Polymer and Organic Materials Commons^™

Sustainable Composites From Agricultural And Petroleum Waste, Menisha S. Karunarathna

All Dissertations

Green gas emission has been a pervasive and persistent subject of debate for a prolonged period. The soaring number of industries and vehicle fuel emissions presage a concomitant rise in global CO₂ emissions. Global cement production is responsible for 8% of the total CO₂ release, yet, the production continues due to the surging demand. Hence, there is an ongoing quest to find alternatives for cement and building materials produced with zero to lower CO₂ emissions. The work presented in this dissertation focuses on finding recyclable, zero CO₂ gas-producing high sulfur biocomposites materials, which can compete with …

Detection Of Trace Heavy Metals In Water: Development Of Electrochemical Sensors, Quang Lam, Joel Mututeke

Symposium of Student Scholars

The presence of heavy metals in our ecosystem poses significant ecological and physiological consequences. As a result, numerous techniques are developed for the detection of contaminants in aqueous solutions. However, early and trace detection of such contaminants still remains a challenge. Amongst many techniques, electrochemistry driven sensors have shown promise due to their possibility of miniaturization and low-cost. Our research investigates the use of electrically conducting polymer and atomically thin carbon materials as electrodes towards the development of electrochemical sensor. Nanocomposite electrode films have been synthesized and fabricated using in-situ polymerization technique and the relationship between number of cycles of …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Characterization Of Rf-Based Passive Wireless Sensors Composed Of Refractory Semiconducting Ceramics For High Temperature Applications, Kavin Sivaneri Varadharajan Idhaiam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Real-time health monitoring of high temperature systems (>500^oC) in harsh environments is necessary to prevent catastrophic events caused by structural failures, varying pressure, and chemical reactions. Conventional solid-state temperature sensors such as resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) and thermocouples are restricted by their operating environments, sensor dimensions and often require external power sources for their operation. The current work presents the research and development of RF-based passive wireless sensing technology targeting high temperatures and harsh environmental conditions. Passive wireless devices are generally classified as near-field and far-field devices based on the interrogation distance. Near-field sensors are placed at …

Effects Of Additive Manufacturing Techniques On The Magnetocaloric Properties And Chemical Stability Of Lafexcoysi13-X-Y Alloys, Binyam Wodajo

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging process to fabricate net shape, intricate, engineering components with minimal material waste; however, traditionally it has been largely applied to structural materials. AM of functional materials, such as magnetic materials, has received much less attention and the field is still in its infancy. To date, AM of magnetocaloric regenerators for magnetic refrigeration (an energy-efficient alternative to the conventional vapor-compression cooling technology), remains a challenge. There are several magnetic refrigerator device designs in existence today that are predicted to be highly energy-efficient, on condition that suitable working materials can be developed. This challenge in manufacturing …

Branched Chain Amino Acid Strain State Monitoring With Raman Spectroscopy And Plasmonic Bowtie Nanoantenna Devices For Early Disease Detection, Caroline A. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

This work centers on the development and the down-selection of nano-manufactured devices to be used in conjunction with Raman spectroscopy for probing a branched chain amino acid. The nano-manufactured devices integrate plasmonic nanoantennas for the purpose of amplifying molecular fingerprints, which are otherwise difficult to detect, through Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Plasmonic nanostructures can be utilized for a variety of biomedical and biochemical applications to detect the characteristic fingerprint provided by Raman Spectroscopy. The nano-manufactured devices create an electric field that amplifies minute perturbations and raises the signal above background noise. This may provide a deeper understanding of signal …

