna array transmits a wave toward an atmospheric target and receives a reflected wave that includes voltages corresponding to backscattered radar signal measurements. A processor includes a coherency matrix generator module effective to receive the voltages and generate a coherency matrix. The processor further includes an eigenvalue calculator module effective to receive the coherency matrix and calculate eigenvalues of the coherency matrix The processor includes an eigenvalue variable calculator module effective to receive the eigenvalues and calculate eigenvalue meteorological variables from the eigenvalues. The processor further includes an atmosphere display module effective to receive the eigenvalue meteorological variables and generate an output signal that corresponds to the meteorological property of the atmospheric target in response.
Michele Galletti
BNL 14-21: X-Ray Crystallography Growth Plates
The invention describes the design of a crystal growth plate that can be used to grow crystals using very small volumes at room temperature.
BSA 00-22: Assaying Clustered DNA Damages
Analysis of the exposure of cells to ionizing radiation and DNA-damaging chemicals is enabled by this simple technology. Closely spaced damage in DNA may result in irreparable damge, cell death or, in some cases uncontrolled cell proliferation. Measuring exposure and sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents is a simple procedure enabled by this method.
Describes a method for detecting and quantifying clustered DNA damages induced by exposure of the biological organism to a DNA-damaging agent.
The technique provides a sensitive reliable method of detecting and quantifying clustered damages in genomic DNAs or mixtures of DNAs of unknown DNA sizes. The method can be used to evaluate the biological impact of both low and high doses of radiation.
BSA 00-28: Synthesis of YBCO Superconductors Using Low-Pressure Processing
YBa2Cu3O7(YBCO) is an especially useful second-generation high-temperature superconductor because it becomes superconducting at temperatures above that of liquid nitrogen. Unfortunately, YBCO synthesis is often complex, expensive, and difficult to execute on industrial scales. Now, this practical, scalable, and low-cost technique can produce large YBCO tapes and wires for use in high-field magnets or to carry electrical current.
This method uses a precursor material containing a rare earth element, an alkaline earth element, fluorine, and copper. The precursor is heat treated at about 500ºC in the presence of oxygen and water vapor at sub-atmospheric pressure to form a crystalline structure, which is then annealed in oxygen to form the superconducting film. Films between 50 nm and 5 µm can be grown by this method at a rate of about 0.1 nm/s to about 2 nm/s. The method produces bi-axially oriented high-temperature superconductor films when a buffered metal substrate is employed.
The low pressures used in this process allow for industrial scale manufacturing, and the low water vapor partial pressure allows for growth on metal substrates. The high quality of the resulting films makes them suitable for use as fault current limiters in addition to magnets and current-carrying wires.
BSA 01-07: Carbon Monoxide Tolerant Fuel Cell Electrocatalyst
Platinum is an excellent catalyst for many reactions. However, it is also easily poisoned by carbon monoxide and very expensive. Tolerance to carbon monoxide can be increased by using a particle composite consisting of clusters or an atomically thin layer of the platinum on a ruthenium particle. When used as an electrocatalyst for the oxidation of fuel at a fuel cell anode, this structure exhibits low platinum loading and elevated tolerance to carbon monoxide when compared to commercially available platinum/carbon electrocatalysts. These structures can be used in fuel cells and other electrocatalytic or heterogeneous catalytic applications.
This fuel cell anode includes an electrocatalyst that has a conductive support material, ruthenium nanoparticles, and a group VIII noble metal, such as platinum. The anode can also have a perfluorinated polymer membrane on its surface.
These electrocatalysts have high tolerance to carbon monoxide and require low platinum loading, increasing lifetime and reducing costs over other catalysts in common use.
BSA 01-10: Halogenated Carboranyl Porphyrins for Imageable Tumor-Targeting Agents for Radiation Therapy
Improvement in the efficacy of conventional radiotherapy using chemical agents is a key area of interest in experimental radiation oncology. Approximately one million patients in the US receive radiation therapy for cancer per year. Success has been limited due to restriction of the tumor dose to avoid normal tissue morbidity. Radiation sensitizing agents targeting hypoxic cells in tumors, which are several times less sensitive to radiation than oxygenated cells, have been particularly elusive. The compounds of this invention are particularly useful for purposes of radiation sensitization.
