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Chemical Processes and Applied Technologies

Chemical Processes and Applied Technologies

Supporting programs through material synthesis and extraction, chemical separations, and technology development

Contact Us

GroupLeader
Peter Stark

Deputy Group Leader
Dan Kelly

Group Office
(505) 667-5740

Material Synthesis and Extraction, Chemical Separations, and Polymer Development

3 eV neutral O-atom nanoscale high-aspect-ratio etching of masked polyimide films by ENABLE

The Chemical Processes and Applied Technologies Team in the Chemical Diagnostics and Engineering group of the Chemistry Division provides support to a variety of projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory with benefits to the local community and support for global environmental efforts.

Separations Technology Development Laboratory

Capabilities

Particle / suspension properties
Analytical centrifugation
Particle settling behavior and stability
Broad ultrasonic filtration capabilities and assessments
Membrane screening and performance characteristics
Centrifugation dynamics

Separations Technology Development Graph

Separations Technology Settling Behavior Graph

Projects

Microalgae dewatering
Biomaterials separations for biofuels production
Mineral ultrasonic filtration
Heat source solids recovery

Actinide Synthesis

Capabilities

Expanded synthetic actinide capabilities
Materials synthesis
433 sq ft non-rad lab
Inert single and double gloveboxes

synthetic actinides — Synthetic actinides

Ion-exchange resins and boron-filled polymers — Materials synthesis: Ion-exchange resins (left) and Boron-filled polymers (right).

Projects

Air-free actinide synthesis and characterization
Advanced Gen IV nuclear reactor fuels
Materials synthesis
Developing Pu new capability based on new synthetic actinide gloveboxes
Surface functionalization actinide organometallic complexes

Synthetic actinide double glove box — Gloveboxes for actinide synthesis

ENABLE

ENABLE (Energetic Neutral Atom Beam Lithography & Epitaxy) is a unique MBE-type film growth technology that uses a high-flux beam of energetic neutral nitrogen or oxygen atoms with kinetic energies of 1 to 5 eV to overcoming reaction barriers intrinsic to thin film growth. The system allows high growth rates of a wide variety of epitaxial, highly-crystalline, wide-bandgap nitride and oxide semiconducting films with excellent physical, optical, and electronic properties.

Capabilities

Growth of wide- and ultra-wide bandgap nitride and oxide semiconductors
Development of tunable bandgap Indium-Gallium-Aluminum Nitride films
Growth of Boron-rich nitride semiconductors
Growth of Niobium Nitride ultrathin films
High-aspect-ratio nanoscale polymer etching

The ENABLE System — The ENABLE (Energetic Neutral Atom Beam Lithography & Epitaxy) System

nanoscale high-aspect-ratio etching of masked polyimide films by ENABLE — Sensors based on superconducting nanowires / High-aspect-ratio nanoscale polymer etching

Projects

High-power/high-frequency power electronics
Energy applications involving solid state lighting, photovoltaics, and photoelectrochemical water splitting (hydrogen production)
Solid-state neutron detectors
Superconducting nanowire single photon detection based on ultrathin films
Novel devices based on high-aspect-ratio structures

OREATE

OREATE is currently in the development stages as a laboratory-scale actinide separation capability to support a wide array of NNSA mission objectives. The goal is to facilitate the recovery of actinide metals harvested from legacy reactors and containers, which will facilitate research and development activities needed to secure a continuous success in plutonium processing and manufacturing.

OREATE being developed at LANL is considered the answer to producing high-end actinide metal products with near quantity yield. This process can be used to produce an efficient and clean metal feed and as a post-process for recycling of purified material that resulted in chemical conversion (ie. oxidation).

Capabilities

Electroanalytical chemistry
Electrochemical processes involving transition metals, lanthanides and actinides chemistry
Thermal extraction of metals by mercury distillation

Electrochemical amalgamation — Electrochemical processes

Thermal Extraction — Metal recovery and recycling

Projects

Electrochemical reduction and dissolution of metal oxides
Purification of transition metals, lanthanides and actinides
Preparation of pure metal feeds for isotope separations
Recovery and recycling of metals of interest from waste streams

High Resolution GC/MS-TOF

Capabilities

Compressive 2-Dimensional GC Separations using Quad-Jet Thermo Modulator
High-Resolution Exact Mass Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer
Liquid Injection, Headspace, and SPME Analysis

High Resolution GC/MS-TOF — Example of chemometric data analysis of compressive GCxGC/MS-TOF data sets from 13 essential oil samples using ChromaTOF Tileâ software tools from Leco Corp

Projects

Metabolomics
Chemical Forensics
Petroleum and Biofuels
Environmental Monitoring
Essential Oils and Fragrances

Bioplastics, Polymer & Materials Chemistry

Capabilities

Machine Learning accelerated biopolymer discovery, design, and development
Synthesis and analysis of new biopolymers
Development of transparent shielding polymers
Removal of silica scale

Synthesis of Bioplastics

Linear economy versus Circular economy — Linear economy versus circular economy

Transparent Shielding Polymers

Silica Scale Removal from Utilities

Before and after images showing removal of silica scale buildup

gamma alumina to carboxylate alumoxane — Carboxylate modified alumina-based materials extract silica from water

Projects

Microalgae-derived biopolymers developed to produce novel bioplastics to replace petroleum-based plastics and reinvent the lifecycle of plastics
Development of low-cost, lightweight, and more effective transparent shielding polymers
Silica scale reduction at LANL utility sites
Development of simple, inexpensive methods of reducing silica concentration in local water supplies