Ceramic Materials Commons^™

Solid-State Electrolytes For Long Duration Molten Sodium Batteries, Ryan C. Hill

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Rechargeable batteries have become a staple of modern society, driving the development and expansion of portable electronics and electric vehicles. The long lifetime and high energy density provided by batteries have made them excellent candidates for use in the emerging field of long duration, grid-scale energy storage. However, traditional battery chemistries, such as Li-ion, are not an ideal solution for grid-scale storage, due to high-cost raw materials that are often sourced from volatile markets. Sodium-based batteries are a promising alternative for long duration storage, owing to the domestic abundance of raw materials and energy densities that nearly rival that of …

System Analysis Of An Internal Combustion Engine (Ice) – Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (Sofc) Hybrid Cycle, Jose Javier Colon Rodriguez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy and the rigid operation of existing coal plants, the need for flexible power generation technology is eminent. Hybrid energy systems have shown potential for flexible, grid following dynamics while maintaining higher efficiencies. The work below focuses on the performance analysis of a proposed 100 kW pressurized Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) hybrid system. The un-utilized fuel from the SOFC stack provided the chemical energy to operate the engine. A turbocharger was used to deliver the necessary air flow for both the stack and engine. An external reformer …

Boosting Snr Of Cascaded Fbgs In A Sapphire Fiber Through A Rapid Heat Treatment, Farhan Mumtaz, Hanok Tekle, Bohong Zhang, Jeffrey D. Smith, Ronald J. O'Malley, Rex Gerald, Jie Huang

PSMRC Faculty Research

This Letter reports the performance of femtosecond (fs) laser-written distributed fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) under high-temperature conditions up to 1600°C and explores the impact of rapid heat treatment on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement. FBGs are essential for reliable optical sensing in extreme temperature environments. Comprehensive tests demonstrate the remarkable performance and resilience of FBGs at temperatures up to 1600°C, confirming their suitability for deployment in such conditions. The study also reveals significant fringe visibility improvements of up to ∼10 dB on a 1-m-long sapphire optical fiber through rapid heat treatment, representing a first-time achievement to the best of our knowledge. …

Modified Reactive Sputter Deposition Of Titanium Nitride Thin Films Via Hipims With Kick-Pulse And Improvement Of The Structure-Zone Model, Andrew Miceli

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) sputtering methods have been commonplace in industry for several decades and widely studied in literature. Hard films of nitrides, such as titanium nitride (TiN), have been deposited using reactive DC sputtering onto cutting tools and medical devices extensively as well. For these applications, the films require excellent adhesion, high density, and high hardness. High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) has emerged over the last several years as a method to produce films with increased density and mechanical properties. Process-structure-property relationships for reactive HIPIMS are not yet well developed. Additionally, conventional HIPIMS suffers from relatively …

Development Of High Kinetic Inductance Superconducting Nanowire Devices On High Permittivity Strontium Titanate Substrates, Jamie Timmons

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis involves the fabrication and characterization of devices made from two different superconducting materials: yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO), a high-TC complex oxide, and niobium nitride (NbN), a low-TC transition metal nitride. Both types of devices are fabricated on strontium titanate substrates, which provides a good lattice match to YBCO and also an extremely large permittivity at low temperature. We demonstrate that wet etching of YBCO thin films via bromine can be a viable microfrabriation technique for the material. Using approximately 35 nm thick epitaxially grown YBCO on an STO substrate, we were able to fabricate YBCO “microwires” with …

Assembly Of Ceramic Particles In Aqueous Suspensions Induced By High-Frequency Ac Electric Field, James E. John Iv

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Ceramic materials processed using colloidal methods have been the focus of a great deal of research aimed at tailoring the final structure and microstructure of the finished ceramic sample. To this end, various external field effects have been investigated to modify the suspension microstructure without manipulating the ceramic particles directly. In a previous work in the field of ice templating it has been shown that AC electric fields are able to produce microstructural changes in ice templated ceramics that have significantly improved the final mechanical properties. However, the mechanisms for this process are still not well understood in ceramics.

