Engineering Commons^™

S8e10: How Can Nature-Inspired Engineering Improve Human Health?, Ron Lisnet, Caitlin Howell

The Maine Question

Antibiotic resistance has become a growing problem in the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition to minimizing or negating the effects of existing medicine, these antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs,” are mutating faster than the development of new remedies.

Caitlin Howell, University of Maine associate professor of biomedical engineering, is working on new tools that take notes from nature to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Similar to the way in which the human body keeps balance with its own bacterial populations, Howell’s devices use nontoxic, non-invasive surface-based technology to trap bacteria and prevent them from spreading.

In this episode of “The Maine Question” …

Effects Of Fiber Orientation On The Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion Of Fiber-Filled Polymer Systems In Large Format Polymer Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing, José Luis Colón Quintana, Lucinda Slattery, Jon Pinkham, Joanna Keaton, Roberto A. Lopez-Anido, Keith Sharp

Civil Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Large format polymer extrusion-based additive manufacturing has been studied recently due to its capacity for high throughput, customizable bead size and geometry, and ability to manufacture large parts. Samples from three fiber-filled amorphous thermoplastic materials 3D printed using a Masterprint 3X machine from Ingersoll Machine Tools were studied, along with their neat counterparts. Characterization techniques included thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA). TGA results showed that the fillers decreased the degradation temperature for most of the materials investigated, with a 30°C decrease for polycarbonate (PC) and a 12°C decrease for polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG). For …

Nsf Career Award Supports Schwartz's Research On The Chemical Process For Making Rubber Component, Marcus Wolf

General University of Maine Publications

advance his ongoing dissection of the Lebedev process. The well-known, multi-step chemical reaction is used to make butadiene from biomass-derived ethanol. However, little research has been conducted on the Lebedev process at the molecular level. Understanding the intricacies of this process will help researchers create new catalysts necessary for the chemical reactions to make goods from both petroleum and biomass, that would increase butadiene yield.

Selectivity Of The Catalytic Hydrogenation Of Cinnamaldehyde Using A Polymer Cross-Linked Catalyst, Madeline Logan

Honors College

The transition from non-renewable fossil fuel chemical feedstocks to bio-renewable chemical feedstocks will be vital for the health of the environment. The current processing and use of fossil fuels produced by the petroleum industry release greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide into the air causing heat to get trapped in the atmosphere. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the rate they are now it is expected to cause polar ice caps to melt, ocean levels to rise, and climate all over the globe to change. By switching to bio-renewable feedstocks, the level of greenhouse gasses emitted would drastically decrease because processing …

Using Cellulose Nanofibrils And Calcium Carbonate In Single-Use Utensils, Sierra Yost

Honors College

As humanity becomes aware of the environmental issues that come from plastics, substitutes for single-use plastic are needed. Straws, expanded polystyrene, and grocery bags especially have been placed under scrutiny, but there is a need to replace other single use plastics such as eating utensils and cup lids. In this thesis, the properties of cellulose nanofibrils and calcium carbonate mixtures are characterized to determine the feasibility of their use as a plastic replacement. Using cellulose nanofibrils poses two challenges: 1) it shrinks when dried causing difficulty in forming an object, and 2) it is produced in a 3 weight percent …

Techno-Economic Analysis Of A Seaweed Extraction Process, Zachary Applebee

Honors College

The goal of this thesis was to perform a techno-economic analysis of a seaweed polysaccharide extraction process that could estimate how economically viable it would be to harvest and process seaweed in Maine to produce algal polysaccharides. I pursued two investigations to answer this question:

First, I continued the research I have been doing on an EPSCoR SEANET funded undergraduate research team working on the extraction and fractionation of sugar kelp (Saccharina Latissima) to produce three different separated polysaccharides: alginate, laminarin, and fucoidan. My contributions to this project were primarily to hydrolyze whole pieces of seaweed and extracted …

The Production, Characterization, And Upgrading Of Biochars Into Activated Carbon, Kasey Johnston

Honors College

There is a growing demand for sustainable alternatives to petroleum based fuels to be used in the transportation sector. To this end, thermochemical pathways have been proposed for the conversion of renewable feedstock such as wood and corn stover to transportation fuels. Although it is recognized that renewable feedstock sources are environmentally superior to the current petroleum based fuels, the commercial production of renewable fuels via thermochemical pathways must also be economically advantageous. Thermochemical conversion of a renewable feedstock results in the production of a significant amount of biochar that has a low economic value. To improve the overall economics …

Use Of Renewable Cellulose Nanofibrils And Water-Barrier Layers In The Production Of Snack Packaging, Thoalfakar Saheb Alsaady

Honors College

From potato chips to chocolate bars, snack packaging requires materials that have excellent water vapor and oxygen barrier properties, good mechanical behavior, and good grease resistance. The most common material used in snack packaging is polypropylene (PP) layer that has been aluminum coated or metalized on one surface. The problem is not only that non-renewable petroleum is used to produce the plastic, but the production of aluminum requires large energy inputs and generates toxic wastes. In addition, this current packaging does not break down in the environment and cannot be recycled. This research is looking at using layers of cellulose …

A Study Of Undergraduate Perception And Behavior Toward On-Campus Composting, Sierra Kuun

Honors College

Composting among college students can promote a healthy environment and encourage the appropriate disposal method for generated organic wastes. The purpose of this study was to observe composting behaviors and attitudes among students and foster an increase in knowledge of suitable composting behavior in on-campus apartments.

