TATP (triacetone triperoxide) has emerged as an explosive of choice for terrorists in recent years, because it is easy to produce, highly explosive, and hard to detect. Some recent examples of TATP use are the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 attempted bombing (2009), the London bombings (2005), and the American Airlines Flight 63 attempted bombing (2001).

Current sensors employed in the detection of gaseous formaldehyde lack the ability to detect formaldehyde at low concentrations.  Those sensors that can perform this task oftentimes take long periods of time to detect the substances and are overwhelmingly expensive to employ.   Additionally, upcoming OSHA and WHO regulations will require that sensors are able to detect significantly lower quantities of formaldehyde.

UIC researchers have developed a nuclear material sensor that detects gamma radiation at room temperature conditions.  This sensor is constructed out of nanoscale materials which allows for reduction of detector size, weight, and complexity.  Compared to similar products on the market, this technology is inexpensive and thus can be used in more applications. The unique design is able to function without cryogenic cooling.

Current methods of performing tensile tests on micro-nano scale material samples have an inherent flaw, namely that true uniaxial loads are difficult to achieve.  Part of this stems from the adaptation of macro-scale testing methods to the micro-nano scale, which has been shown to be inadequate.  Accordingly, the instant technology seeks to achieve true uniaxial loads on micro-nano scale material samples to achieve more reliable test results.

This technology is a unique method capable of being used to create very reliable NanoFET biosensors – the processing method increases reliability dramatically over currently used methods. Currently, the industry does not possess a feasible method to create NanoFETs for fluidic applications as such environments are quite harsh on the FETs and they tend to fail rapidly.  Processing has been done, up until now, predominantly through a bottoms-up, self assembly, process that lends itself toward failure in aqueous or biological fluidic settings.

The ability to print a polarized electrical charge onto a medium, or charge patterning, is currently in the early stages of development.  A similar technology commonly used in office printers, Xerography, thrives in large size regimes.  There exist only a few competitive technologies capable of printing at the nanometer scale.    Current technologies use processes that provide only low resolutions and relatively poor control over the printed charges.  For example, current atomic force microscopy probes can provide suitable charges, but are only able f

Nano patterning, the ability to create nanometer scale features on a solid surface, has great potential as an energy-efficient approach in manufacturing. Solid state ionic conductors offer this possibility by exploiting highly localized electrochemical reactions at the point of contact between the conductor and a metal substrate. Metal ions migrate through the bulk of the ionic conductor toward the counter electrode under the influence of an electrical bias between an ionic conductor (stamp) and a metal surface (anode).

Various high aspect ratio semiconductor 3D nanostructures have begun to have profound effect on the design and performances of many types of devices, including batteries, solar cells, detectors and thermoelectrical systems. Photolithography is typically used for the fabrication of these nanostructures, which is an extremely expensive technique, especially for large area applications.