Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Acoustic Management Of Library Fishbowls, Zachary J. Lilley

Materials Engineering

The purpose of this project is to aid the Cal Poly Robert E. Kennedy library in modifying the “fishbowl” study spaces to more effectively maintain the desirable sound that is generated within the fishbowls while avoiding the entrance and exit of excess noise to and from the fishbowls. A collaboration between the Materials Engineering Department and the Architecture Department provided the combined expertise needed to design, test, and install a prototype acoustic treatment in fishbowl 216-R in consultation with the Cal Poly Library as the voice of the customer. The fishbowl’s undesirable acoustic properties can be attributed to the hard …

High-Performance Self-Powered Photodetectors Based On Zno/Zns Core-Shell Nanorod Arrays, Hailing Lin, Lin Wei, Cuncun Wu, Yanxue Chen, Shishen Yan, Liangmo Mei, Jun Jiao

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, there is an urgent demand for high-performance ultraviolet photodetectors with high photosensitivity, fast responsivity, and excellent spectral selectivity. In this letter, we report a self-powered photoelectrochemical cell-type UV detector using the ZnO/ZnS core-shell nanorod array as the active photoanode and deionized water as the electrolyte. This photodetector demonstrates an excellent spectral selectivity and a rapid photoresponse time of about 0.04 s. And the maximum responsivity is more than 0.056 (A/W) at 340 nm, which shows an improvement of 180 % compared to detectors based on the bare ZnO nanorods. This improved photoresponsivity can be understood from the …

Lengthscale Effects On Exchange Coupling In Co-Pt L10 + L12 Nanochessboards, Eric P. Vetter, Liwei D. Geng, Priya Ghatwai, Dustin A. Gilbert, Yongmei M. Jin, William A. Soffa, Jerrold A. Floro

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The Co-Pt nanochessboard is a quasi-periodic, nanocomposite tiling of L10 and L12 magnetic phases that offers a novel structure for the investigation of exchange coupling, relevant to permanent magnet applications. Periodicity of the tiling is controlled by the rate of cooling through the eutectoid isotherm, resulting in control over the L10-L12 exchange coupling. First order reversal curve analysis reveals a transition from partial coupling to nearly complete exchange-coupling in a Co40.2Pt59.8 nanochessboard structured alloy as the periodicity is reduced below the critical correlation length. Micromagnetic simulations give insights into how exchange coupling manifests in the tiling, and its impact on …

Experimental Investigation On Flow Characteristics Of A Four-Wing Micro Air Vehicle, Lisong Shi, Chunkit Uy, Shih K. Huang, Zifeng Yang, George P.G. Huang, Chihyung Wen

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The aim of current research work on micro air vehicles is to realize their autonomous control, i.e. building a library for a lookup table that would apply to micro electronics. In doing so, comprehensive flight tests need to be carried out. In this study, a four-wing flapping MAV is built and a multi-discipline approach is used to design the MAV model. Precision manufacturing technology is introduced here. The finished micro air vehicle has a weight of 8 g and is tested for flight by remote control. The micro air vehicle can perform both hovering and forward flight with high maneuverability. …

Inquiry Of Graphene Electronic Fabrication, John Rausch Greene

Master's Theses

Graphene electronics represent a developing field where many material properties and devices characteristics are still unknown. Researching several possible fabrication processes creates a fabrication process using resources found at Cal Poly a local industry sponsor. The project attempts to produce a graphene network in the shape of a fractal Sierpinski carpet. The fractal geometry proves that PDMS microfluidic channels produce the fine feature dimensions desired during graphene oxide deposit. Thermal reduction then reduces the graphene oxide into a purified state of graphene. Issues arise during thermal reduction because of excessive oxygen content in the furnace. The excess oxygen results in …

Preparation And Microstructure Of Machinable Al2O3/Mica Composite By Ball Milling And Hot-Press Sintering, Qingbo Tian, Deyu Kong, Tongguang Zhai

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

A machinable α-Al₂O₃/mica composite was prepared by hot-press sintering. In this experiment, a mica-contained glass ceramic in the MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-F glassy system was employed and the base glass powders were obtained by traditional melting-quenched method. Then, α-Al₂O₃ milling swarf was introduced by medium α-alumina milling ball to the glass powders. The test results indicate that the composites consist of mica crystal and mullite crystal, which are precipitated in the base glass. The α-Al₂O₃ shows an irregular polygon, which is inlayed in the base material. With …

Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Characteristics Of Four Novel Borate-Based Bioactive Glasses, Megan Ottomeyer, Ali Mohammadkah, D. E. Day, David J. Westenberg