Waste management issues are quickly becoming a key societal concern. As a result, there has been extensive literature surrounding the benefits of, and factors leading to, pro-environmental behaviors. What specific factors lead an individual, institution, or community to begin composting? In analyzing research on related topics, we can investigate drivers that are transferable to …

The Design And Fabrication Of An Atomic Layer Deposition Reactor For Coating Powders, Natalie Altvater

Honors College

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a self-limiting synthesis technique for the growth of conformal ultrathin films on solid state materials. The high conformality of the ALD method is ideal for coating porous, high surface area materials. A fluidized bed reactor (FBR) was designed and built for functionalizing a powder using ALD. The particle bed was fluidized using an inert argon gas. Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) was deposited on a high surface area powder substrate, γ-phase aluminum oxide, via ALD using trimethylaluminum (TMA) and water (H2O) as gas phase precursors. Depositions were done under low pressure conditions. A BET analysis was done …

Catalytic Hydrogenation Of Amino Acids Using Polymer-Derived Microenvironments, Rachel Karno

Honors College

Amino acids are organic compounds that can be found all around us in the world in the building blocks of proteins and peptides. One class of compounds which can be synthesized from amino acids are amino alcohols, another critical compound in society. Amino alcohols are key components in agricultural products and pharmaceutical products. Therefore, developing an efficient and cost-effective method for performing this transformation is an important area of research. The currently used industrial process is to reduce petroleum-derived amino acids with NaBH₄. However, this process is time-consuming and costly because of the need for an intermediate stage …

Selective Hydrogenation Of Furfural To Furfuyl Alcohol Over Copper Magnesium Oxide, Andrew Estrup

Honors College

Furfural is a byproduct of biomass hydrolysis and novel means of utilizing this platform chemical are at the forefront of biofuel research. This project investigated many of the various and viable means of catalytic upgrading of furfural to other value-added chemicals, before ultimately exploring the conversion of furfural to furfuryl alcohol over a copper catalyst on a magnesium oxide support. Reasonable reaction conditions, mechanisms, and catalysts for the conversion of furfural to various products and platform chemicals exist, but no circumstance represents an obviously preferred method. The objective of this research project was to design and conduct experiments that characterize …

Avoiding Aggregation During Drying And Rehydration Of Nanocellulose, Evelyn Fairman

Honors College

Nanocellulose has attracted attention from academic researchers and industrial corporations worldwide. It is a sustainable raw material with remarkable strength and rheological properties. The industrial production of nanocellulose is an aqueous process; however, many of its valuableproperties are lost upon water removal. Indeed, once dried, nanocellulose irreversibly assembles into a plastic-like material. Currently it can betoo expensive to transport the aqueous suspensions. In order to mitigate high transportation costs, a methodmust be developed to dry and rehydrate nanocellulose whilst maintaining its nano-morphology. The current work demonstrates that the introduction of a cationic surfactant into the aqueous nanocellulose suspensionyields a chemical …

Design Focused Computer Module For Chemical Engineering Outreach, Marc Beauchemin

Honors College

The purpose of this project is to propose the use of a computer simulation to provide middle and high school students with a chemical engineering design experience. Long standing collective efforts between the University of Maine Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Pulp and Paper Foundation have resulted in a variety of outreach programs aimed at students of this age. Recently, both organizations have been increasing efforts in these areas, proposing a senior design project focused on making a portable model demonstrating chemical engineering concepts. This project was examined along with other outreach efforts and teaching modules. The …

Fast Pyrolysis Of Muconic Acid And Formic Acid Salts, Laura Duran

Honors College

Lignocellulosic biomass is emerging as a sustainable resource for the production of alternative liquid fuels. As the need to lessen dependence on petroleum sources grows, lignocellulosic feedstocks are being investigated as a renewable, abundant source of energy. Chemical pulping processes include a high-lignin by-product, black liquor, which is already used for fuel in industry. Black liquor is burned to generate steam and electricity and to recover pulping chemicals. Currently, the thermochemical conversion of black liquor to liquid fuel is being researched at The University of Maine. In this black liquor research, an intermediate lignin-derived acid, muconic acid, and formic acid …

Career: A New Class Of Modified Mesoporous Silica Membranes With Controlled Pore Size And Surface Functionalization Through Unique Synthetic Approaches, William J. Desisto

