Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Testing The Effectiveness Of Various Fabrics For Use In Protective Face Coverings, Isaac Daley Jan 2021

Testing The Effectiveness Of Various Fabrics For Use In Protective Face Coverings, Isaac Daley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Facemask requirements have been heavily implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to test various fabrics that could be used in face coverings and determine which materials are best for reducing virus transmission rates. Of the seven fabrics tested, five were conventional home-use fabrics and the other two were surfaces modified with hydrophobic organosilanes. Wettability and droplet adherence tests were performed on each material. The materials that performed the best were decyltrichlorosilane (DTS) modified cotton, perfluorotrichlorosilane (FTS) modified cotton, and polyester. Contact angles for water droplets on these fabrics were 106°, 93°, and …


Evaluating The Thermoresponsive Properties Of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Solutions For Smart Window Applications, Adam Reed Jan 2021

Evaluating The Thermoresponsive Properties Of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Solutions For Smart Window Applications, Adam Reed

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With HVAC and building energy usage expected to increase, there is a strong need for autonomous thermal management solutions. In particular, there has been a growing interest in thermoresponsive (TR) smart windows that are activated by ambient temperature changes. Most TR smart windows contain a liquid solution between two panes. The goal of this research project was to develop a self-supporting smart window by forming a gel that maintained its TR properties. A gel is less prone to spilling in the case of window breakage. It was also desired to tune the phase transition to occur at environmentally relevant conditions …


Quantifying Mafenide Release From 3d Printed Phenylalanine-Coumarin Copolyester Scaffolds, Jacob Seeh Jan 2021

Quantifying Mafenide Release From 3d Printed Phenylalanine-Coumarin Copolyester Scaffolds, Jacob Seeh

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project addressed burn wound healing through controlled release of the antibacterial drug mafenide encapsulated by a copolyster into 3D printed scaffolds. Scaffolds were printed at 25oC and 0.77-1 bar in a cross-hatch pattern with uniform thickness, distance between parallel layers, and diameter then photo-crosslinked. The number of scaffolds available for testing was limited by the amount of polymer that could be synthesized. A high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed specifically for this experiment and used to determine daily release of mafenide from the scaffold into a 2-mL phosphate buffer solution. During the first 24 hours a large …


Wetting Transition On 3d-Printed Featured Surface, Hannah Pineault Jan 2021

Wetting Transition On 3d-Printed Featured Surface, Hannah Pineault

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The primary objective of this research project was to gain a better understanding of surface characteristics to produce a long-lasting superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic surface. In other words, when will a droplet of water remain on top of a featured surface and when does the transition occur to water filling the grooves of the surface? This research focused on how to best fabricate porous structures that would stay completely dry at all times by preventing the liquid from penetrating. In particular, we followed the behaviors of water droplets placed on top of 3-D printed featured surfaces with various geometries and surface …


The Effects And Motion Of An Air-Filled Cylinder Being Submerged In Water In The Axial Direction, Ethan Davis Jan 2021

The Effects And Motion Of An Air-Filled Cylinder Being Submerged In Water In The Axial Direction, Ethan Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Submarines operate on the basis of a difference in relative densities between of vessel and the surrounding fluid. This principle is based on the force balance that exists between the total buoyancy force and the force due to gravity. Previous work focuses on the neutral buoyancy depths and velocities of object that once submerged, their buoyancy force is a constant along with the force due to gravity. This work aims to better understand how the compression of air at various depths below the surface of the water contribute to the neutral buoyancy depth, velocity of the object as it rises, …


Relating Modified Ergun's Equation To Hindered Settling Correlations, Ryan Zahniser Jan 2021

Relating Modified Ergun's Equation To Hindered Settling Correlations, Ryan Zahniser

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Correlations were developed between the Modified Ergun’s and Hindered settling correlations under the condition of dense packing of particles in the bed. As the porosity of the slurry increases, so does the interference between particles in the solution which mimics the behavior of a packed or densely concentrated fluidized bed. The similarity between the two sets of conditions was modeled using mathematical equations to calculate settling velocities and pressure drops by means of the Hindered Settling correlations and Modified Ergun’s equation at porosities ranging from 0.4242 to 0.89. The results showed that a porosity of 0.52 and 0.009 ft particle …


Increasing The Corrosion Protection Of Aisi 1008 Carbon Steel By Surface Treatment With Unmodified And Benzotriazole Modified Sol-Gel Films, Shane Thomas Kelliher Jan 2021

Increasing The Corrosion Protection Of Aisi 1008 Carbon Steel By Surface Treatment With Unmodified And Benzotriazole Modified Sol-Gel Films, Shane Thomas Kelliher

