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Full-Text Articles in Polymer and Organic Materials

Adsorption Of Pfas On Bridged Functionalized Organosilica Materials, Elisha Lawerh Kabutey May 2026

Adsorption Of Pfas On Bridged Functionalized Organosilica Materials, Elisha Lawerh Kabutey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

PFAS are hazardous contaminants that have a devastating impact on human health and the environment. Their hazardous nature has led to the development of various adsorption methods for removing these contaminants from water sources. In this study, functionalized organosilica materials were synthesized from bis[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl] amine using the sol-gel method. The surface amino groups of the organosilica were converted into amine hydrochloride groups. Their adsorption properties were evaluated using salts of perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid. Results showed excellent adsorption capacity of the materials. Adsorption of PFAS leads to particle agglomeration and flotation of the spent material. A column …


Development And Processing Of Shape Memory Polymer Composites (Smpcs) For Application In Structural Robotics And Robotic Sensors., Kavish Sudan Aug 2024

Development And Processing Of Shape Memory Polymer Composites (Smpcs) For Application In Structural Robotics And Robotic Sensors., Kavish Sudan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shape Memory Polymers (SMPs) have attracted significant attention since their introduction in the 1980s due to their remarkable ability to regain their original shape from a temporarily deformed state when exposed to an external stimulus, typically heat. This shape memory effect, driven by thermal transitions such as the glass transition temperature (Tg) or melting temperature (Tm), has made SMPs highly attractive for applications in soft robotics, aerospace, and biomedical devices. However, SMPs face challenges such as limited mechanical strength, thermal stability, and electrical conductivity, which hinder their broader adoption in advanced applications. To address these challenges, …


Synergistic Strategies In Hybrid Mxed Matrix 3d Printing Of Thermoplastics & Thermosets: Design, Manufacturing, And Materials Development., Saleh Akram Khanjar Aug 2024

Synergistic Strategies In Hybrid Mxed Matrix 3d Printing Of Thermoplastics & Thermosets: Design, Manufacturing, And Materials Development., Saleh Akram Khanjar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composite manufacturing and mixed matrix structures have been produced using traditional manufacturing processes for various industrial applications due to their high mechanical properties to material weight and cost ratio. However implementation of composite and mixed matrix manufacturing with advanced manufacturing such as additive manufacturing is limited due to the hardware limitations of current 3d printing technologies and materials available for 3D printing applications. This work has developed and investigated a new hybrid 3D printing manufacturing process utilizing a variety of material systems (thermoplastic – thermoset, thermoplastic – thermoplastic, thermoset – thermoset, thermoplastic – thermoplastic – thermoset). This study developed thermoplastic …


Effect Of Oxidation Of Graphene On Agglomeration And The Mechanical Properties Of Thermosetting Resins, Matthew A. Reil Jun 2024

Effect Of Oxidation Of Graphene On Agglomeration And The Mechanical Properties Of Thermosetting Resins, Matthew A. Reil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thermosetting resins are used extensively worldwide in applications ranging from adhesives to structural components. However, these resins generally fail in a brittle fracture mode which is undesirable in most situations. Graphene (G) and its derivatives have been considered as additives to epoxy for material property enhancement and varied results have been reported in the literature. In this work, the effects of the oxidation of G to graphene oxide (GO) on polymer interactions and plate agglomeration were studied by classical molecular dynamics (MD). Results from those simulations concluded that agglomerates were likely present in all G-based nanocomposites. The effect of these …


Air-Jet Bioprinting Of Stem Cell-Encapsulated Alginate Micro-Droplets For Organoid Biomanufacturing, Mirabella B. Stump Dec 2023

Air-Jet Bioprinting Of Stem Cell-Encapsulated Alginate Micro-Droplets For Organoid Biomanufacturing, Mirabella B. Stump

