Summer Research
Summer#1:
University of Arizona Summer REU
“The Influence of Ordered Nanostructured Carbon Electrodes on Supercapacitor Performance“
Development of ordered nanostructured carbon electrodes (ONSC) for electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) involves the characterization/construction of thin films, verification of atomic structure of graphitic carbon by atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermal characterization of change from amorphous to ordered carbon, as well as supercapacitor charge/discharge rates. Right: AFM of spin on nanostructure application (SNAP) dried to 150C. Feature size on the nanopillars is approximately 500nm. Bottom: Diagrams showing A) process of thermally setting the thin film from a solution coating into the thin film ready for electrode construction and B) construction process of SNAP thin films into an EDLC. Diagonal: Thermal characterization of SNAP constructed thin films with chemical structure from Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) to graphitic carbon.
Summer#2:
Cornell University Summer REU
“Linearization of Movement and Improvement of Manufacturing Techniques for Pneumatically Operated Soft Robotic Actuators”
The implementation of optimized directionality of pressure via composite material integration offers significant tip force increase, manufacturable reliability, and curvature response for lower pressures as compared to similarly size soft robotic pneumatically operated actuators. The soft actuators are used here as parts of the prosthetic. Medium sized being separate fingers, two for the thumb, and large sized for the wrist, three used here. Right: Graph showing each of the actuator sizes outperforming the previous versions (Zhao et al 2013), here the medium sizes are most like the ones compared. Bottom: Display of soft prosthetic hand holding an apple in A) un-actuated “prone,” B) fingers only actuated “grasping,” and C) wrist and fingers actuated “gripping” positions.
Summer #3:
Brookhaven National Lab Research
Superconductivity of Borophene Nanosheets Synthesized by Liquid Exfoliation of MgB2
This research aims to investigate the presence and extent of superconductivity in borophene synthesized from magnesium diboride (MgB2), as well as develop a method for borophene synthesis that can facilitate this investigation [2]. Like graphene, borophene is a 2D crystalline allotrope of boron that is theorized to be highly superconductive, much like MgB2, which boasts an abnormally high critical temperature of 40 K [3]
