Polymer Science Commons^™

Made On Mars: Design And Manufacturing Of Structural Polymer-Regolith Composites, Pailey M. Vitale

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Human exploration of Mars is constrained by harsh environmental conditions and the prohibitive cost of transporting materials from Earth. Long-term sustainability requires the local production of mechanical and structural components using resources available on Mars, thereby minimizing payload mass. This project investigates polymer–regolith composites derived from atmospheric CO₂ and mineral-rich regolith as a pathway toward in-situ manufacturing. These composites, when compatible with additive manufacturing, could replace imported plastics, enable on-demand fabrication, and support closed-loop recycling systems. The objective is to design and evaluate polymer–regolith composites that maintain mechanical integrity and environmental resistance under Martian conditions, including extreme temperature swings, radiation …

Biobased Acrylate Composites With Enhanced Strength For Additive Manufacturing, Nicole Wagner, Joseph Mcwherter

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

With the expanding use of polymers in additive manufacturing, sustainable resins for use in vat photopolymerization are required to reduce their environmental impact. One promising approach to achieve this is to incorporate biobased fillers that replace the acrylates in photopolymer resins as ‘green’ alternatives. In this study, photopolymer composites consisting of a methacrylate resin with varying calcium carbonate powder content between 0 and 50 wt.% were investigated. A digital light processing technique was used to fabricate tensile test specimens for mechanical testing. Good printability, dimensional accuracy, and good interlayer adhesion were observed for composite resin formulations that incorporated calcium carbonate …

Prediction Of Glass Transition Temperature Of Polymers Using Structure-Based Models, Nicholas Wolfe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The focus for this study is prediction of glass transition temperatures of polymers using machine learning models. The preprocessing of the data included the generation of descriptors, the scaling of the data, the principal component analysis for dimensionality reduction, and the clustering of the data. Three methods of property predictions were utilized including Linear Regression, Random Forest, and a Feedforward Neural Network. The dataset consisted of over 7000 polymers each with their respective glass transition temperatures. This study found that the Random Forest model returned the best results followed by the Feedforward Neural Network then the Linear Regression model. Each …

Solubility Characterization Of Organic Molecules For Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries, Anthony W. Ferrell, Harkeerith K. Vij, Seamus D. Jones

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The major obstacle to renewable energy sources is a lack of long-term energy storage capabilities. Energy produced during the day dissipates, leaving insufficient electricity for at night. The goal of the project is to design an Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery (AORFB) to act as long-term energy storage. Work has been done using machine learning to identify suitable compounds for the batteries. In this work there was no indication as to the aqueous solubility of the molecules; this controls the device’s energy storage capabilities. We used a machine learning model to determine the aqueous solubility of slightly more than 3000 …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Lignin–Pva Hydrogels With Tunable Network Structures, Keturah Bethel

All Dissertations

The ability to directly tune the crosslinked network structure of hydrogels is crucial for their functional applications in various fields, such as water filtration, protein separation, and tissue engineering. By controlling the crosslink density of the hydrogel, one can directly alter the mesh size – i.e., the end-to-end distance between crosslink junctions – and, subsequently, directly alter the hydrogel performance. This work discusses the fabrication and characterization of soft composites containing the biopolymer, lignin, are discussed. Precisely, physically-crosslinked composite lignin–Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels were fabricated via the freeze-thaw (F/T) pathway, whereby solutions containing specified amounts of PVA and lignin were …

Carbon Fibers From Athabasca Oil-Sand Asphaltenes, Blake Reardon

All Theses

Carbon fibers possess ultra-high specific strength and modulus. Therefore, the material is popular in aerospace, automotive, and sports industries. Approximately 95% of all carbon fibers are spun from a high-cost precursor, polyacrylonitrile (PAN). There is a need for a cheaper grade of carbon fiber for low-cost applications because about half of carbon fiber cost is associated with precursor cost. A promising alternative to the high-cost PAN precursor is petroleum-based asphaltene. Asphaltenes are highly aromatic and have a high carbon content but lack the purity of the PAN precursor. Processes like the molten- sodium desulfurization upgrading have been used to harvest …

Solid-State Shear Pulverization: A Comprehensive Study On Polymer Processing Technology From A Systematic Innovation Perspective, Tyler A. Will

Master’s Theses

Solid-state shear pulverization (SSSP) is a continuous and scalable processing technique that imposes mechanochemical changes in polymer-based materials. It has been shown to impart beneficial properties onto homopolymers or create copolymers and composites through continuous fragmentation and fusion. The unique technology employs cold temperature to keep the polymer in the solid state. This thesis investigates industrial polymer processing in the context of real-world applications. This thesis analyzes SSSP using an organized methodology called systematic innovation (SI). SI facilitates problem solving by assisting engineers in conducting root cause analysis around a material and studying the physical setup of the equipment.

