Interdisciplinary Interactions : Session-I

1. Interdisciplinary Interactions : Session-I Nanotechnology Research at Texas A&M March 5th 2008 Sponsor: Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) - NANSA - Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Student Association

2. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Debjyoti Banerjee dbanerjee@tamu.edu 845-4500 310Engr/Phys Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, University of California (UCLA) 1999M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of California (UCLA) 1998M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Mississippi, 1995B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Indian Instt. of Technology (I.I.T.), 1992 • Research: • Nanolithography – A method to synthesize carbon nanotube (CNT) with controlled (single) chirality metallic or semi-conducting type • Can also demonstrate the synthesis of CNT with a high number (spatial) density and with a precisely defined location for the growth of CNT • Nanofluidics - Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of nanoscale flow • Convective heat transfer using nanofluids http://www1.mengr.tamu.edu/mpf/index.html

3. Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN) techniques were used to deposit metal catalysts at precisely defined locations and pattern precisely defined sizes on a variety of substrates such as gold, silicon, silicon nitride, etc. DPN process enabled precise control of the composition of the deposited catalyst. After deposition of catalysts, a low temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process was used to synthesize CNT.

4. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Jaime Grunlan jgrunlan@tamu.edu 845-3027 218 Engr/Physics Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota 2001 B.S. Chemistry, North Dakota State University 1997 • Research: • Research focuses on polymer nanocomposites with properties that rival metals and ceramics, while maintaining beneficial polymer mechanical behavior • Areas of focus: • Layer-by-layer assembly of multifunctional polymer nanocomposites; focused on transport behavior (electrical, thermal, and mass) and applications in sensors, capacitors, electronics packaging, gas separation membranes, etc • Tailoring nanocomposite microstructure and properties with stimuli-responsive polymers and high aspect ratio nanoparticles • Electrically conductive polymer nanocomposites with high conductivity and low filler concentration http://www1.mengr.tamu.edu/PolymerNanoComposites/index.html

5. Robotic dipping system for layer-by-layer assembly A variety of functional films can be produced using the layer-by-layer (LbL), or electrostatic self-assembly technique. LbL-based thin films are currently being evaluated for a variety of applications that include drug delivery, molecular sensing, solid battery electrolyte and membranes.

6. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Hong Liang hliang@tamu.edu 862-2623 323 Engr/Phys Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology 1992 M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology 1987B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University 1983 • Research: • Development of processes to synthesize nanoparticles, nanostructured bulk materials and surface coatings with multi-properties • Development of nanomanufacturing processes to fabricate nanostructures, nanodevices and sensors • Dr. Liang’s group develops innovative processes to generate nano-coatings, they also focus on the development of nanofabrication processes • This process generates nano-scale phases through simple mechanical manipulation in designed chemical environments • Creation of nanowires with DNA http://www1.mengr.tamu.edu/IG/

7. By stirring DNA into a chemical solution and exposing it to ultraviolet light, Dr. Liang’s group has come up with a simple and cheap method to create nanowires that could be used to create tiny computers and medical devices…featured on the Discovery channel. This research focuses on the development of nanofabrication processes. The process generates nanometer length scale phases through simple mechanical or chemical reaction methods, which includes fundamental and practical aspects. Fundamentally, the structure-surface properties influenced by external energy is studied. Materials involved in their research are amorphous, nanocrsytalline, and piezoelectric ones. The simplicity and flexibility of the techniques is a significant advantage for synthesis and characterization of nano-structures. The potential applications fall in nanomachining, assembly, nanosensors, and development of MEMS and NEMS.

8. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Hung-Jue Sue hjsue@tamu.edu 845-5024 215Engr/Phys Ph.D. Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan 1988M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan 1987M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan 1985B.S. Chemical Engineering, Chung Yuan University, Taiwan 1981 • Research: • Improvement in the mechanical properties of surface functionalized CNT/epoxy composites • It is found that surface functionalization can effectively improve the dispersion and adhesion of CNTs in epoxy which leads to the enhancement in mechanical properties of epoxy • Preparation of epoxy nanocomposites with ZrP of different aspect ratios • α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) crystals are synthesized and then exfoliated; because crystalline α-zirconium phosphate has a much larger lateral dimension compared with semicrystalline α-ZrP and natural clay particles, the exfoliated α-ZrP individual platelet shows a much larger aspect ratio • Transparent Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites • PMMA/ZnO nanocomposite films are highly transparent and show high UV-shielding efficiency http://ptc.tamu.edu

9. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) quantum dots dispersed in epoxy Novel method to pull debundle CNT - dispersed in various solvents Controllable exfoliation of Zirconium Phosphate (ZrP)/Epoxy Nanocomposites

10. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Xinghang Zhang zhangx@tamu.edu 845-2143 326 Engr/Phys Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University 2001M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Metal Research, China 1998 B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, China 1995 • Research: • Radiation induced defects in metallic nanolayers and bulk nanostructured metals • Nanostructured materials for energy storage applications • Synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles • Nanoparticles have potential applications as catalyst and in optical, electrical and magnetic devices; metallic nanoparticles can be synthesized via physical vapor deposition; nanoparticles synthesized using this technique has uniform particle size distributions • Nanoscale twinning in thin films http://www1.mengr.tamu.edu/NTFG/index.html

11. High resolution TEM micrographs of a single Pt nanoparticle Pt nanoparticles synthesized via electron beam evaporation has an average particle size of ~ 3 nm Simulation showing the strength of symmetric (111) twin interface to block dislocation transmission. (a) A perfect glide dislocation with b = 1/2 [101] resides in the upper layer. Unstrained. (b) The model is subject to pure shear stresses such that the resolved shear stress on the dislocation is 1.77GPa. The dislocation is moving away from the twin interface. A Shockley partial with b = 1/6 [] remains at the interface