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bioactive glasses have been developed for medical applications in the body for bone and tissue repair and regeneration. We have developed a borate-containing bioactive glass (13-93B3, referred to as B3), which is undergoing clinical trials to assess its wound-healing properties. To complement the healing properties of B3, metal ion dopants have been added to enhance its antimicrobial properties. Bioactive glasses doped with silver, gallium or iodine ions were found to have broad spectrum antimicrobial effects on clinically relevant bacteria including MRSA. While the B3 glass alone was sufficient to produce antibacterial effects on select bacteria, adding dopants enhanced the broad-spectrum …

Application Of Inkjet Printing Technology To Flexible Batteries, Yuan Gu

Dissertations

Printing technologies have been considered as alternative methods to fabricate thin films in recent years. More and more functional devices like resistors, sensors, antennas and even energy storage devices have been fabricated by printing technologies. As a typical digital printing technology, inkjet printing has much more advantages over the traditional mechanical printing technologies such as: low cost, computer controllable shape design and precise deposition. In this investigation, application of inkjet printing is used to fabricate conductive tracks and rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

Particle free silver ink is developed to solve this problem. In this research, silver complex solution is printed …

Reconfigurable Liquid Attenuated Collimator, Larry W. Burggraf, Benjamin R. Kowash, Jack G. M. Fitzgerald

AFIT Patents

A reconfigurable radiographic aperture mask collimator apparatus includes a body portion configured to receive an attenuating liquid having a first attenuation value per unit volume. The apparatus further includes a grid portion mated to a face of the body portion and a plurality of passageways each having a cross sectional area and a length. The plurality of passageways is disposed within the grid portion. A plurality of plugs is slidably disposed within the plurality of passageways, and each of the plurality of plugs has a second attenuation value per unit volume less than the first attenuation value. One of the …

Special Issue: Photoelectrochemistry And New Types Of Solar Cells, Chang-Jian Lin, Yong-Fang Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

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Cathode Buffer Layer For Improving Photovoltaic Performance Of Planar P-I-N Perovskite Solar Cells, Xiao-Dong Liu, Yong-Fang Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Organic/inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskite semiconductor materials have drawn great attention for the application in solar cells in recent years because of their combined superior photoelectrical properties of inorganic semiconductors (with high dielectric constant and high charge carriers mobility) and organic semiconductors (with good solution processability and high absorbance). The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the organometal halide perovskite solar cells (pero-SCs) based on CH₃NH₃PbI₃ has been increased dramatically in a few years from 3.8% to a certified 22.1%, primarily owing to the development of new interfacial materials, careful optimization of morphology, and perovskite crystallization …

Fabrications Of Three Copper Sulfide Counter Electrodes And Their Influences On Photovoltaic Properties In Qdsscs, Xiao-Dan Hong, Zi-Jie Xu, Fa-Yin Zhang, Yu-Peng Li, Mei-Dan Ye, Chang-Jian Lin, Wen-Xi Guo

Journal of Electrochemistry

Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) have attracted intensive attention in scientific and industrial fields due to their high molar extinction coefficient, spectral tunability by particle size, ease of fabrication, and low cost. In the past years, semiconductor metal sulfides have attracted extensive attention because of their attractive physical and chemical properties for potential applications in many fields,such as PbS, CuS, CoS and CdS. In particular, copper sulfides have become a promising candidate for counter electrode materials in QDSSCs for their outstanding electrochemical and catalytic properties. In order to explore more stable and efficient copper sulfide counter electrode materials, in this …

Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Cells: Methods For Improving Performance Of Electrodes And Recent Progress On Photocathodes, Kai-Jian Zhu, Wen-Jun Luo, Zhong-Jie Guan, Xin Wen, Zhi-Gang Zou, Wei Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Photoelectrochemical water splitting can convert solar energy into hydrogen which is an ideal way to utilize and store solar energy. A p-n tandem cell is considered as the most promising solar water splitting cell due to its high theory conversion efficiency, low cost and photoelectrode material flexibility. However, solar conversion efficiency of a tandem cell is still low in the experiment because of poor performance in a single photoelectrode. In this review, we have introduced some effective approaches to improve the performances of photoelectrodes by reducing recombination of photogenerated carriers in the bulk or on the surface, and suppressing back …

Theoretical Study Of Photoelectrochemical Reactions And Ec-Sers On Spr Metallic Electrodes Of Silver And Gold, Yuan-Fei Wu, Ran Pang, Meng Zhang, Jian-Zhang Zhou, Bin Ren, Zhong-Qun Tian, De-Yin Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

At present photoelectrochemistry has received much concern back to nanostructures of noble metals from semiconductor electrodes. This is due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of metallic nanostructures, which can effectively convert the far-field light to the near-field light and concentrate the photonic energy to the local surface area with high energy density. Thus, the different enhancement mechanisms, such as the local optical field enhancement, the formation of light generated hot carriers (hot electron-hole pairs), or the photothermal effect, have been proposed in literatures. On the basis of the SPR enhancement effect, the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can be …

