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Contract Opportunity

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY

Parallelized Electric-Field-Assisted Sintering

A process for producing multiple samples or parts of different materials in parallel using electric-field-assisted sintering (EFAS).

INL Researchers use this process for producing multiple samples in parallel with EFAS.

Opportunity: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), is offering to enter into a license or collaborative research agreement to commercialize this method for producing multiple samples or parts of different materials in parallel using electric-field-assisted sintering (EFAS). This technology transfer opportunity is part of a dedicated effort to convert government-funded research into job opportunities, businesses, and, ultimately, an improved way of life for the American people.

Overview: Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed a parallelized electric-field-assisted sintering (EFAS) process, also known as spark plasma sintering (SPS), that allows multiple samples/parts of different materials to be produced simultaneously. Using metal and/or ceramic powders as precursors and with novel tooling designed by the inventors, dense samples of varying compositions can be made in parallel.

The invention consists of an EFAS/SPS methodology and custom tooling, which allows many samples/parts to be produced in parallel, with varying sample compositions and/or geometries. The custom tooling is designed to facilitate the parallelized production of samples/parts by machining several equally spaced cavities into one of the punches. These cavities are filled with different powdered materials of the desired sample/part compositions. The other punch is left unmodified, and a filler powder fills the remaining space between the punches. This allows the pressure and electrical current to be transferred between the punches while accommodating the different densification behaviors of the powder mixtures in each cavity.

Benefits:

• Accelerates sample/part production rates


• Reduces tooling costs


• Saves energy


• Allows for high-throughput testing techniques


• Can produce samples/parts as part of a fixed array on a single substrate or as loose, individual components

Target Audience:

• Applicable to any users of electric-field-assisted sintering (EFAS), especially in scenarios where materials synthesis is a chokepoint in a production or research process.
  
  
  
  • Companies that rely on EFAS to produce commercial components and researchers develop new materials.
  
  
  • Companies in advanced materials, aerospace, biomedical, electronics, energy, and transportation.
  
  
  
  

Development Status: TRL 6: an engineering scale prototype has been validated in a relevant environment.

IP Status: Provisional Patent Application No. 63/374,711, “Parallelized Electric-Field-Assisted Sintering,” BEA Docket No. BA-1424.

INL seeks to license the above intellectual property to a company with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Exclusive rights in defined fields of use may be available. Added value is placed on relationships with small businesses, start-up companies, and general entrepreneurship opportunities.

Please visit Technology Deployment’s website at https://inl.gov/inl-initiatives/technology-deployment for more information on working with INL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process.

Companies interested in learning more about this licensing opportunity should contact Andrew Rankin at td@inl.gov.

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