Abstract: The present invention relates to thermally conductive materials, including, for instance, thermally conductive tubing and thermally conductive apparel, and applications thereof. In particular, the invention relates to thermally conductive tubing that can used in thermoregulatory apparel, such as, for example, cooling garments and cooling vests. In at least one embodiment, the present invention includes a thermally conductive material made from one or more base polymers and one or more additives that increase the thermal conductivity of the thermally conductive material relative to the one or more base polymers. The base polymer may include, for example, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), and the additive may include, for example, graphite fibers. The thermally conductive material may also include, for instance, a secondary polymer, such as ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and/or a plasticizer, such as bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA).

Abstract: Disclosed herein are thermally conductive materials, including, for instance, thermally conductive tubing, thermally conductive devices and/or systems (e.g., apparel, backpacks, and the like), and applications thereof. In at least one embodiment, a thermally conductive material is disclosed that is made from one or more base polymers and one or more additives that increase the thermal conductivity of the thermally conductive material relative to the one or more base polymers. In additional embodiments, a cooling vest and a cooling backpack are disclosed, both of which are wearable by human users to keep their body temperature below a certain value. The vest and/or the backpack may include tubing through which coolant flows. The tubing is placed within the fabric and is arranged so that it contacts the user's skin.

Abstract: A method of producing modified buoyancy bodies and particulates involves pre-treating one or more substrate surfaces with acid to activate hydroxyl groups, rinsing the substrate surfaces to remove excess acid, functionalizing the pre-treated substrate surfaces with hydrophilic chemical moieties to provide hydrophilic functionality to the substrate, and attaching chemicals, materials, and/or fillers to the substrate surfaces sequentially to produce bodies and/or particles having modified functional attributes.

Abstract: A waste material improvement and reuse method involves identifying an available material having a crush resistance that does not meet a requirement for use as proppant, but which can be improved to meet the requirement, and modifying a surface of the available material to improve the crush resistance to meet the requirement by applying a binding agent and/or an encapsulating agent to the available material, forming clumps of particles of the available material and increasing crush resistance.

Abstract: A shock consolidation material manufacturing method involves combining a nanoscale additive and ceramic nanoparticles to create a nano-powder, compacting the nano-powder mechanically, and performing shock-wave consolidation on the compacted nano-powder. The ceramic nanoparticles may be Yttria-stabilized tetragonal Zirconia (YSZ) or Samarium doped Ceria (SDC). The nanopowder may be CNT-YSZ or SDC-Na2CO3. The shock-wave consolidation may be performed with a laser, and may involve positioning the nano-powder on a support material, placing an ablative layer over the support material and nano-powder, placing a transparent re-usable capping layer over the ablative layer, and directing laser energy at the capping layer, turning an area of the ablative layer below the capping layer into plasma and generating shock waves through the nano-powder and support material.

Abstract: A self-healing polymer additive includes diene (e.g. butadiene, cyclohexadiene, pentadiene, tetrahydrofuron or their derivatives) and dienophile (e.g. maleic anhydride, maleamide, conjugated carbonyls or their derivatives etc.). One polymer includes tetrahydrofuron and maleimide. Furfurylamine 12 (1-10 gm) is diluted in acetone. Under an inert atmosphere an equivalent amount of granular maleic acid is added slowly, and the reaction is allowed to take place. Resulting maleamic acid precipitates. The maleamic acid product is separated, dried and purified by re-crystallization. The maleamic (1-5 gm) acid is dissolved in acetic anhydride along with a catalytic amount of sodium acetate. The resulting solution is heated for a few hours in 80-120° C. The precipitated final product is separated, purified and dried in a vacuum.

Abstract: Clay platelets are separated from an agglomeration of clay platelets by treating with cobalt acetate and leaving cobalt particles on the platelets. Carbon nanotubes are grown on the platelets at the cobalt sites, and the nanotubes separate platelets from the agglomeration. The separated platelets and nanotubes are acid cleaned. Intumescent fire retardant materials are chemisorbed on the clay platelets and nanotubes.