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The corrosion performance of sol-gel coated AISI 1008 carbon steel was investigated in 3.5 wt% NaCl solutions of pH 7, 9, and 12 using electrochemical measurements. A corrosion inhibitor, benzotriazole (BTA) was added to the sol-gel mixture and tested as a second, modified sol-gel coating. Sol-gel films adhered evenly to metal samples and were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) showed an increase in polarization resistance from blank to sol-gel coated samples (600-18,800,000 ohms). Cyclic polarization (CPP) curves showed positive hysteresis loops for blank and unmodified sol-gel coated samples which increased at high pH following the backward potential …


Comparison Of The Effects Of Hofmeister Ions On Transition Temperature Of Two Thermoresponsive Polymers, Ashley Knight Jan 2021

Comparison Of The Effects Of Hofmeister Ions On Transition Temperature Of Two Thermoresponsive Polymers, Ashley Knight

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It has been hypothesized that poly(vinylmethylether) (PVME) could be used to replace poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAM) in various thermoresponsive applications based on literature searches and previous lab experiments. PVME is cheaper and easier to process, and would make pNIPAAM applications more cost effective. In order to verify this, experimental data was gathered on the effects of four anions from the Hofmeister series (SO42-, Cl-, I-, and SCN-) on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of pNIPAAM and compared to previous data collected on PVME. Commercial pNIPAAM from Sigma Aldrich and Polysciences were used. The reported LCST range for pNIPAAM is …


Simulation Of Water Loading In Filter Medium, Anthony Mole Jan 2021

Simulation Of Water Loading In Filter Medium, Anthony Mole

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research will model fluid flow through a filter plugged with water droplets using FlexPDE software. After simulations are run at various initial conditions, curves will be developed to correlate the permeability of the filter to variables like water droplet distribution and size.


Development Of Phagotrophic Algae-Based Process For Conversion Of Waste Organics To Algae Lipids As Potential Feedstock For Biofuel, Hannah Nelson Jan 2021

Development Of Phagotrophic Algae-Based Process For Conversion Of Waste Organics To Algae Lipids As Potential Feedstock For Biofuel, Hannah Nelson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Interest in sustainable feedstock for biofuel has encouraged research on the production of phagotrophic algae from bacteria using a two-staged continuous-flow system. Bacteria cultures were fed the content of a waste stream from The J.M. Smuckers Company containing high concentrations of sugar. In the design, the bacteria effluent overflowed into the algae tank which was kept at a set volume. Several methods were developed to assist in maintaining the system at steady state and minimize the impact from contaminants. A rigorous cleaning protocol was implemented for both tanks, effectively eliminating protozoa from the bacteria system. The protozoa were decreased in …


Molecular Recognition Of Pet Depolymerization Products And Beta-Cyclodextrin, Thomas Palisin Jan 2021

Molecular Recognition Of Pet Depolymerization Products And Beta-Cyclodextrin, Thomas Palisin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using molecular recognition techniques to determine the binding constant of the host-guest relationships of the depolymerization products of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and cyclodextrin species. The main method of data collection used was florescence spectroscopy. Using a titration method and measuring the florescence intensity, a nonlinear regression was used to determine the binding constant.


Investigation Of Surface Charge Using Faraday Bucket Measurements: Analysis On Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fiber Mats, Ryan Kantenwein Jan 2021

Investigation Of Surface Charge Using Faraday Bucket Measurements: Analysis On Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fiber Mats, Ryan Kantenwein

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Piezoelectric polymer materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride exhibit beneficial properties for use in personal protective equipment (PPE) against viral contaminants and other foreign microparticles. The electrospinning process of this material allows for surface charge to develop over a controlled surface area. Kynar 761 at 10 wt% demonstrates increased surface charge after withstanding a flow of aerated NaCl particles from a TSI 8130 instrument. Utilizing voltage measurements from a Faraday bucket, 18 wt% Kynar 761 and MG-15 exhibit surface charge when undergoing an electrospinning process; however, Kynar MG-15 displays lower charge values than that of Kynar 761. Several critical factors such …


Cold Plasma Enhanced Active Sites On Supported Nip Nanoparticles For The Oxygen Evolution Reaction, Michael Ricci Jan 2021

Cold Plasma Enhanced Active Sites On Supported Nip Nanoparticles For The Oxygen Evolution Reaction, Michael Ricci

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Identifying materials to efficiently facilitate the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is key to advancing water electrolysis, an essential technology in the pathway towards a sustainable energy future. Here, we explore cold-plasma treatment as a facile method to enhance the activity of NiP nanoparticles supported on activated carbon. NiP nanoparticles were synthesized on an activated carbon support using a solid-state method and were then treated with argon, oxygen, and hydrogen plasmas for extended times. In all cases, plasma treatment reduced the number of active sites on the support. OER activity was evaluated by testing the materials in alkaline conditions. The activities …