Nanog Inc

BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW (BIL): LARGE SCALE MANUFACTURING OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE SILICON MONOXIDE ANODE MATERIALS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS COMPLETELY RETROFIT AN EXISTING STRUCTURE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART SILICON MONOXIDE (SIO) ANODE MANUFACTURING FACILITY, DIRECTLY ADDRESSING THE CRITICAL NEED FOR DOMESTIC BATTERY MATERIAL MANUFACTURING. THE PROJECT WILL TARGET A PRODUCTION OUTPUT OF 2,500 TONS PER YEAR AND 11 GWH OF ANODE CAPACITY. IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S (DOE) OBJECTIVES, THE PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN THE DOMESTIC BATTERY SUPPLY CHAIN, ENHANCE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND GALVANIZE EMPLOYMENT IN ITS SURROUNDING DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

HIGH VOLTAGE ATMOSPHERIC COLD PLASMA (HVACP) TREATMENT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IS AN EMERGING NON-THERMAL PROCESSING (NTP) TECHNOLOGY THAT EFFECTIVELY REDUCES AFLATOXINS (AF) AND MICROORGANISMS ON ALMONDS, OTHER TREE NUTS AND PEANUTS. HVACP-BASED NTP PROVIDES ENHANCED FOOD SAFETY BY REDUCING INCIDENCES OF FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS. IT IS A COST-EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY THAT ADDRESSES SEVERAL NIFA NATIONAL CHALLENGE AREAS. THESE INCLUDE: 1) GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND HUNGER ALLEVIATION BY INCREASED PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM DISEASE AND PESTS AND REDUCED FOOD LOSSES; 2) LOW TO NO IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE BY PROVIDING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, LOW ENERGY AND LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICAL AND THERMAL PROCESSES; AND 3) FOOD SAFETY BY REDUCING THE INCIDENCE OF FOOD-BORNE ILLNESSES AND DEATH THROUGH AN IMPROVED FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY. INDUSTRY ADOPTION OF THIS NOVEL NTP TECHNOLOGY WILL PROVIDE HIGHER QUALITY ALMONDS, OTHER TREENUTS AND PEANUTS TO THE CONSUMERS AND INCREASE GLOBAL DEMAND FOR U.S. ALMONDS AND OTHER TREE NUTS.ATMOSPHERIC COLD PLASMA IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON THAT HAS BEEN HARNESSED AND ADAPTED FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES. THE FIRST ATMOSPHERIC, LOW TEMPERATURE PLASMA WAS INVENTED BY WERNER VON SIEMENS IN 1857 (SIEMENS, 1857). AIR WAS PASSED BETWEEN TWO PARALLEL PLATES CONTAINING AN ELECTRICAL SPARK (CORONA DISCHARGE) TO GENERATE OZONE. PLASMA CAN BE GENERATED IN ANY GAS ENVIRONMENTS (E.G. AIR, O2, HE, N2, AR, NE, CO2) WITH EITHER DC OR AC CURRENT (ROTH, 1995). HVACP CAPITALIZES ON THE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF GASES AND THE PHYSICS OF ELECTRIC FIELD. WHEN A GAS IS SUBJECTED TO A VOLTAGE GRADIENT OF ADEQUATE STRENGTH; ELECTRONS CAN BE STRIPPED FROM THE GAS MOLECULES (IONIZATION). THESE ELECTRONS REACT WITH THE BULK GAS GENERATING LIGHT, UV, AND UNIQUE REACTIVE GAS SPECIES (OZONE, OXIDES OF NITROGEN, PEROXIDES, ATOMIC OXYGEN, ETC.), MANY OF WHICH CAN ALTER MYCOTOXINS ON THE SURFACE OF ALMONDS, OTHER TREENUTS, PEANUTS AS WELL AS ON MAIZE, WHEAT ETC. AND RENDER MYCOTOXINS NON-TOXIC. IN THE 2017 USDA-NIFA-SBIR-005943 PHASE I GRANT, NANOGUARD DEMONSTRATED THAT A NON-THERMAL PROCESSING USING HVACP CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE AFLATOXINS ON ALMONDS WITHOUT IMPACTING QUALITY. NANOGUARD HAS ALSO DEMONSTRATED THAT THE REACTIVE GAS SPECIES (RGS) IN HVACP HAVE EXCELLENT BACTERICIDAL PROPERTIES AND THEY COULD THEREFORE INACTIVATE BACTERIA, FUNGI AND MOLD ON TREE NUTS, PEANUTS, CORN, ETC. AS AN ADDED BENEFIT.MYCOTOXINS ARE SECONDARY METABOLITES PRODUCED BY SPECIFIC MOLDS AND FUNGI THAT ARE TOXIC TO HUMANS AND LIVESTOCK AT LOW PART PER BILLION (PPB) LEVELS (PANKAJ ET AL., 2018; SARANGAPANI ET AL., 2018; SHI ET AL.,2017; BOURKE ET AL., 2017;). THESE MYCOTOXINS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR A RANGE OF HEALTH ISSUES THAT HAVE TREMENDOUS ECONOMIC IMPACT IN BOTH THE HUMAN AND ANIMAL NUTRITION INDUSTRIES. THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO) HAS ESTIMATED THAT 25% OF THE WORLD'S CROPS ARE AFFECTED BY MYCOTOXINS EACH YEAR, WITH ANNUAL LOSSES OF AROUND ONE BILLION METRIC TONS OF FOOD AND FOOD PRODUCTS. ECONOMIC