Engineering Commons^™

Compression Molded Composite Component, Greg Hermansen, Larsson Johnson, Joanne Medrano, Kyle Hammell

Mechanical Engineering

The following final design report outlines the design and fabrication of a carbon fiber compression molded sunglasses case. It intends to guide the development of a future lab activity for a composites undergraduate course at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. The activity aims to support an educational investigation in "out-of-autoclave" composites manufacturing methods, such as compression molding, which offer some key benefits over autoclave molding. The methodology behind the creation of a conceptual design, an initial prototype, and a final product is laid out in detail below.

Indentation Behavior Of Superelastic Hard Carbon, Olga Chernogorova, Ekaterina Drozdova, Iraida Ushakova, Evgenii Ekimov, Vicente Benavides, Aleksander Soldatov

Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development V

Supererlastic hard carbon particles up to 1 mmin size were produced by fullerene collapse upon high-pressure high-temperature treatment with simultaneous sintering of metal-matrix composite materials (CM) reinforced by such particles. The hardness of carbon particles can be varied in a wide range by changing the parameters of their structure, which consists of curved graphene planes or their packets of different sizes. Such carbon phase was called “nanoclusterd graphene phase” (NGP) [1]. The properties of the carbon particles were controlled by changing treatment pressure (5 and 8 GPa) and temperature (1100-1800 K), composition of parent fullerites (C60 or C60/70), and pre-treatment …

Carbon Particles, Stephen M. Lipka, Christopher R. Swartz

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty Patents

A composition generally includes carbon particles. The particles are prepared by dissolving a carbohydrate-based precursor in water to form a precursor solution and placing the precursor solution in a pressure vessel. The precursor solution is placed in a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is heated to a reaction temperature to form carbon particles. The carbon particles are subjected to a chemical activation and a physical activation. The composition includes, by weight, about 5% to about 30% oxygen.

Lignin-Based Li-Ion Anode Materials Synthesized From Low-Cost Renewable Resources, Nicholas William Mcnutt

Doctoral Dissertations

In today’s world, the demand for novel methods of energy storage is increasing rapidly, particularly with the rise of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and the personal consumption and storage of solar energy. While other technologies have arguably improved at a rate that is exponential in accordance with Moore’s law, battery technology has lagged behind largely due to the difficulty in devising new electric storage systems that are simultaneously high performing, inexpensive, and safe.

In order to tackle these challenges, novel Li-ion battery anodes have been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are made from lignin, a low-cost, renewable …

Phytovolatilization Of Organic Contaminants, Matt Limmer, Joel Gerard Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Plants can interact with a variety of organic compounds, and thereby affect the fate and transport of many environmental contaminants. Volatile organic compounds may be volatilized from stems or leaves (direct phytovolatilization) or from soil due to plant root activities (indirect phytovolatilization). Fluxes of contaminants volatilizing from plants are important across scales ranging from local contaminant spills to global fluxes of methane emanating from ecosystems biochemically reducing organic carbon. In this article past studies are reviewed to clearly differentiate between direct- and indirect-phytovolatilization and we discuss the plant physiology driving phytovolatilization in different ecosystems. Current measurement techniques are also described, …

Heating Element Including Carbon Nanotube (Cnt) Layer, Santhosh Kumar Loganathan, Virginie Rollin, Daewon Kim

Publications

Apparatus , materials , and techniques and techniques herein can include providing a deposited layer comprising a com posite material including carbon nanotubes ( CNTs ) . Accord ing to various examples , the composite can be applied to a substrate such as using a solution containing CNTs and other constituents such as sulfur . The solution can be spray applied to a substrate , or spin - coated upon a substrate , such as to provide a uniform , conductive , and optically - transpar ent film layer . In one application , such a film layer can be …

Sizing An Anaerobic Digester In A Rural Developing World Community: Does Household Fuel Demand Match Greenhouse Gas Production?, Ronald Keelan Greenwade

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anaerobic digestion is the process by which organic carbon is converted into biogas in the form of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). Both of these products are greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Therefore if anaerobic reactors are improperly maintained and biogas is leaked or intentionally released into the atmosphere because biogas production exceeds household demand, these reactors may become generators of greenhouse gas emissions instead of sustainable energy producers. The objective of this research was to develop a framework to assess if the demand for biogas by a rural adopter of an anaerobic …

Silk-Derived Graphene-Like Carbon With High Electrocatalytic Activity For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Qingfa Wang, Ruoping Yanzhang, Yaqing Wu, Han Zhu, Junfeng Zhang, Mingliang Du, Ming Zhang, Li Wang, Xiangwen Zhang, Xinhua Liang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A facile method to prepare the nanoporous and graphene-like carbon material from a natural silk fiber was developed by a potassium intercalation and carbonization procedure. The as-synthesized graphene-like fiber was employed for oxygen reduction reaction and exhibited impressive electrocatalytic activity.