To …

Material Characterization And Comparison Of Sol-Gel Deposited And Rf Magnetron Deposited Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films, Katherine Lynne Miles

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been a material of interest for sensor, actuator, and transducer applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This is due to their favorable piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties. While various methods are available to deposit PZT thin films, radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was selected to provide high quality PZT films with the added capability of batch processing. These sputter deposited PZT films were characterized to determine their internal film stress, Young’s modulus, composition, and structure. After characterization, the sputtered PZT samples were poled using corona poling and direct poling methods. As a means of comparison, commercially …

An Experimental Study Of Norton And Thule Cooking Pot Performance, Caelie Marshall Butler

Dissertations and Theses

Ceramic technology was adopted by hunter-gatherers of the Paleo-Inuit Norton tradition in the Western Arctic between 2800 and 2500 years B.P., corresponding with an increase in the use of aquatic resources. Pottery production and use continued until approximately 1,500 BP, and resumed during the Neo-Inuit Birnirk and Thule periods, approximately 1,350 years BP. The technical characteristics of Norton and Thule ceramics suggest they performed differently when used for cooking, with Norton ceramics best suited for cooking using direct or suspended heat, and Thule ceramics best suited for indirect heat. Prior experimental archaeological research has focused on Thule ceramics, with limited …

Study Of Asymptotic Velocity In The Bondi–Hoyle Accretion Flows In The Domain Of Kerr And 4-D Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet Gravities, Orhan Donmez, Fatih Dogan, Tuba Sahin

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Understanding the physical structures of the accreted matter very close to a black hole in quasars and active galactic nucleus (AGN) is an important milestone to constrain the activities occurring in their centers. In this paper, we numerically investigate the effects of the asymptotic velocities on the physical structures of the accretion disk around the Kerr and Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet (EGB) rapidly rotating black holes. The Bondi–Hoyle accretion is considered with a falling gas towards the black hole in an upstream region of the computational domain. Shock cones are naturally formed in the downstream part of the flow around both black holes. …

Developing Positive Thermal Coefficient (Ptc) Heaters For Solar Electric Cooking, Katarina Ivana Brekalo, Andrew Shepherd

Physics

Positive Thermal Coefficients, PTCs, are materials that abruptly change in resistance in response to changes in temperature. The purpose of this experiment is to explore the viability of using the switching type ceramic PTC thermistor as a replacement for current resistive heaters. These types of PTCs have a nonlinear change in resistance with increases in temperature. This device will be used as a temperature-controlling heating element intended to power an Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC). The ISEC is designed to cook meals throughout the day for impacted communities as an alternative cooking method that doesn’t require biofuel as an energy …

Machine Learning Mosa Monitoring System, Aditya G. Manjunath, Sabahudin Vrtagic, Fatih Dogan, Milan Dordevic, Mileta Zarkovic, Jasmin Kevric, Goran Dobric

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This research paper deals with the problem of Metal-Oxide Surge Arrester (MOSA) condition monitoring and a new methodology in surge arrester monitoring and diagnostics is presented. A machine learning algorithm (back propagation regression) is used to estimate the non-linearity coefficient of the surge arrester, based on operating voltage and leakage current of the arrester. Using a simulated system, this research investigates the possibility of application and efficiency of machine learning. It is shown that the applied learning algorithm results are competitive with the model results parameters calculated as R2 = 0.999 and mean absolute real error computed as 0.005 which …

Modeling Hierarchical Porous Electrodes With Tailored Anisotropic Structure, Debanjan Sarker

All Theses

Modern electric vehicles and consumer electronics applications demand high specific energy from Li-ion batteries, which can be charged and discharged faster. In the search for high specific energy, researchers have tried to make thicker battery electrodes which contain a greater proportion of active material. While chemical and structural modification of electrodes can help to increase the electronic conductivity of active material, the microstructure of porous electrodes can be engineered to enhance ion transport for fast charge and discharge. Previous research has shown that macropores introduced by directional freeze tape casting can enhance the performance of thick porous electrodes. For instance, …

Synthesis And Consolidation Of The Aluminosilicate Mineral Anorthite, Lauren E. Eccles

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Solid-state ceramic synthesis is a fabrication process involving high temperature reactions of solid component powders and is used to prepare materials with novel and advanced properties. Regarding synthetic mineral ceramics, the solid-state process makes it possible to design synthetic minerals with specific compositions and properties not commonly found in their natural, comparatively impure, counterparts. This study focuses on the synthesis of the feldspar anorthite, CaAl₂Si₂O₈, via solid-state procedures and the densification of the synthesized powders using the technique of uniaxial hot-pressing. Constituent powders of aluminum sesquioxide (Al₂O₃), silicon dioxide (SiO …

The Effects Of Curing Temperature On The Hydration Kinetics Of Plain And Fly Ash Pastes And Compressive Strength Of Corresponding Mortars With And Without Nano-Tio2 Addition., Dan Huang, Mirian Velay-Lizancos, Jan Olek

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Incorporation of fly ash in cementitious systems containing ordinary portland cement (OPC) increases their long-term strength and durability. However, replacement of cement by fly ash also reduces the heat of hydration of such systems and reduces early-age strength development. The reduced rate of strength development can increase the risk of durability problems, e.g. scaling, in cases when young concrete is exposed to low temperatures and deicing chemicals. This study investigated the potential of nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO₂) particles to modify the hydration kinetics of fly ash pastes and compressive strength development of corresponding mortars cured under low (4°C) and …

