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To maintain its superconductivity, HTS cable must remain at or below the temperature of liquid nitrogen (77 Kelvin). So HTS cables are kept under a constant flow of liquid nitrogen, inside a vacuum-insulated pipe (or “cryostat”). Keeping that liquid nitrogen pumping and cooling requires 1% of the electricity transmitted in an HTS cable on the 10,000 kilometer stretch crossing an ocean and connecting continents.

Lignin waste from paper mills and/or biorefineries is added to other biopolymers to create pellitized resin. Once the product reaches its end-of-life, it breaks down into water, compost, and CO2.

MXenes are a new family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, carbonitrides and nitrides that were discovered and developed in collaboration with Prof. Barsoum’s group, that can be used in many applications. These applications include lithium-ion and sodium-ion energy storage systems, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and water purification. MXenes are highly desirable in EMI shielding due to their good flexibility, easy processing, and high conductivity with minimal thickness, having the highest EMI shielding effectiveness of all synthetic materials of similar thickness. MXenes are also promising antibacterial agents, with higher efficiency than graphene oxide in diminishing bacterial cell viability.

Soft robots can be created that can sense touch, pressure, movement, and temperature.