E-fabrics are fabrics that incorporate electronics and circuitry into natural and synthetic fibers.  E-fabrics need to maintain conductivity while being stretched and subjected to the same wear normal fabric would experience.  The UIC inventors have created a nitrile rubber matrix with nanofiber fillers (metallic or nonmetallic) formulated for spray application to surfaces.  This spray can create elastic, conductive coatings or printed circuits.  The invention is specifically formulated to be applied to synthetic fibers, such as polyester, without loss of adhesi

Carbon fiber technology is predominantly focused on microfibers in the range of X to Yum.  Such fibers have been optimized heavily over the past decades and are now used ubiquitously.  Carbon nanofibers on the other hand are a new idea and are currently fairly crude, relatively short, unaligned, relatively impure, and necessarily smooth thereby limiting possible applications.  The possibilities for carbon nanofibers are very diverse as they have the potential to be used in any conventional microfiber application but can be used in smaller laminar applications with dra

This invention is a novel method for depositing multi-element complex structures by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or a combined alternating mode using a single deposition system.  The technology can be easily adapted to add more precursors or oxidizing reagents and can be used in continuous or cyclic modes to deposit simple or multi-metal films, or more complex structures such as multilayered stacks or nano-laminates. Working prototype exists

Various methods are available for cooling high-heat flux electronic, optical and radiological devices. However, the miniaturization and breakthrough developments for these components are severely hindered by the need to cool them at heat fluxes on the order of 1 kW/cm2. There are many different approaches to cooling these devices:  conduction and heat spreading, air cooling, piezo fans, synthetic jet cooling, nanolightning, liquid jet cooling (including liquid metal jets), heat pipes, cold plates, immersion cooling, micro-channel heat sinks and spray cooling.

Polymer nanocomposites are a new class of materials in which the filler substance is made up at least partially of nanoparticle elements such as carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, nanoclays and other more exotic nano structures. These compounds can provide some very desirable properties for novel coating materials: mechanical strength, good electrical conductivity, and improved thermal and chemical resistance. These combinations of features have propelled these polymer compounds into one of the fastest growing plastic segments.

Nitrile rubber (NBR) is a hydrophobic, solution processable rubber, and it is used extensively in the automotive industry (seals, fuel, oil hoses, etc.) for its low production costs, excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance. The use of NBR in nanocomposites as a matrix for ceramic and CB nanofillers has also been studied at length.