Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)

Since the turn of the century, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have championed the innovative use of solid-state lighting (SSL) for a host of applications, revolutionizing the lighting industry and establishing the scientific basis for a radically new US energy economy. SSL – a type of lighting that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs or OLEDs) as a source of illumination – is expected to decrease electricity consumed by lighting by more than 50% and decrease total electricity consumption by 10% by 2025, helping the US save an estimated $35 billion a year and the entire world $120 billion annually.

As global thought leaders in the adoption of smart SSL to replace traditional lighting, Sandia’s team saw the vast potential of ultra-efficient LEDs. Altering the compounds of elements used to create LED microchips enabled Sandia’s scientists to produce various colors of light with greater efficiency, luminosity precision, and directional specificity than conventional incandescent or fluorescent lights. Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy Frontier Research Center is focused on SSL research with a goal of establishing the scientific foundation for a fundamentally new US energy economy. The work at the laboratory has generated over 20 patents in the area and had numerous collaborations, including Lumileds which formed as a joint venture between Philips Lighting and Agilent Technologies. Sandia’s partnership with Lumileds resulted in several collaborations, including joint efforts to drive down the cost of high-brightness LEDs by implementing process simulation tools and improving temperature measurement and control methods.

Overall, Sandia’s efforts in SSL have resulted in significant contributions to public good. The intangible benefits are numerous, most notably the significant energy savings. SSL has become a huge industry with substantial market penetration. The technology is expected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in energy savings. Additionally, improvements in human productivity through smart lighting could potentially have an even bigger impact than the expected energy savings.

For additional information on this Sandia success story, visit: 

https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/downloads/advancing-america-through-technology-transfer

https://share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/engineered_light/

On the winding road from basic research to commercial product, perseverance and serendipity often play a role along with scientific expertise. Such was the path for two separate lab-directed research and development (LDRD) projects. The research led to the Parker THM analyzer, a tabletop tool that lets water system operators easily measure potentially dangerous disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in less than 30 minutes at their own facilities.

In 2005, Sandia National Laboratories researcher Curt Mowry presented the initial results of research using sensors for water safety at a water quality conference. Someone from the Parker Hannifin Corporation, who heard about the conference presentation from someone else, contacted Mowry. Sandia and Parker began working together in 2006 to develop a water analyzer under a Work for Others (WFO) agreement.

As research progressed on the use of surface-acoustic wave (SAW) technology detectors in the water analyzer, Mowry learned about the LDRD work Mike Siegal, a Sandia researcher in another group, was doing with nanoporous-carbon (NPC), a new structural form of carbon developed by Siegal, as a SAW sensor coating. By using NPC as a sorbent material for SAW sensors instead of the more typical polymers, parts-per-billion detection levels were achieved. This revolutionary breakthrough provided 1000 to 1 million times greater sensitivity for the detection of various chemicals and enabled a product that would be less expensive and more effective.

Chemical treatments for water disinfection started being used to reduce epidemics of diseases like cholera and typhoid 100 years ago. THMs are trihalomethanes, potentially dangerous byproducts formed when disinfection agents, typically chlorine and bromine, react in water with trace natural organic matter. Today, microbial contaminants in water are still a health-risk challenge, so as water treatment continues, the formation of DBPs like THMs must be monitored.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule was implemented in January 2012 to reduce potential cancer risks and address concerns with potential reproductive and developmental risks. Through the partnership with Sandia, Parker’s THM analyzer was ready to meet water system operators’ need to perform water analyses quickly, easily, and affordably.

Results from the Parker tabletop system are very accurate, comparable to those from large and expensive analytical laboratory equipment. Results are also fast, only minutes compared to days or weeks for samples sent to labs for analysis. Water samples are simply collected in a vial that is screwed into the analyzer. The operator hits “start” and receives results.

Three hundred million people in the U.S. rely on public water systems for clean water. By working with Parker, Sandia is using its research to keep public drinking water supplies safe. This technology is easily extendable for the detection of other volatile organic and toxic industrial compounds at parts-per-trillion levels, so it can be used in additional ways for the public good.

This article originally appeared in Sandia’s Partnerships Annual Report FY2012. To view, click here.

Challenge

In a world with increasing chemical and biological hazards, including clandestine drug labs and emerging infectious diseases, safe, effective, and easy-to-use decontamination solutions are needed. 

Partnership

Sandia National Laboratories developed the Sandia Decon Formulation, a nontoxic, noncorrosive chemistry to neutralize chemical and biological warfare agents. Initially used in federal office buildings during the 2001 anthrax attacks, it later was deployed by the military as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since then the formulation has been used by first responders at the Dallas Ebola incident and the Boston Marathon bombings.

Although the Sandia Decon Formulation was first licensed over 10 years ago, many potential market segments remained unserved. A new strategy to more fully realize the technology’s potential has resulted in licensing of the Decon Formulation patent portfolio by eight additional companies in 2013 and 2014.

Solution

By tailoring the chemistry, deployment methods and packaging, the Sandia Decon Formulation is now available for use in a wide variety of applications. Focused chemistries allow production costs to be reduced for higher volume applications such as agriculture and laundry disinfection. Powder versions reduce shipping costs. New deployment methods such as charged aerosols enable the rapid decontamination of spaces such as aircraft and transportation centers.

Use for mold and meth-lab remediation is ongoing, and increased use as a disinfectant for agricultural (Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria) and human health (influenza, norovirus, MRSA) pathogens is gaining traction. Applications for bedbug remediation are being developed, and testing against emerging infectious agents such as Ebola continues.

