CAER News Archive: July 2003
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Dr. Stephen Lipka recently joined the CAER to work in the area of Carbon Materials. He was formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering at Florida Atlantic University where he had been since 1989. He taught Materials Science and Engineering related courses; conducted and directed research on Secondary Batteries, Supercapacitors, Fuel Cell Catalysts, Degradation of Composite Materials, Electrodeposited Metal/Alloy Coatings and Stress Corrosion Cracking.
From 1988 to 1989 Dr. Lipka was a Principal Scientist with Physical Sciences Incorporated Technology Co. in Andover, MA. From 1984 to 1988 he was a Research Electrochemist with the American Cyanamid Co. in Stamford, CT. During these periods he was involved in ion exchange membranes for fuel cells, applied research on corrosion of metal coated carbon fiber, the development of fiber-based battery structures and the electro deposition of metals and alloys onto carbon fiber. He also spent two periods as Summer Faculty Fellow at the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, OH.
Dr. Lipka has consulted and collaborated widely with industries in his field and has been involved in 32 sponsored projects, many of which as the PI, including projects from the CIA, NASA, the Army Research Office, DOE and various companies. He has authored 75 publications, papers and presentations and holds two patents.
He received a B.S. in Materials Engineering from Wilkes College in 1978. His M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science are from the University of Virginia in 1981 and 1985 respectively. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled "A Fundamental Study of the Kinetic Behavior of Ensembles of Carbon-Based Microelectrodes."
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
Wednesday, July 9, 2003
The cover of the July issue of Advanced Functional Materials features artwork that illustrates the article authored by Drs. Uschi Graham and Burt Davis, along with two colleagues from the University of Louisville, Drs. Sunkara and Sharma. The article is entitled "Nanoweb Formation: 2D Self-Assembly of Semiconductor Gallium Oxide Nanowires/Nanotubes." The abstract is below:
This paper reports a method to produce networks of crystalline gallium oxide comprised of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. Because of the unique arrangement of wires, these crystalline networks are termed as 'nanowebs.' Nanowebs are of great technological interest since they contain wire densities of the order of 109 cm-2. A possible mechanism for the fast self-assembly of crystalline metal oxide nanowires involves multiple nucleation and coalescence via oxidation-reduction reactions at the molecular level. The preferential growth of nanowires parallel to the substrate enabled them to coalesce into regular polygonal networks. The individual segments of the polygonal network consist of both nanowires and nanotubules of gallium oxide. Individual wire properties contribute to a nanoweb's overall capacity and the implications for devices based on nanowebs are expected to be enormous.
Adv. Funct. Mater. 2003, 13, No. 7, 576-581
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
Wednesday, July 2, 2003
CAER was selected for a DOE project entitled "Advanced Gasification By-Product Utilization" and funded under the University Coal Research Program. This will be a collaborative project with The Pennsylvania State University and several industries to evaluate aspects of upgrading and marketing chars from modern gasification facilities. The total project value will be about $500,000 over three years.
The CAER (BK Parekh, PI) also was selected for awards by two agencies (The Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation and the Consortium for Advanced Separation Technologies) to support two projects on different aspects of thickening coal slurry ponds. The KSEF project (total value $238,100) will evaluate the applicability of a novel paste thickening technology at a coal preparation plant in Kentucky which practices conventional ponding of the slurries. The CAST-funded work (total value $252,100) will evaluate the applicability of the paste thickening technology to the slurry cell disposal technique, which is currently being used in the state of West Virginia.
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
Rodney Andrews of the UK Center for Applied Energy Research and Mark Meier of the UK Chemistry Department have been selected to receive an award from the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF). The project is entitled "Ultrahigh Strength Carbon Nanotube Composite Fibers" and has a value of $60,000 over a two-year period.
Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) can be thought of as the ultimate carbon fiber. These tiny tubes, composed of concentric shells of carbon atoms, offer unique mechanical properties unattainable with existing materials. The researchers intend to develop a process to harness these remarkable mechanical properties, yielding a new engineering material capitalizing on the high strength, modulus, and flexibility of the MWNT.The aim of the work is to create an engineering fiber consisting primarily of interlocked MWNTs bonded together with polymer-derived carbon welds. To insure these welds are strong, chemical modification of the surfaces of the MWNTs will be tailored to result in chemical bonding with the polymer binder. Furthermore, attention to the surfaces of these fibers to reduce the presence of tiny cracks will maximize the structural integrity of the fiber. Dispersed MWNTs in an epoxy binder solution will be extruded and drawn into fiber and collected. Heating these fibers to temperatures greater than 1400 °C will serve to convert the polymer binder into carbon welds and densify the fiber. The resulting composite fiber, of very high strength and modulus, will effectively exploit the unique mechanical properties of the MWNTs in a usable engineering material.
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
Dr. Wendy Baldwin, new Vice President for Research at UK, recently learned the ins and outs of fossil fuel research at the CAER. She held the research center directors' monthly meeting at CAER. This was followed by a tour of the lab, where she heard about the center's major research thrusts. She also had the opportunity to meet with employees after the tour.
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
