2^nd International Conference and Expo on Diamond, Graphite & Carbon Materials April 16-17, 2018 London ,UK

Biography:

Morgan Advanced Materials (LSE: MGAM) is a UK-headquartered global manufacturer of specialized engineered products made from carbon, advanced ceramics and composites. It was the first European strategic partner for the graphene activities at the University of Manchester National Graphene Institute, Morgan being recognized by Manchester for having the product engineering and design expertise required to commercialize the materials developed at the NGI. After being educated as a chemical engineer, Richard Clark has been with Morgan for 30 years, developing and commercializing materials across the spectrum of Morgan’s portfolio, most recently focusing on materials related to energy. Richard was part of Morgan’s team engaged with the University of Cambridge developing electrolytically produced carbon nanomaterials and has continued his involvement in this field in collaboration with Morgan’s team at the Manchester NGI.

Abstract:

Since the ground-breaking article in Science in October 2004 describing the occurrence, isolation and potential significance of graphene, there has been a huge interest in developing industrially scalable methods of manufacture from bottom-up and top-down routes. One such top-down route developed for the mass manufacture of graphene involves electrochemical exfoliation. This can be conducted in anodic (oxidative) and cathodic (reductive) regimens, with the latter more suitable for the production of higher quality (containing fewer defects) graphene, but hindered by lower efficiency and yield. This makes the selection of an appropriate electrolyte particularly important.Previous work has shown that graphene prepared by electrochemical exfoliation can be simultaneously functionalized with groups tailored to improve solubility in aqueous systems. In this case, functionalization significantly enhances the specific capacitance of the material when used as an electrode in supercapacitors.This presentation details the expansion of this work in two ways.

Firstly, it shows the relative characteristics of different types of electrolyte and suggests a mechanism for the performance in each case. Secondly, it details the use of the preferred electrolyte with appropriate additional reagents in the exfoliation of graphite and simultaneous functionalization of the product graphene with metal nanostructures, specifically various morphologies of gold and cobalt. The metal-functionalized graphene sheets show high catalytic activity and stability when used as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions. Other uses of these materials are found in flexible electronics, in biosensing, and in biomedicine. The methods demonstrated can be readily extended to functionalize graphene with other metal salts or mixtures of metal salts, further expanding the applicability.

Biography:

Abstract:

Biography:

 Mineo Hiramatsu is a Full Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Director of Research Institute, Meijo University, Japan. He served as the Director of The Japan Society of Applied Physics. His main fields of research are plasma diagnostics and plasma processing for the synthesis of thin films and nanostructured materials. Author of more than 100 scientific papers and patents on plasma processes for materials science. Member of organizing and scientific committees of international conferences on plasma chemistry and plasma processing. Japan Society of Applied Physics Fellow.

Abstract:

Graphene (monolayer and few layers) is a two-dimensional material with the large anisotropy between in-plane and out-of-plane directions. Carbon nanowalls (CNWs) are few-layer graphenes with open boundaries, standing vertically on a substrate. The sheets form a self-supported network of mazelike-wall structures. CNWs and similar graphene structures can be synthesized by several plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) techniques. CNWs are sometimes decorated with metal nanoparticles and biomolecules. The structure of CNWs with large surface area would be suitable for the platform in electrochemical and biosensing applications. CNW films can be potentially used as electrodes of electrochmical sensor, capacitor, dye-sensitized solar cell, polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), and implantable glucose fuel cell (GFC). Among these, CNW electrodes in fuel cells should be decorated with catalytic nanoparticles such as Pt. From a practical point of view, control of CNW structures including spacing between adjacent nanowalls and crystallinity is significantly important. Moreover, formation method of catalytic metal nanoparticles should be established. We carried out CNW growth using PECVD employing CH₄/H₂/Ar mixtures with emphasis on the structure control of CNWs. We report the effects of ion bombardment and catalytic metals on the nucleation of vertical nanographenes to realize active control of interspace between adjacent walls. Moreover, CNW surface was decorated with Pt nanoparticles by the reduction of chloroplatinic acid or by the metal-organic chemical deposition employing supercritical fluid. We also report the performances of hydrogen peroxide sensor, PEFC and GFC, where CNW electrode was used.

