Acousweep

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel Ltd. (HKRITA)

Microplastic pollution threatens marine ecosystems and human health. Despite existing filter systems, their processing generates other environmental issues: the use of plastic materials to produce membrane filters, filter disposal, energy consumption in filtration system suspension and restarting, and the release of chemicals into the water. Acousweep aims to develop a new approach to improve the existing filter system. Sweeping acoustic waves to separate microplastic in water is innovative and sustainable, considering both separation effectiveness and environmental performance. The integrated system with a specially designed separation chamber to handle 100 L of water can tackle microplastic pollution.

Additive Manufactured Cutting Tool for Precision Machining

Kennametal Inc.

Aquair University of Maryland, College Park

By engineering an atmospheric water harvesting technology that collects and produces water from the air without electricity, researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a safe and reliable solution for obtaining drinking water and addressing water scarcity when access is limited. The eco-friendly biomass-based composite enables efficient water harvesting from the air across a wide range of humidity and temperature conditions. Notably, this technology uses solar energy conversion directly to facilitate water harvesting, eliminating the need for complex operating systems, space-occupying units, and intricate installations. Additionally, the portability of Aquair technology allows for water moisture absorption in both stationary and mobile units, offering on-the-go water harvesting capabilities.

Kennametal has developed a new class of additive manufactured tools using innovative lightweight structures to increase the stiffness-to-weight ratio, reducing mass and increasing machining performance for challenging applications. The innovative cutting tool was engineered with numerical refinement techniques and finite element analysis simulation. These techniques made it possible to easily create a complex, highly refined design that resembles natural structures and maximizes the specific stiffness for such large diameters. This novel approach was proven in real-life mass production, achieving a 50% reduction in machining time while significantly improving the tool handling and maintaining the demanding geometric and surface tolerances on the workpiece.

BETAMATE Broad Bake Adhesives for Sustainable Mass Manufacturing of Battery Electric Vehicles

DuPont

OEMs are increasingly shifting focus toward fully electric vehicles and sustainable manufacturing processes. One complex automotive challenge is the high, energy-demanding oven process temperatures needed to cure crash-durable adhesives. These adhesives have become a pivotal technology in body structure, enabling lightweighting, increasing vehicle longevity, and drastically improving passenger safety. DuPont BETAMATE broad bake adhesives cure already at 25° C lower temperatures than stateof-the-art adhesives and even shorter oven cycle times, enabling e-coat oven temperature reduction at OEMs and significant energy saving.

Bio-inspired Silicone Sealant for Wet Surface Adhesion

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute

Inspired by mussels adhering to wet rocks, NAMI has invented a catechol-grafted silicone sealant with excellent bonds on hard-to-attach surfaces. The unique catechol groups in the silicone sealant system designed by NAMI can repel water molecules and form strong chemical covalent and physical electrostatic bonds on wet surfaces. In particular, the adhesive strength on the wet substrate of NAMI’s bio-inspired silicone sealant can achieve more than 0.5 MPa, while commercial silicone sealant performance is less than 0.15 MPa. NAMI’s bio-inspired silicone sealant also has good flexibility with a movement capability of ±50%, good durability, and long-term resistance to ultraviolet radition, high and low temperatures, and outdoor exposure.

Closed-loop System for PI Film Manufacturing Processes that 99% of VOCs are Recycled and Reuse

Taimide Tech

Co-Developer: Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)

PI film manufacturer Taimide Tech teamed with ITRI to implement an in-plant close loop system that follows the 3 Rs (reduction, reclamation, and recycling) principle. The VOC-3R System was implemented on Taimide’s site and achieved a remarkable result with a >95% solvent recovery rate and a total of 99% VOC exhaust gas reuse rate. There is no direct carbon emission and there is zero wastewater discharge. In 2022, Taimide had an annual production capacity of about 1,200 tons and recovered 7652.3 metric tons of reusable solvent, which had a market value greater than $16 million. Its annual purchase of new solvent was reduced by 90%, a multimillion-dollar saving. The return on investment for the facility installation is three years.

Critical Rare Earth Free Cerium Gap Magnets

Critical Materials Institute, Ames National Laboratory

Co-Developer: BUNTING-DuBois

Permanent magnets, a key component for electrification, are crucial for a sustainable green economy. However, there is a disconnect among presently available permanent magnets as they often fit either high- or low-energy applications. The Cerium Gap Magnet represents the next generation of permanent magnets with affordable pricing and performance that will satisfy a wide range of middle energy applications. The magnet can be processed effectively in the U.S., making it less supply-dependent, and it does not use any critical rare earths. This magnet frees up critical neodymium and dysprosium from their current middle energy applications, mitigating the existing supply risks and accelerating the transition to green energy.