Halogenated and nitrated tetraphenylporphyrins and their use as imageable tumor-targeting agents for ionizing and/or non-ionizing radiation therapy are disclosed. Halogenated tetracarboranylporphyrins of the present invention are octahalogen analogs of the carborane-containing tetraphenylporphyrins previously known. Tests in animals hae shown that the carboranylporphyrins of the present invention provide low toxicity and high tumor accumulation of the described porphyrins. In addition to their use in a variety of cancer treatment modalities, the halogenated or nitrated carboranylporphyrins are imageable by a number of different methods.
All previous attempts to develop highly effective, non-toxic radiation sensitizing agents have been unsuccessful. These agents readily accumulate in neoplastic tissue and their electron withdrawing character makes them particularly attractive as radiation sensitizers. Other modes of cancer therapy are enabled with these compounds - including boron neutron capture therapy and photodynamic therapy. A particularly favorable aspect of these compounds includes their use as imaging agents to enhance treatment planning and treatment monitoring.
Advanced Optical Spectroscopy and Microscopy
Brookhaven National Laboratory P.O. Box 5000, Bldg. 735
P: (631) 344-4397E: ctblack@bnl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
Lab Reps:
Charles Black
The Advanced Optical Spectroscopy & Microscopy Facility combines a broad range of optical instruments suitable for studies of optical properties of hard, soft or biological materials using ultrafast and nonlinear spectroscopy, and single-molecule optical and confocal methods.
Capabilities: Fluorescence imaging (up to five channels simultaneously), two-color fluorescence lifetime imaging, spectral imaging, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy Fluorescence lifetime measurements, including time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy and time-resolved fluorescence spectra,...
Accelerator Center for Energy Research (ACER)
2 Center St
Upton, NY 11973
P: 631-344-3333E: guvcenter@bnl.gov Security Clearance : Non Security Lab
The Accelerator Center for Energy Research (ACER) exploits radiation chemistry techniques to study chemical reactions (and other phenomena) by subjecting samples to pulses of high-energy electrons or continuous gamma rays. The reactions are followed by various methods of time-resolved spectroscopy...
Accelerator Test Facility
The Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) pioneered the concept of a user facility for studying complex properties of modern particle accelerators and new methods of accelerating electrons and ions. The ATF successfully serves this mission, now for more than two decades.Unique CapabilitiesThe...
Accelerator Test Facility (ATF)
Brookhaven National Lab
P: 631 344-2345Security Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
The Accelerator Test Facility provides experimenters with the equipment necessary for the advancement of accelerator technologies, with a view to develop smaller machines and more cost-effective methods of particle acceleration.
Capabilities: Photoinjector S-Band Linac CO2 Laser Nd:YAG Laser Beamline Simulation Data Beamline Parameters Beam Diagnostics Detectors
Advanced UV and X-ray Probes
P: (631) 344-3645E: ogang@bnl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
Oleg Gang
The CFN operates three end-stations at the National Synchrotron Light Source ( NSLS ) for nanomaterials characterization. The station located at the X9 beamline performs simultaneous small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering experiments for nano-scale structural characterization of a variety of materials. The Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (AP-XPS) station located at beamline X1A1 is capable of soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for quantitative surface chemical analysis of a range of materials at gas pressures up to about 1 Torr. The undulator beamline U5UA hosts a station operating in ultra-high vacuum with a low-energy electron microscope (LEEM) and X-ray photo-emission electron microscope (XPEEM). The LEEM-XPEEM system can be used to study static and dynamic properties of surfaces and thin films, including growth, phase transitions, reactions, surface electronic structure and morphology.
Capabilities: Small-angle and Wide-angle X-ray Scattering Low Energy Electron Microscopy and X-ray Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
ATLAS is a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Scientists from Brookhaven have played and continue to play key roles in the design, construction, and operation of ATLAS in its search for new discoveries about the...
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research (ARM)
P: 301.903.0043E: wanda.ferrell@science.doe.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
Wanda Ferrell
With heavily instrumented field sites around the globe, the ARM Climate Research Facility provides the world's most comprehensive outdoor laboratory and data archive for research related to atmospheric processes that affect Earth's climate system. The ARM Facility provides continuous data collections from fixed locations as well as sponsoring mobile and aerial facility deployments in under-sampled regions. ARM hosts on average more than 40 field campaigns a year and has over 6000 registered users at the ARM Data Archive from nearly every state and from more than 30 countries. Data from ARM are cited in approximately 200 journal articles per year. Nine U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories share the responsibility of managing and operating the facility in support of the DOE mission to provide for the energy security of the nation.
Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer
The Brookhaven Linac Isoptope Producer (BLIP)—positioned at the forefront of research into radioisotopes used in cancer treatment and diagnosis—produces commercially unavailable radioisotopes for use by the medical community and related industries. BLIP consists of a an accelerator beam line and...
Center for Functional Nanomaterials
Security Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
The Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) explores the unique properties of materials and processes at the nanoscale. The CFN is a user-oriented research center whose mission is to be an open facility for the nanoscience research community and advance the science of nanomaterials that address the nation's energy challenges.
Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
The CFN at Brookhaven National Laboratory focuses on understanding the chemical and physical response of nanomaterials to make functional materials such as sensors, activators, and energy-conversion devices. The facility uses existing facilities such as the National Synchrotron Light Source and the...
No Programs
(AEF) Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship (AEF) Program provides a unique opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in the national education arena. Fellows spend eleven months working in a Federal agency or in a U.S. Congressional office, bringing their extensive knowledge and experience in the classroom to education program and/or education policy efforts.
Current sponsoring agencies include: the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The DOE sponsors up to four placements in congressional offices.
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act was signed into law in November 1994 and gives the DOE the responsibility for managing the program (Fellowship Act Public Law 103-382, Improving America's Schools Act of 1994). The DOE Office of Science's Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) manages this program for DOE in collaboration with the Triangle Coalition for STEM Education and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).
Some outstanding contributions of past Einstein Fellows include:
Designing and implementing national science, math, and technology education programs;
Initiating collaborations and partnerships among Federal agencies;
Drafting legislation and advising on policies that seek to improve K-12 education in the United States;
Creating web-based science education tools; and
Establishing and evaluating national and regional programs centered on school reform and teacher preparation in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.
https://www.bnl.gov/education/program.asp
Tech Transfer Website
Lab Representatives
(INCREASE) Historically Black Colleges and Universities / National Synchrotron Light Source Consortium
The workshops, conducted over the course of two days, consist of introductory lectures on synchrotron science, techniques, and operations. Hands-on experimental activities will be offered to participants using a variety of beamlines. Additionally, there will be a writing tutorial focused on the development of competitive beamline proposals for independent research at the NSLS.
Historically Black College/University
(Internship - CCI) Community College Internship
The emphasis of this program is to equip students with the necessary tools that assist in the choice of career options, whether it is entering the workforce as a technician, pursuing an undergraduate degree, or both.
This program places students form community colleges in paid internships in Science, Engineering and Technology at BNL. Because of the comprehensive nature of this program, many of the participants have felt it has had an enormous influence on their careers. Students work with scientists or engineers on projects related to the laboratories' research programs. They also attend career planning and numerous training/informational sessions.
The CCI program at BNL will include features which have been the mainstay of our undergraduate programs since 1952.
• Students participate in a Technical Internship, which allows them to participate in one of BNL's ongoing scientific and technical projects.
• Students will participate in cutting-edge research or technology development, directed by a staff member of the BNL scientific community.
• The nature of the internship assignment will be determined after a review by BNL staff of the applicants' background and interests, relevant to the current scientific and technical activities at BNL.
• Students will have the chance to present their scientific or technical results both verbally and in writing, and may appear as a contributor to a scientific journal article or BNL report.
• Students will also participate in Educational Enhancement Activities, offering not only a specific scientific or technical experience, but an in-depth exposure to the scientific enterprise.
• Students will spend approximately 20% of their time in specific group or individual activities designed to promote career development.
(Internship - GRIP) Graduate Research Internship Program
The Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) intends to pair graduate students with a Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist on a mutually agreed upon project, which will enhance the interns' research skills and may lead to multiple scientific publications and may support their graduate thesis or dissertation. In addition, the GRIP intern will act as a liaison between the university advisor and the BNL scientist in fostering relationships and research opportunities with the two institutions.