Biodegradable Nanocomposite Multifunctional Packaging Film For Fruits, Kalpani Y. Perera, Shubham Sharma, Dileswar Pradhan, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Biopolymers have been used in food packaging in recent years due to high pollution rates and decreased biodegradation of synthetic polymers. Chitosan (CH) and Sodium alginate (SA) are both biodegradable biopolymers with excellent film forming capability. TiO2 nanoparticles have high mechanical strength, degradation ability and antimicrobial properties, which are beneficial in food packaging. The aim of the current work is to develop the biodegradable multifunctional nanocomposite film for fruit (i.e., Pear) packaging applications. Bionanocomposite film was prepared by solvent casting method using CH-SA and various concentrations of TiO2. The multifunctional properties such as UV barrier, thermal, water retention, mechanical, chemical, …

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 …

Experimental Investigation Of The Performance Of A Hybrid Self-Healing System In Porous Asphalt Under Fatigue Loadings, Shi Xu, Liu Xueyan, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Self-healing asphalt, which is designed to achieve autonomic damage repair in asphalt pavement, offers a great life-extension prospect and therefore not only reduces pavement maintenance costs but also saves energy and reduces CO2 emissions. The combined asphalt self-healing system, incorporating both encapsulated rejuvenator and induction heating, can heal cracks with melted binder and aged binder rejuvenation, and the synergistic effect of the two technologies shows significant advantages in healing efficiency over the single self-healing method. This study explores the fatigue life extension prospect of the combined healing system in porous asphalt. To this aim, porous asphalt (PA) test specimens with …

Pressure Driven Desalination Membranes: Lyotropic Liquid Crystals Containing Single Walled Carbon, Matteo A. Del Giudice, Samantha Castillo Merigold

Materials Engineering

This project presents a potential alternative desalination technique that utilizes the ion rejection properties of single walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in a lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) matrix. Previous research has pointed to the polymerizable surfactant methacryloxy ethyl hexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (C16MA) having capabilities of filtering molecular components smaller than a nanometer, when oriented in cylindrical micelles. SWCNTs were dispersed in deionized water by probe sonication and addition of surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) due to SWCNTs’ hydrophobic properties. Membranes were produced containing 55wt% C16MA, 37wt% DI water, 0.1wt% with respect to the monomer (WRM) SWCNTs, 1.9 wt% WRM 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (photointiator), …

Advance Metallic Reinforcement Of Vat Photo Polymerized Parts, Scott Zinn

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The metallization or metallic reinforcement of polymer parts has been widely used in industry for several decades. Polymer parts are classically metalized for aesthetics, chemical and thermal resistance, electrical conductivity, and mechanical strength. Metallization has been shown to increase strength of polymer parts when compared to the strength of the bulk material without metallization. Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques that have emerged in the last few decades produce parts with different surface features and chemistry than the typical polymer part produced through injection molding. AM parts are typically weaker than traditionally manufactured parts from the same material due to intrinsic details …

Impact Dynamics Of Surfactant-Laden Droplets On Non-Wettable Coatings, Amir Esmaeili

Theses and Dissertations

Owing to their excellent water repellency, non-wettable (superhydrophobic) coatings have gained tremendous attention in the past couple of decades. Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD), an inexpensive polymer frequently used in paper industry as a sizing agent, has shown potentials to become superhydrophobic. The formation of a porous structure after curing the solidified AKD for an extra-long time (4–6 days) results in superhydrophobicity, i.e., a static contact angle with water of >150° and a roll-off angle of <10°. In this work, a facile and low-cost method was used to turn the surface of AKD superhydrophobic in a very short period of time by briefly treating the coatings, obtained from isothermally heated molten AKD at 40 °C for 3 min, with ethanol. The resulting superhydrophobicity is due to the formation of porous, entangled irregular micro/nano textures that create air cushions on the surface leading to droplet state transition from Wenzel to Cassie. As a proof of concept, the same material was applied to the co-sputtered nickel-tungsten thin films, commonly used in micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems, to improve their hydrophobicity. According to the results, at least 20% increase was observed in the dynamic contact angles of the treated substrates.