Impact

New products incorporating these approaches provide improved ways to disinfect medical facilities, agricultural processing plants, sports facilities, transportation vehicles and hubs, and housing.

One licensee, SpectraShield Technologies, is targeting the healthcare market with a disinfectant product. In testing by Dr. Kelly Reynolds of the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health, SpectraKill™ was proven effective against bacteria, viruses, molds, and spores occurring in hospital environments, eradicating these organisms “below detectable levels.”

Another licensee, Decon7 Systems, has developed specific chemistries for agricultural processing facilities and clothing decontamination.

High-volume markets are now being opened up, enabling broader utilization and reducing costs. With additional licensees and manufacturers, the Decon Formulation is now even more widely available to protect people from the dangers of chemical and biological hazards.

This article originally appeared in Sandia’s Partnerships Annual Report FY2014. To view, click here.

Sandia Decon Formulation Takes on Household Mold

A product based on a technology originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories is now available on the shelves of hardware stores across the country.

The product is Mold Control 500, distributed by Scott’s Liquid Gold of Denver and now available in Home Depot, Wal-Mart, True Value, Ace Hardware, and other home improvement stores. For around $30 a box, Scott’s Liquid Gold Mold Control 500 treats mildew- and mold-contaminated surface areas in the home, according to the package.

MC 500 is based on Sandia’s decontamination formulation (a.k.a. decon foam), developed for emergency cleanup of biological and chemical warfare agents following a terrorist attack. It is best known for its role in helping remediate anthrax-contaminated buildings in Washington, D.C., and New York in 2001.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

“This is pretty exciting,” says Sandia researcher Mark Tucker, who leads the Sandia team that has developed, improved, and tested the Sandia formulation over the last 10 years. “Mold remediation wasn’t what we set out to do, but the formulation is effective at killing most microorganisms, so it is good to find uses beyond our original intent — especially uses that may improve public health."

The formulation kills fungi such as molds in much the same way it kills anthrax, says Tucker. Mold growths form films over their surfaces that, like the shells of anthrax spores, are difficult to penetrate. The formulation’s surfactants poke holes in the film, and its mild oxidizing components kill the fungal organisms. The formulation, when used as a foam, expands to fill space and thus gets into corners and other hard-to-reach places, and it sticks to walls and ceilings, giving the chemistry time to do its work.

Scott’s Liquid Gold has an arrangement with Modec, Inc., of Denver to sell Mold Control 500 in retail markets. Modec is one of two companies holding Sandia licenses to market and distribute products based on the Sandia formulation.

“Mold control is an up and coming issue,” says Modec President Brian Kalamanka. “We felt there was an excellent niche for this.”

Jeff Hinkle, Scott’s Liquid Gold senior vice president for marketing, says its recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval allowed shipping to retail outlets to begin in the fall. Stores began stocking MC 500 in November, and the product is expected to reach thousands more stores this month, he says.

Development of the Sandia formulation began in 1997, funded initially by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Chemical and Biological National Security Program. It has earned two patents, and several more are pending.

In addition to helping clean up contaminated buildings following a series of mailings of anthrax powder to recipients in Washington, D.C., New York, and Florida in 2001, the Sandia foam also was staged in the Middle East in 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and has played a role there in helping clean up hazardous chemical sites. Sandia’s two licensees, Modec Inc. and Intelagard Inc., have sold thousands of gallons of the formulation to municipal and state governments, the first responder community, and the U.S. military, among other users.

Tests at Sandia and Kansas State University in 2004 demonstrated the formulation’s effectiveness for killing the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), suggesting its use also might blunt the spread of other viruses such as the Norwalk (cruise ship) virus, avian influenza (bird flu), and the common flu.

The formulation now is being discussed as a potential solution to at least a dozen problems, among them hospital sanitization, meth lab cleanup, mold remediation in commercial buildings, and cleaning out agricultural pesticide sprayers in an environmentally benign way.

More information at www.scottsliquidgold.com.

Parachute Technology Airbag

In 1992, Sandia’s parachute development engineers partnered with Precision Fabrics Group, a leading manufacturer of military parachute material, to develop a new airbag with more than 60% reduced weight and volume compared to those used in passenger vehicles at the time. This technology entered the market just ahead of new regulations requiring all automobiles sold in the U.S. to have both driver and front-seat passenger airbags beginning in 1997.

Sandia and Precision Fabrics Group partnered via Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to rethink basic airbag design and create a more efficient and cost-effective product to meet the automotive industry’s needs. Key to this development was the use of a high-performance material, originally for military use, that surpassed the material used in airbags at the time. The Precision Technology Airbag was developed using lightweight, woven nylon material that was formerly used in military parachutes to ensure accurate delivery of nuclear weapons when dropped from supersonic aircraft. It was small enough to fit into a man’s shirt pocket when folded, but offered the same level of protection as conventional designs. Because less energy is required to inflate the lighter weight material, the airbag inflated faster than others on the market, deploying in approximately 19 to 24 milliseconds on the driver’s side compared to 25 to 30 milliseconds for a conventional airbag. Additionally, the smooth material reduced abrasions and burns that can occur in an accident when an inflating airbag encounters skin.

In addition to the airbag being easier to manufacture, its reduced size and weight were instrumental in enabling the installation of more airbags in vehicles. The technology gave automobile manufacturers the ability to include airbags in door panels to protect against side impacts, and, for the first time, to offer protection to rear passengers. Further, Sandia applied the expertise in fabric structures analysis used in the development of this airbag to later projects, including the construction, testing, and analysis of an airbag for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Environmental Survey Lander