Patents and Patent Applications from Rice University


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US20120129736 HIGHLY OXIDIZED GRAPHENE OXIDE AND METHODS FOR PRODUCTION THEREOF  
A highly oxidized form of graphene oxide and methods for production thereof are described in various embodiments of the present disclosure. In general, the methods include mixing a graphite source...
8183180 Graphene compositions and drilling fluids derived therefrom  
Drilling fluids comprising graphenes and nanoplatelet additives and methods for production thereof are disclosed. Graphene includes graphite oxide, graphene oxide, chemically-converted graphene,...
US20120119162 Coated Fullerenes, Compositions And Dielectrics Made Therefrom  
The present invention relates to coated fullerenes comprising a layer of at least one inorganic material covering at least a portion of at least one surface of a fullerene and methods for making....
8178202 Nonconcentric nanoshells with offset core in relation to shell and method of using the same  
A nanoparticle comprising a shell surrounding a core material with a lower conductivity than the shell material, wherein the core center is offset in relation to the shell center. A method...
US20120117518 DESIGNING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGICAL CIRCUITS USING OPTIMALITY AND NONEQUILIBRIUM THERMODYNAMICS  
In general, the invention relates to a method for designing a biological circuit. The method includes obtaining a target circuit objective for the biological circuit, determining an objective...
8173405 Nerolidol, terpene, and terpene deriviative synthesis  
According to one embodiment, the description relates to a method of nerolidol production. The method includes culturing a yeast strain lacking functional squalene synthase and overproducing HMG CoA...
US20120107885 Anaerobic Fermentation of Glycerol  
The invention relates to the development of appropriate cultivation conditions for a bacteria to grow anaerobically (fermentatively) on a glycerol substrate. The method requires culturing bacteria...
US20120107597 EMBEDDED ARRAYS OF VERTICALLY ALIGNED CARBON NANOTUBE CARPETS AND METHODS FOR MAKING THEM  
According to some embodiments, the present invention provides a system and method for supporting a carbon nanotube array that involve an entangled carbon nanotube mat integral with the array, where...
8164756 System and method of fluid exposure and data acquisition  
An apparatus has a data acquisition device, an environmental cell in a spatial registration relative to the data acquisition device, the environmental cell being configured to support a sample, and...
US20120090816 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HEAT TRANSFER UTILIZING HEAT EXCHANGERS WITH CARBON NANOTUBES  
A heat exchanger with mini channels or micro channels provides enhanced heat transfer abilities. One or more surfaces of the channels may be covered with a nanostructure, such as single walled...
8158203 Methods of attaching or grafting carbon nanotubes to silicon surfaces and composite structures derived therefrom  
The present invention is directed toward methods of attaching or grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to silicon surfaces. In some embodiments, such attaching or grafting occurs via functional groups...
US20120081708 Integrated Embedded Processor Based Laser Spectroscopic Sensor  
A novel low-power and compact laser spectroscopic sensor is described herein. Embodiments of the disclosed sensor utilize state-of-the-art microprocessors and digital processing techniques to...
8143035 Pantothenate kinase overexpression and pantothenic acid supplementation in actinomycetes  
The invention relates to the synthesis of polyketides in Actinomycetes by overexpression of pantothenate kinase and supplementation with pantothenic acid. This results in increasing in vivo CoA...
US20120071141 HETEROGENEOUS NETWORK ACCESS ON DEVICES WITH ONE OR MORE NETWORK INTERFACES  
A method for managing TCP flows in a mobile device adapted to connect to two or more wireless network types includes enabling connection to a number of networks of different types at the mobile...
US20120063988 Dissolution Of Graphite, Graphite And Graphene Nanoribbons In Superacid Solutions And Manipulation Thereof  
Methods for dissolving carbon materials such as, for example, graphite, graphite oxide, oxidized graphene nanoribbons and reduced graphene nanoribbons in a solvent containing at least one superacid...
8134360 Measurement of pipe wall thickness using magnetic flux leakage signals  
An apparatus comprising a processor configured to implement a method comprising obtaining a pipe profile comprising a diameter, a nominal thickness, and a material, receiving a magnetic flux...