DuPont Styrofoam Plazamate XR Extruded Polystyrene Foam with 30% Higher Thermal Resistivity

DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Water and Protection, Performance Building Solutions

Styrofoam Brand Plazamate XR has the highest thermal resistance (R) per inch of any extruded polystyrene (XPS) roofing insulation (6.7 R/in). This means 30% more thermal resistance in every inch of its thickness compared with typical XPS insulations. This reduces assembly thickness and increases design flexibility while meeting critical needs in height-constrained roof replacement and new construction conditions that require XPS’ moisture resistance. With Plazamate XR, fewer layers and an overall lower volume of insulation may be required to achieve the code-mandated roof insulation (R-values), resulting in labor savings, shipping and handling less material, and waste reduction.

Dual-Purpose Impact Dissipating Bollard for Road Safety

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute https://www.nari.org.tw/english/

NAMI’s dual-purpose impact dissipating bollard (IDB) is the world’s only product that achieves the dual objectives of being both the highest occupant safety and effective in stopping moving vehicles by leveraging its bioinspired smart high-impact dissipating material. The performance of NAMI’s IDB against the moving errant vehicle is certificated by PAS 68 collision testing and able to stop a 7.5-ton truck at a speed of 48 km/h while attaining Class A of impact severity level, which is the highest safety level of the vehicle occupants. Furthermore, its compact design with a shallow foundation makes it suitable for both road sections and urban regions.

Nuclear safety and nuclear backend

National

Atomic Research Institute

Radiation applications for people’s livelihood

New energy and system integration

The advertising budget comes from the National Science and Technology Council(NSTC),

PHAs-based bioplastic: an eco- friendly alternative to mitigate marine plastic pollution

PHAs (Polyhydroxyalkanoates)-based bioplastics are one of the most promising alternatives to traditional petroleum plastics and they are aliphatic polyesters produced from renewable feedstock. Compared to other plastics, PHAs bioplastics has good marine biodegradability and are synthesized directly via fermentation of a carbon substrate inside a microorganism. A variety of PHAs with different struct ures are produced depending on the types of bacterial species and carbon source provided.

NARI (National Atomic Research Institute) uses high-throughput screening system, micro-fermenter and ton-scale fermenters with competitive PHAs fermentation performance to speed up R&D progress. The cell dry weight (CDW) is 65.2 g/L with stable PHAs content of 43.2%, which is better than the results of international literature.

PHAs bioplastics have various applications in industries such as food packaging, agriculture (e.g., mulching film) and medicines (e.g., wound grafts, and artificial membranes for kidneys). With PHAs bioplastics, the reliance on non-renewable resources can be reduced and the carbon footprint can also be minimized.

Development of key technologies for flow battery

Flow battery is promising for large-scale energy storage and has characteristics of high safety, long lifetime, high design flexibility, easily recycled material, no fire/explosion probability, and separated design for storage power and capacity. NARI developed the following technologies to enhance flow battery performance and the possibilities of commercialization.

Electrodes with high efficiency : The hydrophilicity and electrochemical reactivity of the electrode can be increased by atmospheric plasma technology-based modification, which improving the energy efficiency and battery capacity by 5% and 20%, respectively. The capacity degradation rate can be reduced by 20%.

Integrated battery cell : The integrated design of bipolar plates and frame reduces assembly contacts and improves processing convenience. The mold hot press forming technology was used to replace the CNC (computer numerical control) processing mode to reduce mass production cost in the future. The flexible composite bipolar plates instead of hard pure graphite plates was used. Overall costs can also be reduced by over 20%.

VRFB stack with high efficiency : The integrated structure design of bipolar plates and frame greatly improves the sealing performance and reduce the leakage possibility. The battery cell is reduced from 10 mm to 5.6 mm, with the volume power density reaching 40 kW/m 3 (+50%).

TRODAT-1 precursor preparation for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease using AI retrosynthesis

Chemical retrosynthesis analysis is a technique for planning the synthesis of target molecules. The target molecules are first analyzed through recursive analysis with a search tree and are gradually disassembled into precursors with simpler structures until the obtained molecules are commercially available.

The AI (artificial intelligence) system uses a DNN (Deep neural network) model combined with Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS), referred to as 3N-MCTs for chemical retrosynthesis analysis. The chemical reactions and basic molecular database, which proposes a suggested scheme for the retrosynthesis of the target molecule, each of which has a patent or literature basis therefore guarantees the data accuracy.

Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease are two major neurodegenerative diseases for the elderly, emphasizing the necessity for developing related diagnostic drugs. NARI used the aforementioned AI retrosynthesis to prepare the precursor TRODAT-1 with total yield increased by 4.2% compared with the original process, and purity improved more than 98%. The AI application in chemical retrosynthesis will open up a new direction for NARI in the research and development of nuclear pharmaceutics.

Contributors for NARI’s R&D 100 achievements

NZ Bio Forestry: a company creates a unique platform with diverse components and specializes in the integration of using for estry resources with wood engineering and bio-refining with the chemical and petrochemical sectors.

Inspira: a company has expertise in wood processing and integrates forest industries with biotechnology to produce bio-chemi cal and bio-material that is sustainable and renewable.