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Artificial membranes made from sand-like materials known as silica are potentially more energy efficient than other separation processes such as distillation (change in phase from liquid to gas) because there is no phase change required to perform the separation. In addition, the opportunity exists for combining reaction and separation within a single unit using membrane reactors, thereby increasing yield on thermodynamically-limited reactions. However, the fabrication of high-quality silica membranes with pore size control and surface chemistry control remains challenging because of the inherent limits of existing synthetic approaches used to fabricate silica membranes. The researchers at the University of Maine …

Goali: Multicomponent Molecular Transport In Nanoporous Materials, Douglas M. Ruthven, David Sholl, Ronald Chance

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

In recent years novel diffusion controlled catalytic processes and non-conventional separation processes such as adsorption and membrane processes have gained an increasingly important place in the petroleum and petrochemicals industries. Several factors have driven this trend, including the need to improve the energy efficiency and throughput of refineries, stricter limits on the allowable composition of gasoline and diesel fuel requiring the removal of aromatics and sulfur containing compounds to extremely low levels, the need to process increasingly complex deposits of both natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons, and the possibility of producing liquid fuels from non-traditional sources such as biomass. Although …

Sst: Integrated Fluorocarbon Microsensor System Using Catalytic Modification, M. Clayton Wheeler

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Selective, sensitive, and reliable sensors are urgently needed to detect air-borne halogenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This broad class of compounds includes chlorine, fluorine, bromine, and iodine containing hydrocarbons used as solvents, refrigerants, herbicides, and more recently as chemical warfare agents (CWAs). It is important to be able to detect very low concentrations of halocarbon solvents and insecticides because of their acute health effects even in very low concentrations. For instance, the nerve agent sarin (isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate), first developed as an insecticide by German chemists in 1938, is so toxic that a ten minute exposure at an airborne concentration of …

Act/Sger: Atomic Layer Deposition Of Nitrides On Nano-Particles For Enhanced Energy Conversion To Combat Terrorism, William J. Desisto

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

William J. DeSisto, University of Maine, will apply atomic layer deposition reactions to passivate nanoparticles. These coated nanoparticles will be used in next-generation, high energy density, compact energy storage devices. Initial experiments will focus on coating nano-sized lithium-ion battery anodes with titanium nitride. Miniaturized batteries using these anodes will be fabricated and evaluated by industrial collaborators at Yardley/Lithion Technical Products.

This award is supported jointly by the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Intelligence Community. The Approaches to Combat Terrorism Program supports new concepts in basic research and workforce development with the potential to contribute to national …

Sger: Detection Of Bioterrorism-Linked Microbial Pathogens Using Surface Acoustic Wave Liquid Sensors, Maruicio Pereira Da Cunha, Paul J. Millard

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Bioterrorism threats and attacks in civilian environments require sensors that can rapidly and accurately detect minute quantities of pathological bioagents. Selective and inexpensive sensors are urgently needed to detect pathogens in liquid environments, including food and water supplies. Conventional laboratory analyses are time-consuming, labor-intensive and inconsistent with the expedient response required in the wake or possibility of a bioterrorist act.

The activities proposed in this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) are multidisciplinary and involve two faculty members from the University of Maine. Dr. Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will provide expertise in …

Acquisition Of Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope For Biological And Materials Research, Stephen M. Shaler, Seth Shaler, Susan Brawley, Carol H. Kim, Paul J. Millard

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Biological and Materials research at the University of Maine will be strongly impacted by the acquisition of a Laser Scanning Electron Microscope as a result of this NSF-MRI award. The Leica confocal unit, along with an upright and inverted microscope and digital camera will form a multi-user facility for campus researchers working with a range of biological and materials problems. Initially, 13 faculty members from 8 academic departments have projects planned for the instrument. The microscope will be the first of its kind on the University of Maine campus.

A wide range of research problems will be attacked through use …

Explorations, Vol. 3, No. 3, Tim Lyden, John Muth, James Leiby, Kevin Scully, Jayalakshmi "Jaya" Krishnagopalan, Ivar H. Stockel, Peter Wagner, Luanne L. Peters, Mark W. Anderson, Judy C. Gates, Cheryl Waltz, Paula Quatromoni, Douglas Kellogg, Kimberly Dagher, James Linehan

Explorations — A Journal of Research

Cover: Artwork by Marcia Spencer, University of Maine art student.

Articles include: "Characterization of Normal and Carcinogen Induced Neoplastic Cells of Teleost Origin," by Tim Lyden

"Attitutdes and Opinions of Maine Dairy Farmers," by John Muth and James Leiby

"Background: the quest for the eighteen month oyster," by Kevin Scully

"The Quest for the Eighteen Month Oyster," by Kevin Scully

"Measurement of Surface Tension of Kraft Black Liquor," by Jayalakshmi "Jaya" Krishnagopalan

"From the former student," by Jayalakshmi Krishnagopalan

"From the faculty advisor," by Ivar H. Stockel

"Aquatic Fungal Decomposers in Two Adjacent Maine Lakes of Different Acidity," by Peter …