Materials Research Laboratory

SRI's Materials Research Laboratory offers interdisciplinary, problem-solving materials scientists and chemical engineers with expertise in materials research and development, fracture mechanics, and prototype production. We develop applied coating technologies for corrosion and oxidation resistance, electronic materials, systems for energy generation and pollution abatement, and heterogeneous catalysts.

Our materials expertise includes:

• Coating Technologies
• Catalysts, Combustion, and Flames
• Ceramic Synthesis and Sintering
• Corrosion Measurements and Prevention
• Energy Generation, Use, and Distribution
• Environmental Remediation and Waste Disposal
• Fracture Mechanics
• Fuel Cells and Semi-Fuel Cell Systems
• Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Use
• Hydrothermal Technology
• Metals and Minerals, including production and economics
• Optoelectronic Systems
• Phosphor Development
• Pollution Abatement
• Powders and Pigments
• Solar Cells
• Semiconductors
• Sensors, Monitors, Diagnostics and Analytical Methods
• Superconductors

Discover more about our: Innovative Technologies, Facilities, and IP Portfolio

Innovative Technologies

A selection of our team's innovative technologies include:

• Fluidized bed reactor technology for depositing metallic, ceramic, semiconducting, and superconducting coatings

• Pilot-scale demonstration of a novel TiO₂ pigment production process

• Pilot-scale demonstration of assisted hydrothermal oxidation of chloroaromatics

• Bench-scale demonstration of hydrothermal nitrite oxidation, a process for removing HCl vapor to sub ppm levels at elevated temperatures

• Production of solar grade silicon from sodium fluorosilicate

Facilities

Many of our facilities were designed and developed by SRI and include unique capabilities for added benefits in client projects:

• Knudsen cell mass spectrometer, used to determine the high-temperature thermodynamic properties of materials, evaluate the stability of materials, and investigate the chemistry of high temperature industrial processes.

• Temperature-programmed reaction apparatus rapidly measures the rates of catalytic reactions and provides insight into chemical intermediates involved in reaction mechanisms.

• Microwave and radio frequency generators, equipped with coupling devices for chemical and catalytic reactors to study radiation promoted processes.

• Special fluidized bed reactors (FBR), used for applying precision coatings on particulate and massive substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Our unique technique allows deposition at faster rates and lower temperatures than possible with normal CVD methods.

• Hydrothermal technology facility, which includes six bench-scale units for conducting basic and applied research under high temperature and high pressure conditions. Custom built instruments include diamond observation cell, UV cell for in situ kinetic measurements, and automated plug flow reactor for high-temperature, high-pressure applications.

Our IP Portfolio

SRI's Materials and Processes team's technology portfolio includes:

• Corrosion-Resistant Coatings for Steels Used in Bromide-Based Absorption Cycles (U.S. Patent filed September 1997)

• Fluidized Bed Reactor to Deposit a Material on a Surface by Chemical Vapor Deposition, and Methods of Forming a Coated Substrate (U.S. Patent 5,855,678; August 1998)

• Method for Hot and Supercritical Water Oxidation of Halogenated Organic Compounds with Addition of Specific Reactants (U.S. Patent No. 5,746,926; May 5, 1998)

• Stable High Conductivity Functionally Gradient Compositionally Layered Solid State Electrolytes and Membrane (U.S. Patent 5,725,965; March 10, 1998)

• Environmentally Acceptable Waste Disposal by Hydrothermal Decomposition of Labile Compounds with Nitrite (U.S. Patent No. 5,709,800; January 20, 1998)

• Solid State Reference Electrode for High Temperature Electrochemical Measurements (U.S. Patent 5,425,871; June 20, 1995)

• Environmentally Acceptable Waste Disposal by Conversion of Hydrothermally Labile Compounds (U.S. Patent No. 5,409,617, April 25, 1995)

• Method and Apparatus for Measuring Zeta Potentials at High Temperature (U.S Patent 5,280,250, January 18, 1994)

• Low Temperature Method of Forming Materials (coatings) Using One or More Metal Reactants and a Halogen Containing Reactant to Form One or More Reactive Intermediates (U.S. Patent 5,227,195, July 13, 1993)

Contact Us:

For more information about SRI's Materials & Processes,
how to work with our team and put our innovations to work, contact
Angel Sanjurjo
650-859-5215
angel.sanjurjo@sri.com