After completing all necessary training, students can spend up to three months interning with an assigned BNL researcher and have the option to continue the project during the semesters following, depending upon the requirements by both the researcher and respective college/university. During the semester periods, the candidate will conduct research on scheduled days, which shall notinterrupt their course work at the home institution. The project undertaken may support the student's dissertation or thesis.
- Funding for this program will be provided by your home institution.
Program provides:
- Housing, in a single occupancy dorm room
- On-site transportation
- Research paper, poster for presentation, pre- and post-surveys, and final experience report
(Internship - SCGSR) Science Graduate Student Research Program
The goal of the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories. The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory in areas that address scientific challenges central to the Office of Science mission. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students' overall doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories.
The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science's Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), in collaboration with the 6 Office of Science research programs and the DOE national laboratories. Online application and awards administration support is provided by Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE) under Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).
The SCGSR program provides supplemental funds for graduate awardees to conduct part of their thesis research at a host DOE laboratory in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist within a defined award period. The award period for the proposed research project at DOE laboratories may range from 3 months to 1 year.
(Internship - VFP) Visiting Faculty Program
Visiting Faculty Program (VFP) Overview
The Visiting Faculty Program (VFP), formerly called Faculty and Student Teams (FaST), seeks to increase the research competitiveness of faculty members and their students at institutions historically underrepresented in the research community in order to expand the workforce vital to the Department of Energy (DOE) mission areas. As part of the program, selected university/college faculty members collaborate with DOE laboratory research staff on a research project of mutual interest. Faculty member participants may invite up to two students (one of which may be a graduate student) to participate in the research project.
The Visiting Faculty Program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science's Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) in collaboration with the DOE laboratories.
Applications for the VFP are solicited annually for appointments to the Summer Term (May through August), which is 10 weeks in duration. Each of the 14participating DOE laboratories offer different research opportunities (not all laboratories participate) and interested faculty members are encouraged to contact DOE laboratory scientists in advance to discuss research projects of mutual interest. Student participation is optional.
All VFP faculty applicants must submit at the time of applicationa research project proposal co-developed with the collaborating research staff located at the host DOE laboratory.Proposal guidance and requirements can be found at http://science.energy.gov/wdts/vfp/how-to-apply/developing-a-research-proposal/.
(NCSS) Nuclear Chemistry Summer School
The Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology of the American Chemical Society sponsors and administers the summer schools in nuclear and radiochemistry which are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Students participating in the six week summer program at Brookhaven National Laboratory will have the opportunity to visit research sites, attend a guest lecture series, and meet and interact with prominent research scientists working in nuclear and radiochemistry.
The summer school program was founded as an educational outreach activity to promote interest in nuclear science and to provide trained personnel to meet national needs in nuclear research, the nuclear power industry, and nuclear medicine.
(NNSS) Nuclear Nonproliferation Safeguards and Security Summer Course
The course will present students with critical assessments of the current nonproliferation arrangements. With exercises and demonstrations the course will introduce students to the technologies of international nuclear safeguards and detection of nuclear and other radioactive materials. Above all, the course aims to give participants the knowledge, analytic tools and motivation to contribute to improvement of the nonproliferation regime.
Audience for This Program
Graduate students interested in learning about nuclear nonproliferation
(OEP) College Mini-Semester Program
Students spend one week at BNL during the winter break and participate in a lab related research project. Students also interact with Laboratory staff members, attend lectures on current research projects and are guided on tours of the Laboratory facilities to witness scientific projects in progress. Students are expected to participate in a team research experience and present their results at the closing of the college Mini-Semester.
Program Provides
~ Housing: single-occupancy dormitory rooms
~ On-site transportation
~ All Supplies
~ Program will operate from 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Full-time sophomore, junior, and senior college, or university students.
Many of these students return to BNL as part of the Community College Institute (CCI) or the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI). Both of these programs offer students the opportunity to become part of a scientific research team for a summer. The SULI program also offers internships during the fall and spring semesters. Students who participate in the College Mini-Semester program are encouraged to apply for the 16-week academic semester programs and for the 10-week summer program
Rules & Eligibility Criteria
A focus on selecting a diverse and talented pool of student interns is given. All students in good standing that meet the eligibility criteria are invited to apply.
must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien
must have achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0
must provide proof of health insurance
A completed application consists of:
An application, completed by the student online
A copy of the student's unofficial transcript, then returned to the school's representative
One recommendation from faculty done online
An essay NOT GREATER THAN 400 WORDS explaining why you want to be part of this program and list three areas of research interests including the relevant BNL scientist names performing the research.