8129157 Anaerobic fermentation of glycerol  
The invention relates to the development of appropriate cultivation conditions for a bacteria to grow anaerobically (fermentatively) on a glycerol substrate. The method requires culturing bacteria...
8128901 Facile purification of carbon nanotubes with liquid bromine at room temperature  
A method of removing metal impurities from carbon nanotubes includes treating carbon nanotubes with distilled bromine in a substantially oxygen- and water-free atmosphere and then removing the...
8124503 Carbon nanotube diameter selection by pretreatment of metal catalysts on surfaces  
A new and useful nanotube growth substrate conditioning processes is herein disclosed that allows the growth of vertical arrays of carbon nanotubes where the average diameter of the nanotubes can...
US20120034162 Fullerene Assisted Cell Penetrating Peptides  
A composition and method is described for intracellular delivery of fullerene containing peptides. The composition and method involve fullerene-substituted phenylalanine as part of a peptide based...
US20120024153 ALIPHATIC AMINE BASED NANOCARBONS FOR THE ABSORPTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE  
A composition of matter, and method to make same, for a nano-based material including a nanocarbon support to which is attached an aliphatic amine. In particular, the composition of matter is an...
8106430 Preparation of thin film transistors (TFTs) or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or other printable electronics using ink-jet printer and carbon nanotube inks  
The invented ink-jet printing method for the construction of thin film transistors using all SWNTs on flexible plastic films is a new process. This method is more practical than all of existing...
8102532 Resonant optothermoacoustic detection of optical absorption  
A device comprising an acoustic detector, one or more thermal sensing elements coupled to the acoustic detector, and a light source. A method comprising directing a beam of light at a wavelength at...
8098376 Integrated embedded processor based laser spectroscopic sensor  
A novel low-power and compact laser spectroscopic sensor is described herein. Embodiments of the disclosed sensor utilize state-of-the-art microprocessors and digital processing techniques to...
8097141 Flow dielectrophoretic separation of single wall carbon nanotubes  
According to some embodiments, a method for separating a first fraction of a single wall carbon nanotubes and a second fraction of single wall carbon nanotubes includes, but is not limited to:...
US20120009146 Treatment and Diagnostic Methods for Fibrosis Related Disorders  
The present invention relates to the ability of SAP to suppress fibrocytes. It also relates to the ability of IL-12, laminin-1, cross-linked IgG and IgG aggregates to suppress fibrocytes. Methods...
8092774 Nanotube-amino acids and methods for preparing same  
The present invention is directed toward compositions comprising carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are sidewall-functionalized with amino acid groups, and to amino acid compositions comprising carbon...
8089628 Pulsed-multiline excitation for color-blind fluorescence detection  
The present invention provides a technology called Pulse-Multiline Excitation or PME. This technology provides a novel approach to fluorescence detection with application for high-throughput...
US20110321067 COMPUTING DEVICE USING INEXACT COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE PROCESSOR  
In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a computer readable medium including software instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method, the method including receiving...
US20110318248 Methods for Solubilizing and Separating Large Fullerenes  
We have discovered that size dependent solubility of large fullerenes in strong acids is dependent on acid strength. This provides a scalable method for separating large fullerenes by size....
8084243 Blocking sporulation by inhibiting SpoIIE  
We have shown that the control of solventogenesis and sporulation can be genetically uncoupled in C. acetobutylicum. In strain 824(pASspo), the absence of SpoIIE causes sporulation to be blocked at...
US20110311427 Strongly Bound Carbon Nanotube Arrays Directly Grown On Substrates And Methods For Production Thereof  
The present disclosure describes carbon nanotube arrays having carbon nanotubes grown directly on a substrate and methods for making such carbon nanotube arrays. In various embodiments, the carbon...
8080199 Interaction of microwaves with carbon nanotubes to facilitate modification  
The present invention is directed toward methods of crosslinking carbon nanotubes to each other using microwave radiation, articles of manufacture produced by such methods, compositions produced by...
