Nanoparticle Gel Unites Oil and Water in Manufacturing-Friendly Approach

This novel gel-creation method could open applications in water filtration, batteries, and smart windows.

Cost-Effective Day & Night Marking Using Lasers

The marking provides easy-to-see legends on plastic buttons under widely varying illumination conditions.

Smart Window Improves Energy Efficiency of Buildings

A customizable smart window harnesses and manipulates solar power to save energy and cut costs.

Smart Windows Self-Illuminate on Rainy Days

Self-powering, color-changing humidity sensors are applicable to various fields including smart windows, health care, and safety management.

Optical Window for Far-IR Instruments Using Thin TOPAS® Film

This thin film can be used for ground-based and airborne applications in aircraft, balloons, and other flight missions.

Tuning Material Color and Thermal Properties Separately

The color of a material can often tell how it handles heat. With clothing, for example, the darker the pigment, the warmer you're likely to feel on a hot day. Likewise, the more...

Coating Prevents Fogging on Transparent Surfaces

Anyone who skis, wears glasses, uses a camera, or drives a car is familiar with the problem: Coming into a humid environment from the cold causes eyewear, camera lenses, or windshields to...

See-Through Film Rejects 70 Percent of Incoming Solar Heat

A heat-rejecting film was developed that could be applied to a building’s windows to reflect up to 70 percent of the Sun’s incoming heat. The film remains highly transparent...

X-Ray Study of Low-Density Materials

It's hard to get an X-ray image of low-density material like tissue between bones because X-rays just pass right through like sunlight through a window. Sandia studies myriads of low-density materials,...

Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor

The Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor is a highly accurate sensor for motion control applications. The sensor was designed to monitor the precise movements of an optical inspection system that...

Thermochromic Windows Convert Sunlight into Electricity

Relying on advanced materials such as perovskites and single-walled carbon nano-tubes, a window technology was developed that responds to heat by transforming from transparent to...

Composite Film Enables Windows that Switch from Transparent to Color

Commercial buildings in the United States account for nearly 40% of the total energy consumption. Among them, electricity is the largest energy source for buildings....

5 Ws of Invisible Glass

Who

Users of consumer electronics devices and solar cells, and high-power pulsed laser applications.

Products of Tomorrow: February 2018

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Products of Tomorrow: October 2017

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Products of Tomorrow: September 2017

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Silicon Nanoparticles Enable Energy-Collecting Windows

Technology that embeds silicon nanoparticles into efficient luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) has been developed. The LSCs are the key element of windows that can efficiently...

Round Lens. Square Pixels. Accurate Images. Really?

Alens is cylindrical. It captures light in a circular plane for collection onto a rectangular digital sensor plane. This collection of photons is then transformed into electricity by...

Large-Area, Polarization-Sensitive Bolometer for Multi-Mode Optics

Measurements of the cosmic microwave background are a powerful probe of the early universe. Part-per-million fluctuations in the intensity of background trace the...

MRAM Alternative Uses Less Energy than Conventional Chip

Purely electrical memory chips commonly used today are volatile and their state must be continuously refreshed, which requires a lot of energy. An alternative to these electrical...

Large-Area, Polarization-Sensitive Bolometer for Multi-Mode Optics

Measurements of the cosmic micro wave background are a powerful probe of the early universe. Part-per-million fluctuations in the intensity of background trace the initial...

SAE 2016 World Congress: Powering Possibilities

The SAE 2016 World Congress, presented by SAE International and taking place April 12-14 in Detroit, will gather experts, management teams, engineers, and executives from the automotive...

Design Reference Mission Tool for Exoplanet Starshade Mission Study

The Design Reference Mission (DRM) tool was developed to support the Exo-Starshade (Exo-S) Science and Technology Definition Team for modeling both the Dedicated (30-m...

Passive Mechanism for Maintaining Tension at a Spool to Within a Given Window

During any winding or unwinding action, a tether may experience unexpected changes in tension. For example, the load being wound could become stuck and stop...