LOSSES OCCUR BECAUSE OF: 1) YIELD LOSS DUE TO DISEASES INDUCED BY TOXIGENIC FUNGI; 2) REDUCED CROP VALUE RESULTING FROM MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION; 3) LOSSES IN ANIMAL PRODUCTIVITY FROM MYCOTOXIN-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS; AND 4) HUMAN HEALTH COSTS. ADDITIONAL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH MYCOTOXINS INCLUDE THE COST OF MANAGEMENT AT ALL LEVELS - PREVENTION, SAMPLING, ANALYSIS, MITIGATION, LITIGATION, AND RESEARCH COSTS. SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC LOSSES RESULTING FROM MYCOTOXINS ARE WELL DOCUMENTED ALONG THE FOOD AND FEED SUPPLY CHAINS: CROP PRODUCERS, ANIMAL PRODUCERS, DISTRIBUTORS, PROCESSORS, CONSUMERS, AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE (DUE TO HEALTH CARE IMPACTS AND PRODUCTIVITY LOSSES). ESTIMATES OF THE COSTS OF MYCOTOXINS IN THE UNITED STATES VARY: ONE REPORT ESTIMATED $0.5 TO $1.5 BILLION/YEAR (COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 2003) AND ANOTHER ESTIMATED $5 BILLION/YEAR FOR THE U.S. ANDCANADA (WHO/FAO, 2002).THE HIGHEST VALUED TREE NUT CROP IN THE UNITED STATES IS ALMONDS, GENERATING $6.4 BILLION IN 2014 WITH A TOTAL PRODUCTION OF APPROXIMATELY 2 BILLION POUNDS (USDA ERS, 2015). THE INITIAL SUBJECTIVE FORECAST FOR THE 2017 CALIFORNIA ALMOND PRODUCTION IS 2.2 BILLION POUNDS (USDA NASS, 2017). MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION IN ALMONDS, PRIMARILY AFLATOXINS, IS A CONSTANT CONCERN. AFLATOXINS ARE PRODUCED BY THE FUNGI ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS. GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN TREE NUTS ARE RECOMMENDED FOR PREVENTION OF CONTAMINATION AND GROWTH OF ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS, SUCH AS KEEPING PRODUCT DRY DURING STORAGE. HOWEVER, AFLATOXIN PRODUCTION CAN OCCUR SEASONALLY TO VARYING DEGREES AND IS MOST PROBLEMATIC UNDER WET HARVESTING CONDITIONS OR PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN WHEN AIR HUMIDITY IS HIGH, LEADING TO FAVORABLE GROWTH CONDITIONS. THE TREE NUT AS WELL AS THE PEANUT INDUSTRIES ARE LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE, COST EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SOLUTION FOR REDUCING MYCOTOXINS ON NUTS WITHOUTCOMPROMISING PRODUCT INTEGRITY. NANOGUARD'S HVACP-BASED NON-THERMAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY IS A PERFECT SOLUTION TO MITIGATE THE POST-HARVEST MYCOTOXIN PROBLEM FACING THE ALMOND INDUSTRY, IN PARTICULAR, AND TREE NUT AS WELL AS PEANUT INDUSTRY IN GENERAL.THERE IS AN INCREASING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR FOOD THAT IS FRESH, FREE OF PATHOGENS AND TOXINS, AND HAS LONGER SHELF-LIFE. CONSUMER ATTENTION TO NUTRITION, ESPECIALLY AWARENESS AND CONCERNS OF THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS OF PRESERVATIVES AND ADDITIVES DURING PROCESSING, IS ALSO FUELING DEMAND FOR MINIMALLY PROCESSED FOOD THAT IS SAFE BUT RETAINS HIGH NUTRITIONAL VALUE, TEXTURE, AND FLAVOR. THE RECENT REPORTS ON MICROBIAL CONTAMINATED FOOD HAS SIGNIFICANTLY ELEVATED CONSUMER AWARENESS ON FOOD SAFETY. BECAUSE NON-THERMAL PROCESSING THROUGH HVACP REDUCES MYCOTOXINS AND MICROORGANISMS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, IT MUST BE OF PUBLIC INTEREST TO BRING THIS TECHNOLOGY TO COMMERCIALIZATION. HVACP-BASED NON-THERMAL PROCESSING ASSURES GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND REDUCE HUNGER BY INCREASED PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM DISEASE AND PESTS AND REDUCED FOOD LOSSES. THIS POST-HARVEST PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY IS COST-EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, AND IT WILL PROMOTE THE EXPORT OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, BRINGING PROSPERITY TO FARMERS AND GROWERS. WITH THE HELP OF THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY, U.S. TREE NUT GROWERS AND EXPORTERS CAN STAY COMPETITIVE IN THE GLOBAL MARKET PLACE BY REDUCING THE LOSSES FROM AFLATOXIN CONTAMINATION.

SBIR PHASE I: HIGH-PERFORMANCE OPTO-PLASMONIC TECHNOLOGY FOR NEXT GENERATION OPTOELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING

NON-THERMAL PASTEURIZATION OF TREE NUTS TO REDUCE MICROBES AND MYCOTOXINS

SBIR PHASE I: HIGHLY EFFICIENT CDTE THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS WITH ORDERED STRUCTURE