BNL Insurance Information, Photo Permission and PRA Form.
No Publications
1989 Attracting x-ray mirror manufacturers to use unique measurement facilities to improve products Northeast Excellence in Technology Transfer 1989
2001 Service - Harold Metcalf Northeast Dorry Tooker Service - Harold Metcalf 2001
2003 Smart, high-performance polyphenylenesulfide coating system Northeast Excellence in Technology Transfer 2003
2012 Laboratory Director of the Year Northeast Dr. Samuel Aronson Laboratory Director of the Year 2012
Commercialization of Long Trace Profiler, and ultraprecision optical surface-profiling instrument Excellence in Technology Transfer 1997
Available to License: Brookhaven's Nanowire TechnologyReady for TransferEnergy, Nanotechnology May 03, 2018
Brookhaven Joins IBM Q Network Hub at Oak Ridge National LaboratoryT2 NewsCommunications Apr 10, 2019
Brookhaven's Global Feature Extractor — A Reconfigurable Computing PlatformReady for TransferEnergy Jul 18, 2019
Brookhaven's Sample Holder with Optical FeaturesReady for TransferEnergy Feb 28, 2019
DOE Awards INFUSE Funding to Brookhaven–Commonwealth Fusion Energy ProjectT2 NewsEnergy Nov 18, 2019
Sulfur Concrete
Sulfur concrete was developed more than thirty years ago by the United States Bureau of Mines. Sulfur concrete is made by mixing sulfur, an inexpensive waste by-product of the petrochemical industry with dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), a fairly expensive organic modifier, with limited availability. This has kept the cost of sulfur concrete high and therefore, sulfur concrete has not been widely used. Dr. Paul Kalb of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) together with partners from Kazakhstan, have devised an alternative concrete composition and method for making it through a process known as Stabilized Sulfur Binder using Activated Fillers (SSBAF).
The SSBAF method uses an organic component waste by-product from the petrochemical industry, mixed with and coated on filler, such as sand, before being energetically mixed with sulfur. Dr. Kalb explained that this "green" process recycles industrial byproducts and, unlike the process for making conventional concrete, does not produce carbon dioxide. This improved sulfur concrete is less expensive than conventional SPCs, requires no water, and is highly resistant to corrosive environments. This sulfur concrete can be used in a number of applications including precast concrete products such as pipes, tanks, containers, blocks and slabs.
In 2012, Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC. ("BSA"), contractor/operator of BNL entered into an Option Agreement with Green Sulfcrete, a Long Island NY based company that was formed to commercialize the BNL's sulfur concrete technology. Green Sulfcrete was granted an option under the DOE Startup America program. The option was granted for the company to make, use and sell sulfur concrete made by the BNL process in certain territories. Recently the company changed its name from Green Sulfcrete to Sulfcrete and has entered into a license agreement with BSA. The company was awarded the Phase I SBIR NSF grant. Under sponsored research agreements, the company continues to collaborate with BNL to develop the product further. The company anticipates entering the market with a product in 2016. The website of the company can be found at: http://www.synchropet.com/Home.aspx.
Electrocatalyst Technology for Fuel Cells in Electric Vehicles
The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory executed a pre-commercial license with N.E. Chemcat Corporation, Japan's leading catalyst and precious metal compound manufacturer, for electrocatalysts that can reduce the use of costly platinum and increase the effectiveness of fuel cells for use in electric vehicles. The license also includes access to innovative methods for making the catalysts and an apparatus used to manufacture them. The pre-commercial license allowed market and technical development to proceed in parallel.
Platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for fuel cell reactions, but platinum-based catalysts are expensive, unstable, and short-lived. The newly licensed electrocatalysts have high activity, stability, and durability, while containing only about one-tenth the platinum of conventional catalysts used in fuel cells, reducing overall costs.
The electrocatalysts consist of a palladium or a palladium alloy nanoparticle core covered with a monolayer— one-atom thick—platinum shell. This palladium-platinum combination notably improves the rate of oxygen reduction at the cathode of a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell. This type of fuel cell produces electricity using hydrogen as fuel, and forms water as the only byproduct.