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biomanufactured 3D-organoids show promise for modeling and treating various conditions, particularly insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type-1 diabetes). Pancreatic islet organoids serve as sustainable sources of insulin-producing β-cells, potentially restoring insulin regulation in patients and providing a long-term solution for diabetes. Hydrogel droplet printing is an emerging technique in regenerative medicine due to its advantageous tunability and biocompatibility; however, challenges of consistency, quality control, and scalability persist. To address these issues, we developed a novel air-jetting based droplet bioprinting system for the generation of monodispersed alginate micro-droplets. The objective of this project was to incorporate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into …


Effects Of Sizing Agents On Mechanical Properties Of Carbon Fiber–Polymer Composites Via Fused Filament Fabrication Additive Manufacturing., Benjamin D. Mitchell May 2022

Effects Of Sizing Agents On Mechanical Properties Of Carbon Fiber–Polymer Composites Via Fused Filament Fabrication Additive Manufacturing., Benjamin D. Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrated the effects of changing the sizing agent parameter during the preparation of carbon fibers on the mechanical properties of composite made with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the matrix material and carbon fibers as the fiber material. Three types of sizing agents produced by Allnex were used to coat three different batches of carbon fibers that were mixed with a torque rheometer and extruded with a barrel-style melt extruder into continuous spools of 1.75 mm filament for use with commercial 3D printers. Tensile tests were conducted on the filaments and tensile bars printed from the materials. Results …


Monitoring Of State Transitions In Extreme Environment Application Materials Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors, Sabuj Khadka Jan 2022

Monitoring Of State Transitions In Extreme Environment Application Materials Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors, Sabuj Khadka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By embedding both a single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor and a thermocouple (TC) during the manufacturing for extreme environment applications of certain classes of materials such as metals and polymers, a novel in-situ approach was developed to precisely monitor their entire manufacturing processes. This novel monitoring technique was able to identify many characteristic points during the curing of room and high-temperature epoxies and the solidification processes of metal alloys composed of tin and bismuth which were selected in this research purely for verification purposes. Some of the characteristic points identified for the epoxies were: (i) the gel point, (ii) …


An Investigation Into Energy-Material Properties Interaction In Additive Manufacturing Of Polymers., Pu Han Dec 2021

An Investigation Into Energy-Material Properties Interaction In Additive Manufacturing Of Polymers., Pu Han

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM), known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a fabrication process to build 3D objects layer by layer based on computer aided design (CAD) model or digital 3D model. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) has become a preferred method for additive manufacturing due to its cost-effectiveness and flexibility. However, the parts built using FFF process suffer from lower mechanical strength compared to that fabricated using traditional method and rough surface finish. With this motivation, this dissertation aims to develop and implement a novel in-process laser assisted technique on FFF to heal the microstructure of FFF built objects by enhancing reptation …


Rapid Annealing Of Perovskite Solar Cell Thin Film Materials Through Intense Pulse Light., Amir Hossein Ghahremani Aug 2021

Rapid Annealing Of Perovskite Solar Cell Thin Film Materials Through Intense Pulse Light., Amir Hossein Ghahremani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have garnered a great attention due to their rapid efficiency improvement using cheap and solution processable materials that can be adapted for scalable high-speed automated manufacturing. Thin film perovskite photovoltaics (PVs) are typically fabricated in an inert environment, such as nitrogen glovebox, through a set of deposition and annealing steps, each playing a significant role on the power conversion efficiency (PCE), reproducibility, and stability of devices. However, atmospheric processing of PSCs would achieve lucrative commercialization. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize materials and methods that enable successful fabrication of efficient PSCs in the ambient environment. The …


Graphene/Oxide Interactions With Polymer Networks Modeled Using Molecular Dynamics, Matthew Alan Reil Jan 2020

Graphene/Oxide Interactions With Polymer Networks Modeled Using Molecular Dynamics, Matthew Alan Reil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to its unique physical properties, graphene has shown great promise as an additive to Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) for material property enhancement. Achieving homogeneous dispersion of the graphene platelets within a polymeric network is critical to realizing these enhancements. Research has shown that achieving homogeneous dispersion of graphene platelets within PMCs is challenging as graphene is immiscible with most polymeric networks. This work used Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to demonstrate dispersion of graphene platelets within PMCs is inhibited by molecular surface charge potentials. Further simulations were conducted to demonstrate functionalized forms of graphene, specifically graphene oxide, have altered surface …