In addition, this work presents a detailed high-speed imaging analysis of the influence of the molecular weight, concentration and ionic nature of surfactants on droplet …

Enhancement Of Phase Change Material Sorbitol By Nanoparticle Inclusion For Improving Thermal Energy Storage Capabilities, Joshua Kasitz

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Thermal management of electronic devices has become an increasingly vital field of study with the rapid miniaturization of many key electrical components. With the significant improvement of semiconductor manufacturing and intensified focus on interconnects, electronic devices have decreased in size at an incredible rate. Decreasing spatial requirements is essential to improving device capabilities as the electronic system is able to incorporate more components. Currently, electronic systems are drastically limited by the capabilities of their cooling mechanisms. Smaller devices lead to large increases in the energy density of the system and require more powerful cooling systems to maintain proper component operating …

Solvent-Free Coating Using Maco Bio-Based Reactive Diluent, Ryder James

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project performed utilizes methacrylated cardanol (MACO) and a linseed oil resin to test how different weight percentages of MACO affect coating performance. MACO is synthesized from a phenolic lipid extracted from cashew nut shells, which are a cashew industry waste product. Not only does it utilize a waste product, but being a bio-based reactive diluent means it can replace the use of volatile organic solvents that are harmful to both humans and the environment. Weight percentage samples of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% were used. Coatings were applied using a 6-mil drawn down bar, with samples being prepared …

Effect Of Incorporating Pottery And Bottom Ash As Partial Replacement Of Cement, Bassam A. Tayeh, Doha M. Alsaffar, Lawend K. Askar, Asmahan Issa Jubeh

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

This study addressed the environmental constraints in cement produc­tion. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was replaced with pottery powder (PP, produced by grinding locally available pottery) and bottom ash (BA) at 10%, 20% and 30% of cement mass. Moreover, 4% calcium chloride solution (CaCl₂.2H₂O) was used as mixing water. Material properties, such as standard consistency, setting time and compressive strength, were measured with different percentages of OPC replacement with PP and BA. Results indicated that the replacement with PP and BA increased the water demand to achieve the standard consistency. These results revealed that the strength evolution …

An Investigation Of High-Speed Consolidation And Repair Of Carbon Fiber - Epoxy Composites Through Ultrasonic Welding, David A. Hoskins

LSU Master's Theses

Adhesive repair of carbon fiber composite structures is commonly done on damaged structures to extend the service life. This method requires careful preparation of the damaged surface with intricate steps to ensure good bonding between the repair patch and the parent structure by means of an adhesive film. As with many forms of composite manufacturing, it is required to perform vacuum bagging, debulking, and a heated cure depending on the resin. All these steps make the repair process costly and time consuming.

In this present work, an alternative method of repair is investigated which explores the experimental feasibility of using …

Biopolymer-Stabilized Earth Materials For Resilient And Adaptable Infrastructures, Sherif Abdelaziz, Dilip Gersappe, Dilip Rafailovich

Department of Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Earth dams and levees are constructed and retrofitted nowadays using the same materials that were used in the past, clays and sands. Despite the current advances in engineering, designing and constructing these critical infrastructure, earthen dams and levees continue to suffer from the same challenges over the years. These challenges include internal and surface erosions, loss of stability due to moisture migration, and inabilities to self-heal potential failure points. This project focuses on the use of biopolymers as additives to strengthen earthen dams and levees targeting an overall increase in their resilience.

Explicitly, the report for Milestone 3 presented the …

Development Of Experimental And Finite Element Models To Show Size Effects In The Forming Of Thin Sheet Metals, Jeffrey D. Morris

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

An experimental method was developed that demonstrated the size effects in forming thin sheet metals, and a finite element model was developed to predict the effects demonstrated by the experiment. A universal testing machine (UTM) was used to form aluminum and copper of varying thicknesses (less than 1mm) into a hemispherical dome. A stereolithography additive manufacturing technology was used to fabricate the punch and die from a UV curing resin. There was agreement between the experimental and numerical models. The results showed that geometric size effects were significant for both materials, and these effects increased as the thickness of …