Prospects Of D-Π-A Structured Porphyrins And Their Photoelectrochemical Application, Shuang-Shuang Liu, Jian-Feng Lu, Ming-Kui Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Porphyrins and their metalloderivatives are a class of compounds exhibiting a wide variety of interesting and highly useful properties, such as chlorophyll. Porphyrins are particularly interesting in photoelectrochemical applications due to their structural similarity to chlorophylls in natural photosynthetic systems, as well as their strong and tunable absorption properties. Recently, various porphyrins have been extensively studied for their applications in solar cells, photocatalytic hydrogen production, optical information storage and others. This review will focus on the unique physical and chemical properties of D-π-A structured porphyrins, and their photovoltaic performances in dye-sensitized solar cells. A brief discussion in the future development …

Preparations And Photoelectrochemical Properties Of Phosphate Modified Rgo-Biobr Nanocomposites, Shuang-Ying Chen, Zhi-Jun Li, Xu-Liang Zhang, Kang Hu, Rui Yan, Li-Qiang Jing

Journal of Electrochemistry

The RGO-BiOBr nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal process, and then modified with phosphorous acids. The photoelectrochemical properties of the fabricated RGO-BiOBr nanocomposite films were studied. The results indicate that the photocurrent densities of RGO-BiOBr were much larger compared with those of the bare BiOBr, and interestingly, the photocurrent densities were further improved after phosphate modification. Based on the analyses of the produced hydroxyl radical amounts, the enhanced photocurrent densities could be attributed to the introduction of RGO and to the formed negative fields of modified phosphate groups, which are favorable for electrons to be transferred and for …

Activation Effect Of Nano-Carbon Derived From Co2 On Lead Electrode In Sulfuric Aqueous Solution, Yu-Qiao Song, Hua Zhu, Guang-Jin Zhao, Wen-Long Wu, Shou-Bin Zhou, Di-Hua Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Serious sulfation of the negative plate is one of the most popular reasons of the early failure of lead-acid battery. Addition of nano-carbon was proved to be effective for recovering the sulfated electrode and the property of the carbon material always plays an important role. In this work, a new kind of nano-carbon material with high electrical conductivity and good adsorption capability for heavy metal cations, which is electrochemically prepared from CO₂ in molten carbonates, was tested as activation additive for the sulfated lead electrode by cyclic voltammetry and SEM measurements. The results showed that the as-prepared carbon can …

WoX/Pedot:Pss Double-Layered Hole-Transport Layers For Efficient And Stable Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells, Wen-Yuan Qiao, Qiang Guo, Cong Li, Shuang Ma, Fu-Zhi Wang, Song-Yuan Dai, Zhan-Ao Tan

Journal of Electrochemistry

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is a commonly used hole-transport material in the perovskite solar cells (PerSCs) structure of perovskite/fullerene planer heterojunction, but it also has a negative effect on the stability of device because of its acidity which will corrode metal oxide transparent electrodes. In this work, a WO_x hole-transport layer with high work function was inserted into the PEDOT: PSS and FTO to enhance the stability and photovoltaic performance. The inserted WO_x layer not only can avoid direct contact between PEDOT:PSS and FTO, but also can further reduce the contact barrier between the electrode interface. We studied the effect …

A Novel Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Based On Pt Networks Counter Electrode, Zi-Jie Xu, Fa-Yin Zhang, Xiao-Dan Hong, Wen-Xi Guo, Xiang-Yang Liu, Chang-Jian Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received widespread attentions in recent years because of their ease of fabrication, low production cost, relatively high chemical stability and flexibility. We report the fabrication of ZnO DSSCs based on the highly flexible, conducting, catalytic and transparent Pt networks counter electrode, and the performance of this solar cell was characterized by SEM, XRD, polarized fluorescence microscope, motor, I-V test station and electrochemical workstation. Compared to Pt nanofiber arrays (NFs), Pt networks not only show a better conductivity, but also exhibit superior transparency and catalytic activity. Furthermore, Pt networks electrode could be constructed on arbitrary …

Hydrothermal One-Step Synthesis Of Layered Nickel/Cobalt Double Hydroxide With Using Shape-Directing Agent And Homogeneous Precipitating Agent, Li-Wei Zhu, Yun-Hai Yan, Hui Jia, Run-Fen Liang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nickel/cobalt double hydroxide (Ni/Co-DH) has been prepared by facile hydrothermal one-step synthesis method using hexamethylene tetramine (HMT) as a homogeneous precipitating agent and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a shape-directing agent. With the hydrolysis of HMT and the use of CTAB, the Ni/Co-DH could be synthesized without additional alkali source, and in the meantime, the Ni/Co-DH exhibited a controlled mesopore size of 13.4 nm and a large BET surface area of 93.6 m² •g^-1 . The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern displays that the Ni/Co-DH existed as a mixture of α-Ni(OH)₂-β-Co(OH)₂. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) …