A Study Of The Effect Of Heat Treatment On 3d Printed Pla Impact Strength, Suresh Thota Jan 2019

A Study Of The Effect Of Heat Treatment On 3d Printed Pla Impact Strength, Suresh Thota

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental conditions have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of various materials. Environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity have a major impact on mechanical properties of materials such as compressive strength, tensile strength, bending strength and impact strength. The purpose of this research is to study how temperature and humidity affect the impact strength of 3D printed PLA plastic. Impact strength is the ability of a material to absorb energy subjected to an impact load by a pendulum. In this research, 3D printing was employed to produce PLA specimens which were later used for different experimental testings. For …


Materials Design With Polylactic Acid-Polyethylene Glycol Blends Using 3d Printing And For Medical Applications., Jeremiah R. Bauer Apr 2018

Materials Design With Polylactic Acid-Polyethylene Glycol Blends Using 3d Printing And For Medical Applications., Jeremiah R. Bauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of two material systems derived from polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). PLA is a polymer commonly sourced from renewable sources such as starches and sugars. It is a relatively strong, biodegradable polymer, making it ideal for use in the body. Even though it has a relative high strength, PLA is also brittle leading to the use of plasticizers to increase flexibility. One such plasticizer is PEG, which is a material that can exist at room temperature as either a thin liquid, or a hard waxy solid depending on the molecular weight. The first …


Aging Assessment Of High Voltage Single Component Room Temperature Vulcanized Silicone Rubber (Rtv-1) Subjected To Aqueous Salt, Monika Bleszynski Jan 2016

Aging Assessment Of High Voltage Single Component Room Temperature Vulcanized Silicone Rubber (Rtv-1) Subjected To Aqueous Salt, Monika Bleszynski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Single component room temperature vulcanized (RTV-1) silicone based caulk used in high voltage insulators and other applications is frequently subjected to environmental pollutants. Aging of RTV-1 silicone rubber is the result of various stressors, including environmental aging conditions such as UV, acid, and salt exposure from ocean mist. Loss of hydrophobicity due to damage of the hydrophobic methyl groups, as well as loss of mechanical strength due to depolymerization via hydrolysis as a result of aqueous salt exposure were the two main factors of material aging assessed in this work. Multiple RTV-1 formulations were initially assessed for resistance to aging …


The Development Of A Laminated Copolyester Electric Guitar, Addison S. Karnes Dec 2014

The Development Of A Laminated Copolyester Electric Guitar, Addison S. Karnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an investigation of the fabrication and assembly methodologies employed in the development of a proof-of-principle prototype electric guitar composed of laminated copolyester. The objective of the project was to develop the processes and procedures to create an optimized physical and visual bond between layers to minimize vibratory dissipation, thus maximizing sustain. A high speed CNC router, abrasive waterjet, laser engraver-cutter, as well as various manual fabrication and assembly methods were investigated in the construction of the guitar prototypes. The lamination processes explored include low-temperature, heat-assisted pressure bonding, solvent and chemical welding, and contact adhesives. The project concluded …


Aging Of A Polymer Core Composite Conductor Under Combined Ozone And Temperature Conditions, James M. Middleton Jan 2014

Aging Of A Polymer Core Composite Conductor Under Combined Ozone And Temperature Conditions, James M. Middleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The next generation High Temperature Low Sag Polymer Core Composite Conductors (HTLS PCCC) can experience harsh in-service environments including high temperature and highly concentrated ozone. In some extreme cases, it is possible that the conductors will experience temperatures of up to 180°C and ozone concentrations as high as 1% (10,000 ppm). Therefore, the primary goal of this research was to determine the most damaging aging conditions which could negatively affect the in-service life of the conductors. This included characterizing the aging in ozone and at high temperature of the HTLS PCCC hybrid composite rods and neat resin. It was found …