Radoslav Adzic, the Brookhaven senior chemist who led the team that developed the catalysts, said, "We are delighted that N.E. Chemcat Corporation has licensed our platinum monolayer electrocatalyst technology. We hope that it will facilitate the development of affordable and reliable fuel cell electric vehicles, which would be very beneficial for the environment since they produce no harmful emissions. Also, the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels for transportation that contribute to global warming would be greatly reduced, prolonging their availability for other uses in the future."
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy funded research that contributed to these technologies. In addition to Adzic, those who contributed to the research include Brookhaven chemists Jia Wang, Kotaro Sasaki, and Miomir Vukmirovic, and postdoctoral fellows Junliang Zhang and Yibo Mo.
Modular Positron Emission Tomography Detector
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a major diagnostic imaging tool used predominantly in clinical oncology for staging various cancers, assessing treatment strategies, and monitoring the effects of therapies. Emerging new diagnostic radiopharmaceutical agents that have applications in cardiology and neurology will further expand the use of PET.
A team of scientists from the medical, instrumentation and physics departments at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have developed a compact modular PET detector. The technology is covered by four United States patents. The initial invention, named RatCAP (Rat Conscious Animal PET), allows the simultaneous study of neurochemistry and conscious movement. This high-tech, wearable PET scanner that monitor brain chemistry enables correlation of the brain's chemical information with the awake animal's activity. David Schlyer, one of the scientists who led the project said "The measurement of chemical messengers in the brain is important to understanding many different diseases and conditions such as drug addiction and movement disorders like Parkinson's disease."
The team has applied the same compact modular PET technology to produce PET scanners for various important preclinical and clinical imaging applications. The preclinical applications include PET insert for small animal research magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems that allows dual PET –MRI imaging. The clinical applications include the compact wrist PET scanner, a non-invasive tool to determine the arterial input function required in bringing quantitative PET to the bedside and the breast PET insert for breast MRI systems that facilitate functional evaluation of detected lesions to reduce the unnecessary biopsies of false positives.
SynchroPET, a Long Island, NY based startup company, entered into an option agreement with Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) the contractor/operator of BNL to commercialize the technology. SynchroPET was the first BNL start- up that was formed under the DOE Startup America program. Recently, BSA has entered into a commercial license agreement with SynchroPET. The company anticipates entering the market with a product in 2016. SynchroPET's website can be found at: http://www.synchropet.com.
The initial RatCAP technology was developed with funding from the DOE Office of Science
Tin-117m Radionuclide Production and Medical Use
Brookhaven National Laboratory has a long history of working with radioisotopes for medical applications. One radionuclide in particular, Tin-117m (117mSn), has unique properties permitting its dual use for imaging and for treatment of various medical conditions. Its first application was as a palliative treatment of bone pain resulting from cancer metastases. For various reasons, this application did not come to fruition as an available treatment. However, this did not deter Dr. Suresh Srivastava's interests in continuing to develop the use of the material. Nor did it dissuade Dr. Gilbert Gonzales of Clear Vascular, Inc. from continuing his interactions with Brookhaven. The collaboration between Dr. Srivastava and Dr. Gonzales, which began over a decade ago, has now become a business arrangement in which Clear Vascular, Inc. and Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC. ("BSA"), contractor/operator of Brookhaven National Laboratory, have entered into an Exclusive Field of Use License Agreement for Cardiovascular uses of tin-117m.
The license agreement results from a fruitful interaction between Clear Vascular and Brookhaven National Laboratory under the Initiative for Proliferation Prevention ("IPP") CRADA program. In 2003 Clear Vascular and BSA executed the IPP CRADA that enabled the team to work in Russia to transfer the production technology for tin-117m from a nuclear reactor method to linear accelerator methods. The new methods create greater quantities and higher specific activity tin-117m than was previously practical. The work resulted in four patents for the production of high specific activity tin-117m using a linear accelerator rather than a nuclear reactor. The increased availability of the tin radionuclide is sufficient to support the production of medically useful materials for treatments of cardiovascular conditions.
Clear Vascular has completed phase two clinical imaging trials and will be starting studies on therapeutic treatment s of heart disease.
No Licenses