This …

Carbon Fibers From Bio-Based Precursors Derived From Renewable Sources, Sagar Kanhere

All Dissertations

Carbon fibers have the highest strength and modulus among all known fibers and are used as reinforcements in high-performance composites [1]. Carbon fibers also have a very low density relative to metals. Therefore, carbon fibers possess ultrahigh specific strength and modulus, which make them desirable for high-performance light-weight composites. A vast majority of commercial carbon fibers are produced from PAN precursors that are expensive, which limits the use of PAN-derived carbon fibers to aerospace applications (e.g., airplanes). However, for costsensitive applications, there is a need for low-cost, moderate performance carbon fibers. Lignin is a low-cost by-product of pulping and biorefining …

Degumming Of Hemp Fibers Using Combined Microwave Energy And Deep Eutectic Solvent, Bulbul Ahmed

LSU Master's Theses

Hemp is considered as one of the sustainable agricultural fiber materials. Degumming or surface modification of hemp bast is needed to produce single fibers for ensuing textile and industrial applications. The traditional degumming process necessitates a high amount of alkali, which causes detrimental environmental pollution. This study offers a new method to degum hemp fibers with reduced use of harmful alkali and precious water resources. In this work, hemp bast fibers were degummed by using combined microwave energy and deep eutectic solvent (DES). The properties of hemp fibers manufactured by this method were investigated and compared with the traditional alkali …

Husky Hand: A Low-Cost Electro-Mechanical Prosthetic Arm For The Underprivileged, Adam Robert

Thinking Matters Symposium

A continuation of a low-cost prosthetic upper limb prototype design which was investigated in EGN 301. The prosthetic is specifically designed for the needs and requirements of under privileged individuals in the Dominican Republic with upper limb amputations. The project focuses on the creation of an open-source computer aided prosthetic hand/arm model. The design allows consumer-grade fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3-D printers to be used. The improved design allows for the integration of the PQ-12 linear actuator for grasp and finger control. This simplifies the assembly, while, also reducing the size and mass of the whole unit. Producing a low-cost …

The Critical Role Of Dynamic Surface Tension Of Surfactants On The Impact Dynamics Of Water Droplets, Amir Esmaeili, Reza Mohammadi

Graduate Research Posters

Due to their time-dependent surface tension, the addition of surface-active agents or surfactants to water for specific applications has made controlling the impact dynamics of these droplets a complex phenomenon. This work investigates the influence of the molecular weight, concentration, and ionic nature of the surfactants as well as the substrate surface characteristics on the impact dynamics of surfactant-laden droplets using a high-speed camera at 10000 frames per second. Sodium dodecyl sulfate, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, and n-decanoyl-n-methylglucamine were used as anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants, respectively. We used hydrophilic glass slides, hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene, and superhydrophobic alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) as substrates. …

Waste Management By Waste: Removal Of Acid Dyes From Wastewaters Of Textile Coloration Using Fish Scales, S M Fijul Kabir

LSU Master's Theses

Removal of hazardous acid dyes by economical process using low-cost bio-sorbents from wool industry wastewaters is of a pressing need, since it causes skin and respiratory diseases and disrupts other environmental components. Fish scales (FS), a by-product of fish industry, a type of solid waste, are usually discarded carelessly resulting in pungent odor and environmental burden. In this research, the FS of black drum (Pogonias cromis) were used for the removal of acid dyes (acid red 1 (AR1), acid blue 45 (AB45) and acid yellow 127 (AY126)) from wool industry wastewaters by absorption process with a view to …

Minimizing Sheet Resistance Of Organic Photovoltaic Cell Top Contact Electrode Layer: Silver Nanowire Concentration Vs. Conductive Polymer Doping Concentration, Caitlyn Cook

Materials Engineering

The top contact electrode layers of nine organic photovoltaic cells were prepared with two varying factors: three Silver nanowire (AgNW) densities deposited on a conductive polymer doped with three concentrations. Silver’s low sheet resistance of 20-Ω/sq is hypothesized to lower the sheet resistance of the anode layer and thus enhance the overall efficiency of the cell. Four-point probe measurements indicated that increasing AgNW density in the top contact electrode layer of an organic photovoltaic cell significantly reduces sheet resistance from 52.2k-Ω/sq to 18.0 Ω/sq. Although an increase in doping concentration of the conductive polymer reduced sheet resistance in low AgNW …

Materials Education And Research In Art And Design: A New Role For Libraries (Survey Stats), Mark Pompelia

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries

No abstract provided.

Materials Education And Research In Art And Design: A New Role For Libraries (Program Sheet), Mark Pompelia

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries

No abstract provided.

Materials Education And Research In Art And Design: A New Role For Libraries (Program Booklet), Mark Pompelia

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries

No abstract provided.

Materials Education And Research In Art And Design: A New Role For Libraries (Website), Mark Pompelia

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries

No abstract provided.

Materials Collection Creation And Administration: A New Role For Libraries (White Paper), Mark Pompelia

Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries

The Problem/Opportunity: To define, identify, and guide design-based materials collections in academic settings and foster community among those with existing collections and/or those considering creating and supporting one.

Contents and topics:

1. What is a materials collection?
2. Why have a materials collection?
3. Acquisition strategies
4. Organizational approaches
5. Programming possibilities
6. Symposium summary
7. Resources

Thermal Damage Approach Of Concrete: Application To Specimens Subjected To Combined Compressive And High Temperature Loads, Abdellah Menou, Ghassan Mounajed, Hocine Boussa, Christian La Borderie, Khalid Lafdi

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Within the framework of study of concrete structures subjected to fire, .a theoretical and experimental work was conducted. The aim of this study was to investigate and to model the damage mechanisms of concrete after their exposure to high temperatures. The multiphase Digital Concrete Model as well as the damage model, MOD EV, which were both implemented on the finiteelem~ rit software package, SYMPHONIE, were used simμltaneously to assess the thermal damage of the concrete. In order to validate the thermal damage model, an experimental investigation was performed. The mechanical characteristics of 5 cementitious materials, which included cement paste, mortar, …