Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Image Analysis For Swnt Growth On Shutter Sputtered Catalyst, Rebekah Arias

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have been used in remarkable ways since their discovery in 1991 by Sumio Iijima. Properties such as high thermal conductivity, good mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity are what make CNTs attractive. Some of their applications include water filtration, vehicles, energy storage, and now there is great potential in the biomedical field for CNTs as composites in tissue engineering, therapeutics carrier across the blood-brain barrier, cancer treatment, and much more. The issue that comes with Single-Walled Nanotubes (SWNTs) however is Ostwald ripening of catalyst and low CNT production. It is difficult to control gas parameters for hydrogen and …

Cnt Metamaterial Fabrication 3d Printing Mask Process, Jose J. Rivero Iii

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

The demand for clean energy is rising with the global population. Renewable energy sources, such as solar, will play a key role in the years ahead. Solar energy has a key problem with energy storage as the energy produced during peak solar hours must be used immediately or stored. Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have unique electrostatic properties, similar to metals, capable of producing and storing electric energy in the form of a capacitor. The CNTs are to be arranged in a pattern using 3D printing to generate a Split Ring

Resonator (SRR) metamaterial. Past research has shown generating CNT SRR patterns …

3d Printing Of Lunar Regolith Based Ceramics Via The Dlp Method, Ricardo Vasquez

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

Ceramic parts generally have poor machinability due to their high hardness and high brittleness. Researchers and industries have overcome the difficulty of machining ceramics and have manufactured parts with intricate geometry by using pre-ceramic polymers in stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing and using slurries based on ceramic powder and photopolymer resin in digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing, among other methods. This presentation will discuss the processes involved in the 3D printing of ceramic and ceramic composite parts via the DLP technique. A vital step in ceramic 3D printing is to optimize the printing parameters for a specific slurry formulation in …

Fracture Strength Of Multi-Component Ultra-High Temperature Carbides, Gia Garino

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) have emerged as a promising material for next generation re-entry hypersonic vehicles due to high melting point (>3000 °C), and high mechanical properties and oxidation resistance. Yet none of the unary UHTCs can satisfy the whole gamut of demanding requirements for aerospace applications. Recently, the single-phase solid-solution formation in a multi-component ultra-high temperature ceramic (MC-UHTC) materials have gained interest due to their superior thermo-mechanical properties compared to conventional UHTCs. Herein, a systematic approach was used to fabricate binary (Ta, Nb)C, ternary (Ta, Nb, Hf)C, and quaternary (Ta, Nb, Hf, Ti)C UHTCs by gradual addition of …

Gopher Tortoise Seed Dispersal Monitoring, Bryan Torres Garcia

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

Gopher tortoises are native to Florida and vital to the ecosystem due to the underground boroughs they build, which provide shelter to other animals, and for their key role in seed dispersion. In order to improve our understanding of the role of gopher tortoises on biodiversity, we aim to investigate the digestive track of gopher tortoises. Data on seed dispersion distance and gut retention time are critical to effective and efficient endangered plant species conservation efforts. In a multidisciplinary project between Department of Earth and Environment, College and Engineering, and the Miami Zoo, we are fabricating an ingestible device to …

In-Operando Optical Observation/Visualization Of Lithium-Sulfur Battery Discharge Process, Ana G. Claus

2022 MME Undergraduate Research Symposium

Lithium−Sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted attention due to their high-energy density, 2500 Wh/𝑘𝑔𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 [1], and theoretical capacity of 1672 mAh/g-S [2]. In addition to that, sulfur abundance makes it a good candidate for rechargeable batteries. However, Li-S system has a few challenges that hinder its commercialization. Such as the insulating nature of the sulfur element, volume expansion, capacity fade due to intermittent polysulfide dissolution in the electrolyte and drop in capacity during the initial discharge cycles [3]. Herein, we have designed a Li-S in-operando optical observation cell, which allowed us to visualize the formation of higher to lower-order polysulfides as …