Effects Of Heat Treatment On The Dimensional Stability And Mechanical Properties Of Guadua Bamboo, Kade Schmitz, Skye Dascher, Shalto Dascher

Materials Engineering

Contributing to about 4% of particulate emissions, the construction industry is one of the largest polluters of the environment. In an effort to reduce emissions, BamCore has produced a dual panel wall system made of Guadua bamboo with a Douglas fir veneer. Bamboo is a highly renewable material with a fast growth rate and carbon sequestration abilities. This project investigates how heat treating Guadua bamboo influences its dimensional changes and mechanical properties for building applications. It was found that a dimensional increase in every direction occurred for all samples when exposed to higher relative humidity (50% to 90%), and that …

Nano Fab Lab 63, Brian K. Deemer, Josh Clemons, Nick Brodine, Delaney Fitzsimmons

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) has several steps in the production process for ceramic nanofiber tubes that they would like to improve - electrospinning, cutting, rolling, sealing and heat treating. We undertook the challenge to deliver LLNL with a semi-automated process that efficiently integrates the steps of cutting, rolling, and sealing to save time and improve control over end dimensions. In this document, we discuss the technical background of the manufacturing steps currently followed to create nanofiber tubes, identify which steps are incorporated in our prototype and explain how they will interface with one another, define the design requirements, present …

Development Of A Sonically Powered Biodegradable Nanogenerator For Bone Regeneration, Avi S. Patel

University Scholar Projects

Background: Reconstruction of bone fractures and defects remains a big challenge in orthopedic surgery. While regenerative engineering has advanced the field greatly using a combination of biomaterial scaffolds and stem cells, one matter of difficulty is inducing osteogenesis in these cells. Recent works have shown electricity’s ability to promote osteogenesis in stem cell lines when seeded in bone scaffolds; however, typical electrical stimulators are either (a) externally housed and require overcomplex percutaneous wires be connected to the implanted scaffold or (b) implanted non-degradable devices which contain toxic batteries and require invasive removal surgeries.

Objective: Here, we establish a biodegradable, piezoelectric …

Development Of A Sonically Powered Biodegradable Nanogenerator For Bone Regeneration, Avi Patel

Honors Scholar Theses

Background: Reconstruction of bone fractures and defects remains a big challenge in orthopedic surgery. While regenerative engineering has advanced the field greatly using a combination of biomaterial scaffolds and stem cells, one matter of difficulty is inducing osteogenesis in these cells. Recent works have shown electricity’s ability to promote osteogenesis in stem cell lines when seeded in bone scaffolds; however, typical electrical stimulators are either (a) externally housed and require overcomplex percutaneous wires be connected to the implanted scaffold or (b) implanted non-degradable devices which contain toxic batteries and require invasive removal surgeries.

Objective: Here, we establish a biodegradable, piezoelectric …

Analysis Of The Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior Of Silicone Rubber For Biomedical Balloons, Chase Cooper

Materials Engineering

The development of a medical drug delivery device that allows for the deployment drugs into the adventitial tissue of blood vessels requires the inflation of a silicone elastomer. The inflated silicone must be able to consistently endure multiple loading cycles without failing so that the device can operate reliably. There are multiple methods of processing the silicone for the device and the goal of this study is to examine the effect of the various processing methods on the characteristics of the silicone. The Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Machine (DMA) is used to model the conditions of the device’s application by performing …

Voltage-Controlled Deposition Of Nanoparticles For Next Generation Electronic Materials, Subhodip Maulik

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work presents both a feasibility study and an investigation into the voltage-controlled spray deposition of different nanoparticles, namely, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as well as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and tungsten disulfide (WS₂) from the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) family of materials. The study considers five different types of substrates as per their potential application to next-generation device electronics. The substrates selected for this research were: 1) aluminum as a conducting substrate, 2) silicon as a semiconducting substrate, 3) glass, silicon dioxide (SiO₂), and syndiotactic poly methyl methacrylate (syndiotactic PMMA) as insulating substrates.