US20110287462 PROTEIN FRAGMENT COMPLEMENTATION ASSAY FOR THERMOPHILES  
A protein fragment complementation assay for thermophiles is provided wherein a thermophilic bacteria having a temperature-sensitive adenylate kinase is transformed with one or more vectors having...
US20110285995 IMAGE MAPPING SPECTROMETERS  
Devices and methods for hyperspectral and multispectral imaging are discussed. In particular, Image Mapping Spectrometer systems, methods of use, and methods of manufacture are presented....
8062748 Methods for preparing carbon nanotube/polymer composites using free radical precursors  
In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to methods of fully integrating CNTs and the surrounding polymer matrix in CNT/polymer composites. In some such embodiments, such integration...
8062702 Coated fullerenes, composites and dielectrics made therefrom  
The present invention relates to coated fullerenes comprising a layer of at least one inorganic material covering at least a portion of at least one surface of a fullerene and methods for making....
8058613 Micromechanical devices for materials characterization  
The present disclosure describes micromechanical devices and methods for using such devices for characterizing a material's strength. The micromechanical devices include an anchor pad, a top...
8057802 Treatment methods for fibrosis related disorders  
The present invention relates to the ability of SAP to suppress fibrocytes. It also relates to the ability of IL-12, laminin-1, cross-linked IgG and IgG aggregates to suppress fibrocytes. Methods...
US20110274624 CONTRAST AGENTS IN POROUS PARTICLES  
MRI imaging compositions are disclosed comprising non-chelated MRI contrast agents in the pores of at least one porous microparticle or nanoparticle. The compositions of the invention have been...
US20110263816 METALLOPEPTIDE CATALYSTS  
This application provides a metallopeptide catalyst comprising dirhodium bound to one or more carboxylate residues of a peptide, protein or peptidomimetic. These stable metallopeptides can achieve...
US20110262772 Method for Producing Aligned Near Full Density Pure Carbon Nanotube Sheets, Ribbons, and Films From Aligned Arrays of as Grown Carbon Nanotube Carpets/Forests and Direct Transfer to Metal and Polymer Surfaces  
Methods for preparing carbon nanotube layers are disclosed herein. Carbon nanotube layers may be films, ribbons, and sheets. The methods comprise preparing an aligned carbon nanotube array and...
8045152 All optical nanoscale sensor  
A composition comprising a nanoparticle and at least one adsorbate associated with the nanoparticle, wherein the adsorbate displays at least one chemically responsive optical property. A method...
US20110250654 MICROAEROBIC CULTURES FOR CONVERTING GLYCEROL TO CHEMICALS  
Glycerol or other reduced carbon sources may be used as a feedstock for the microbial production of chemical products under certain microaerobic conditions. For example, such production may occur...
US20110247966 Recovery and Separation of Crude Oil and Water from Emulsions  
A composition and method demulsify a produced emulsion from anionic surfactants and polymer (SP) and alkali, surfactants, and polymer (ASP). The produced emulsion is demulsified into oil and water....
8034134 Spiral microreformer assembly  
A design for a microchannel steam microreformer has been developed to provide power in conjunction with a micro fuel cell for a portable, low-power device. The design is optimized for low pumping...
US20110220839 CONVERTING NANOPARTICLES IN OIL TO AQUEOUS SUSPENSIONS  
An improved process for converting an oil suspension of nanoparticles (NPs) into a water suspension of NPs, wherein water and surfactant plus salt is used instead of merely water and surfactant,...
8012472 Compositions and methods for suppressing fibrocytes  
The present invention relates to the ability of anti-FcγR antibodies to suppress fibrocytes. Methods and compositions for suppressing fibrocytes are provided. These methods are useful in a variety ...
US20110213288 Device And Method For Transfecting Cells For Therapeutic Uses  
This invention generally relates to devices and methods for ex vivo or in vivo transfection of living cells using electroporation, in particular high throughput microfluidic electroporation, and to...
8009293 Modulation cancellation method in laser spectroscopy  
Novel methods and laser spectroscopic systems for accurately measuring the concentration of compounds are disclosed herein. The disclosed methods utilize a modulation cancellation technique...