Strain Monitoring Of Bismaleimide Composites Using Embedded Microcavity Sensor, Amardeep Kaur, Sudharshan Anandan, Lei Yuan, Steve Eugene Watkins, K. Chandrashekhara, Hai Xiao, Nam Phan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A type of extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) fiber optic sensor, i.e., the microcavity strain sensor, is demonstrated for embedded, high-temperature applications. The sensor is fabricated using a femtosecond (fs) laser. The fs-laser-based fabrication makes the sensor thermally stable to sustain operating temperatures as high as 800 °C. The sensor has low sensitivity toward the temperature as compared to its response toward the applied strain. The performance of the EFPI sensor is tested in an embedded application. The host material is carbon fiber/bismaleimide (BMI) composite laminate that offer thermally stable characteristics at high ambient temperatures. The sensor exhibits highly linear response …

Binder-Free And Carbon-Free 3d Porous Air Electrode For Li-O2 Batteries With High Efficiency, High Capacity, And Long Life, Wenbin Luo, Xuanwen Gao, Dongqi Shi, Shulei Chou, Jiazhao Wang, Hua-Kun Liu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Pt-Gd alloy polycrystalline thin film is deposited on 3D nickel foam by pulsed laser deposition method serving as a whole binder/carbon-free air electrode, showing great catalytic activity enhancement as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in lithium oxygen batteries. The porous structure can facilitate rapid O2 and electrolyte diffusion, as well as forming a continuous conductive network throughout the whole energy conversion process. It shows a favorable cycle performance in the full discharge/charge model, owing to the high catalytic activity of the Pt-Gd alloy composite and 3D porous nickel foam structure. Specially, excellent cycling performance …

Achieving High-Performance Room-Temperature Sodium−Sulfur Batteries With S@Interconnected Mesoporous Carbon Hollow Nanospheres, Yunxiao Wang, Jianping Yang, Weihong Lai, Shulei Chou, Qinfen Gu, Hua-Kun Liu, Dongyuan Zhao, Shi Xue Dou

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Despite the high theoretical capacity of the sodium-sulfur battery, its application is seriously restrained by the challenges due to its low sulfur electroactivity and accelerated shuttle effect, which lead to low accessible capacity and fast decay. Herein, an elaborate carbon framework, interconnected mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres, is reported as an effective sulfur host to achieve excellent electrochemical performance. Based on in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, the mechanism of the room temperature Na/S battery is proposed to be reversible reactions between S8 and Na2S4, corresponding to a theoretical capacity of 418 mAh g-1. The cell is capable of achieving high capacity retention …

Continuous Adsorption And Biotransformation Of Micropollutants By Granular Activated Carbon-Bound Laccase In A Packed-Bed Enzyme Reactor, Ngoc Luong Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, Anthony Dosseto, Christopher Richardson, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Laccase was immobilized on granular activated carbon (GAC) and the resulting GAC-bound laccase was used to degrade four micropollutants in a packed-bed column. Compared to the free enzyme, the immobilized laccase showed high residual activities over a broad range of pH and temperature. The GAC-bound laccase efficiently removed four micropollutants, namely, sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, diclofenac and bisphenol A, commonly detected in raw wastewater and wastewater-impacted water sources. Mass balance analysis showed that these micropollutants were enzymatically degraded following adsorption onto GAC. Higher degradation efficiency of micropollutants by the immobilized compared to free laccase was possibly due to better electron transfer between …

Bio-Inspired, Moisture-Powered Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Yarn Muscles, Shi Hyeong Kim, Cheong Hoon Kwon, Karam Park, Tae Jin Mun, Xavier Lepro, Ray H. Baughman, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Seon Jeong Kim

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Hygromorph artificial muscles are attractive as self-powered actuators driven by moisture from the ambient environment. Previously reported hygromorph muscles have been largely limited to bending or torsional motions or as tensile actuators with low work and energy densities. Herein, we developed a hybrid yarn artificial muscle with a unique coiled and wrinkled structure, which can be actuated by either changing relative humidity or contact with water. The muscle provides a large tensile stroke (up to 78%) and a high maximum gravimetric work capacity during contraction (2.17 kJ kg−1), which is over 50 times that of the same weight human muscle …

Superior Sodium-Ion Storage Performance Of Co3o4@Nitrogen-Doped Carbon: Derived From A Metal–Organic Framework, Ying Wang, Caiyun Wang, Yijing Wang, Hua-Kun Liu, Zhenguo Huang

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Nitrogen-doped carbon coated Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Co 3 O 4 @NC) with high Na-ion storage capacity and unprecedented long-life cycling stability are reported in this paper. The Co 3 O 4 @NC was derived from a metal – organic framework ZIF-67, where the Co ions and organic linkers were, respectively, converted to Co 3 O 4 nanoparticle cores and nitrogen-doped carbon shells through a controlled two-step annealing process. The Co 3 O 4 @NC shows a porous nature with a surface area of 101 m 2 g 1 . When applied as an anode for sodium ion batteries …

3d Binder-Free Mose2 Nanosheets/Carbon Cloth Electrodes For Efficient And Stable Hydrogen Evolution Prepared By Simple Electrophoresis Deposition Strategy, Yundan Liu, Long Ren, Zhen Zhang, Xiang Qi, Hongxing Li, Jianxin Zhong

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

We successfully developed a simple electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method to decorate the MoSe2 nanosheets on the carbon fiber surface of carbon cloth (MoSe2/CC). With this process, MoSe2 nanosheets can be uniformly and tightly deposited on this flexible conductor to form a 3D binder-free electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The film thickness can also be controlled by the EPD time. Directly used as binder-free electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction, the as-prepared 3D MoSe2/CC samples exhibit excellent catalytic activity in an acidic electrolyte (21 mA/cm2 at an over-potential of 250 mV). Variation of MoSe2 nanosheets film thickness in the electrodes could …

The Effects Of Carbon Fiber Misalignment On Composite Material Strength, Luke Stangler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) is an effective way for determining material properties. More specifically, ultrasonic waves along with visual measurements from a microscope can be used to systematically determine the elastic modulus of single ply composites that are subject to an altered manufacturing process. In this approach, the magnitude of specific ultrasonic wave velocities is applied through Chirstoffel's equations to determine the necessary five elastic constants that describe the elastic modulus of transversely isotropic composites. On the other hand, fiber misalignment measurements are taken through via digital microscopy to satisfy a statistical approach for the determination of the same elastic modulus. …