Since the …

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 …

Surfactant Driven Assembly Of Freeze-Casted, Polymer-Derived Ceramic Nanoparticles On Grapehene Oxide Sheets For Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes, Ali Zein Khater

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Traditional Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) are a reliable and cost-efficient choice for energy storage. LIBs offer high energy density and low self-discharge. Recent developments in electric-based technologies push for replacing historically used Lead-Acid batteries with LIBs. However, LIBs do not yet meet the demands of modern technology. Silicon and graphene oxide (GO) have been identified as promising replacements to improve anode materials. Graphene oxide has a unique sheet-like structure that provides a mechanically stable, light weight material for LIB anodes. Due to its structure, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is efficiently conductive and resistive to environmental changes. On the other hand, silicon-based …

The Influence Of Organic Pigments On Coating Properties, Sarah Medeiros

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to identify the qualities of two synthesized organic pigments added to a coating. These high-performance pigments were benzodipyrrolidone and benzodifuranone, which are π-conjugated monomers. These pigments were each formulated into two different pigment concentrations and compared with a control that had no pigment. This project is limited by time constraints and the number of variables that can be tested in that time. Performance testing was conducted to evaluate the qualities of these coatings. The results demonstrated that the coatings were reproducible and most tests had results that were equal to or exceeded the …

A Study In The Use Of Elastic Materials In Expandable Containment Units, Andrew J. Eisenman, Joby Anthony Iii, David Satagaj

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The rigidity of materials in conjunction with the aspect of elasticity has been a concern of modern technologies and construction in recent centuries because of the advantages that expandable storage would bring to the fields of containment units with respect to population growth and space exploration. The world population is currently growing at an exponential rate, and as our population grows, the more important it will become to have containment units that can both contain large volumes of material as well as minuscule amounts of material without wasting space. In order accomplish this, we will need a new type of …

Effect Of Liquid Contamination On Hermeticity And Seal Strength Of Flexible Pouches With Lldpe, Francesca Delle Cese, Koushik Saha, S. Roy, Jay Singh

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Flexible packaging is a growing successful market and the majority of flexible package applications are for the food industry. The demand for process optimization and reduced production costs, has led to an increase in flexible packaging. However, fast production lines can result in contamination in the seal area. For flexible food packaging, contamination is considered any food particle or substance trapped in the seal area. Current quality control processes can detect contamination in the seal area, but it is not determined if seal contamination affects seal quality. Oil-based and sodium based snack foods are two common categories that can be …

Nonlinear Dielectric Behavior Of Field-Induced Antiferroelectric/Paraelectric-To-Ferroelectric Phase Transition For High Energy Density Capacitor Application, Mingyang Li

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Electric field-induced antiferroelectric(AFE)/paraelectric(PE)-to-ferroelectric(FE) phase transitions are investigated for the associated nonlinear dielectric behavior, which could offer high dielectric capacity. The phenomenon in monolithic materials has been computed for Kittel antiferroelectric and BaTiO₃ model systems using the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theory. The general switching curves give values of the polarization as a function of external electric field. A similar computation is performed for particle-filled polymer-matrix composites where an internal depolarization field is considered. The polarization-electric field response changes with different depolarization factors, which demonstrate the shape and alignment of the dielectric particles embedded in polymer-matrix are key factors for the composite to …

Tightening The Loop On The Circular Economy: Distributed Plastic Recycling With An Open Source Recyclebot, Shan Zhong

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Following the goals of a circular economy, the growth of both plastic consumption and prosumer 3-D printing are driving an interest in producing 3-D printer filament from waste plastic. However, traditional recycling can have a significant environmental impact as it demands the collection and transportation of relatively low-density waste plastics to collection centers and reclamation facilities for separation and reconstruction. Compared to the traditional recycling, distributed recycling (where consumers directly recycle their own waste) has the potential to reduce energy consumption because it can save the energy for transportation needed in conventional recycling. A promising method of such distributed plastic …