Corrosion Performance Of Embedded Steel Bar In Cl--Contaminated Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (Lc3) At Initial Stage Of Hydration, Weiwen Li, Zuhua Xu, Yaocheng Wang, Xin Wang, Feng Xing

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) presents brilliant properties in binding Cl^- so that the embedded steel bars are probably protected in Cl^--contaminated condition, which meets the need of sea sand application. However, the corrosion performance of steel bars embedded in LC3 paste with Cl^‑ is unclear, especially in early age hydration. Thus, a series of experiments were carried out to evaluate the corrosion performance of steel bars on initial and hardened stages of hydration, including concentration of OH^- and Cl^- in real pore solution, open circuit potential (OCP) and chemical elements of steel bars. …

Fracture Response Of Wollastonite Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composites: Evaluation Using Micro-Indentation And Finite Element Simulation, Sami Doner, Gideon A. Lyngdoh, Sumeru Nayak, Sumanta Das

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The paper presents indentation studies on wollastonite fiber incorporated cementitious systems. The acicular nature of the fibers is poised to delay the coalescence of micro-cracks in such systems thus leading to tougher building materials. Towards that end, load-penetration depth results from the indentation studies are employed to ascertain elastic and fracture properties of wollastonite-incorporated cementitious composites. While up to 10% mass-based cement-replacement by wollastonite results in comparable elastic moduli as compared to conventional binders, the fracture toughness increases by as much as 33%. In order to gain insights into the toughening mechanisms brought about by the fine fibers, a microstructure-guided …

Model-Based Design Of An Optimal Lqg Regulator For A Piezoelectric Actuated Smart Structure Using A High-Precision Laser Interferometry Measurement System, Grant P. Gallagher

Master's Theses

Smart structure control systems commonly use piezoceramic sensors or accelerometers as vibration measurement devices. These measurement devices often produce noisy and/or low-precision signals, which makes it difficult to measure small-amplitude vibrations. Laser interferometry devices pose as an alternative high-precision position measurement method, capable of nanometer-scale resolution. The aim of this research is to utilize a model-based design approach to develop and implement a real-time Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) regulator for a piezoelectric actuated smart structure using a high-precision laser interferometry measurement system to suppress the excitation of vibratory modes.

The analytical model of the smart structure is derived using the …

Evaluating The Effects Of Granulated Rubber And Glass Fibers In Polymer Concrete As A Structural Material For Wafer Grinding Machines, Kevin Gabriel Kuehn, Philip Randall Streeter

Materials Engineering

Polymer concrete is a composite material used to replace cast iron and steel in wafer grinding machines for vibration damping. During the grinding and lapping processes of manufacturing silicon wafers, excessive vibrations may cause subsurface damage which requires additional polishing and reduces yield. Nine compositions containing various levels of granulated rubber and glass fibers were manufactured. CRM WRF-10 granulated rubber was examined at 0%, 5%, and 10% and Corning Cem-Fil glass fibers were added at 0%, 0.5%, and 1% by weight. Smooth-On EpoxAcast 690 epoxy resin was held constant at 16% for each composition. Crushed granite aggregate from Martin Marietta, …

Near-Earth Ion Irradiation Effects On Functional Ceramic Materials: A Combined Experimental-Monte Carlo Approach, William J. Sands

All Theses

The near-Earth space radiation environment is a complex system that creates a harmful environment for materials to operate in. Motivated by the search for using optical defects as an indicator of radiation damage, five single-crystal functional ceramic materials were selected to undergo ion irradiation at conditions found in the near-Earth space environment. Due to the complex nature of ion irradiation effects in ceramic materials, a host of calculations and experimental characterization methods were used. Calculations using the 2013 SRIM code were used to evaluate the ion projected range and the type and number of defects (vacancies) created by ion irradiation. …

Synthesis Of Monodisperse Nanoscintillators At High Temperatures For Biomedical Relevant Applications, Eric Zhang

All Dissertations

Luminescent sub-100 nm particulates continuously generate immense research interest in the biomedical field for imaging, theranostics, and optogenetics. Conventionally, upconversion nanoparticles or UV activated semiconductors are studied, however these materials are limited by biological barriers such as the skin which reduces the penetration depth of these excitation sources, tissue's auto- fluorescence, and toxicity. One approach to overcome these challenges is to use nanoscintillators (sub-100 nm materials that can generate visible light using high energy excitation sources such as x-rays) which can generate light locally to the human body. Numerous scintillators have been reported since the discovery of x-rays from the …