Biography:

Sungjin Park has completed his PhD from KAIST, Korea and postdoctoral studies from Northwestern University and University of Texas at Austin. Currently, he is an Assoicate Professor at Inha University. He has published more than 85 papers in reputed journals. 

Abstract:

Chemical designing on nano-materials in molecular level would be a promising route to create new hybrid materials and to control various properties of nano- and molecular materials. Organometallic compounds have been a center of molecular catalysts with preeminent catalytic activity and selectivity in a wide range of chemical transformations. As carbon-based nanomaterials, such as graphene-based materials, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nitrides, are sterically bulky, and they exhibit a wide spectrum of electrical properties, they can dramatically tune the catalytic behavior of transition metal-based active species. Hybridization of organometallic complexes with graphene-based materials can give rise to enhance catalytic performances. In this presentation, I will discuss my recent research activities on the fundamental chemistry of carbon-based nano-materials as well as catalytic applications.

Biography:

K.V. Madhuri has completed her PhD at the age of 27 years from Sri Venkateswara University and postdoctoral studies from Universite de Moncton, CANADA. She is the Assoc. Professor &Assoc.Dean of Research & Development, in an esteemed University. She has published 19 papers in reputed national/international journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of reputed journals. She had presented about 27 research papers in national/International conferences. In addition to this, she had delivered invited talks in reputed institutes/conferences/Workshops/Orientation programs. She had recently finished a project under young Scientist scheme by Department of Science &Technology, New Delhi, India.

Abstract:

Transition metal oxides (TMO) is an interesting group of solid materials with a wide variety surface structures which affect the surface energy of these compounds and influence the chemical properties, optical, electrical and magnetic properties. The unusual properties of these oxides are due to the unique nature of outermost d- electrons. The general formulae of transition metal oxides MnO2n±1 where M represents the transition metal. They have two dimensional vander Waal’s bonded layered structures (Ex:V₂O₅,MoO₃--) or three dimensional frame work tunnel structures (Ex:WO₃, LiCoO₂----) which lead the materials for their applications in the field of Electrochromic and opto electronic devices. The combination of solid state materials science with thin film technology has significantly reduced the size of component and leads to miniaturization of display devices in the emerging technology.

TMOs can be deposited as thin film by Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) like thermal, electron beam , sputtering, so on and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) techniques like sol-gel, spin coating, spray pyrolisis so on. Thin film deposition in PVD technique consists of three major phases. In the first phase, the material should be in the proper form to deposit. In the second stage, it is transported through the medium and in the third stage it should deposit on the substrate to form a continuous film. Depending on the deposition parameters such as oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature etc., one can deposit amorphous, polycrystalline and nanocrystalline thin films for their effective utilization in devices. These films will be characterized for their composition, structure, morphology, vibrational and optical studies by using X-ray photo electron spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, Atomic force microscopy, InfraRed Spectroscopy , Raman Spectroscopy and UV-VIS Spectroscopy.

Biography:

Larry G. Christner received his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1972 followed by 5 years at United Technologies Corporation working on carbon deposition in steam reforming and materials development for fuel cells.  He spent the next 23 years at Fuel Cell Energy starting as Manager of materials science and was later promoted as Vice President.  He retired in 2001 and started LGC Consultants LLC.

Abstract:

Microporous and mesoporous carbons are excellent materials for any energy applications.  As capacitors, they exhibit high power, a large life cycle, high reliability, and low cost.  Coconut shell carbons dominate this market because of their low cost. The large surface areas of these carbons also make them useful in many adsorption and catalytic systems. The pore structure of these carbons allows special selective processes to be carried out such as separation of O2/N2, CO2/H2O, Butene/Isobutene and many other processes. The detailed parameters of each process play an important role in the selectivity and effectiveness of the process.

            In the work presented, some of the most important parameters are discussed for microporous and saran fibers at temperatures from 200C to 1000C. These materials exhibited adsorption characteristics of 4A angstrom and 5A angstrom molecular sieves.  Activated diffusion is shown to be the dominant factor for exclusion of specific molecules. The dynamic size and shape of the molecules determines the observed amount of adsorption at a specific time and temperature.  It can be concluded that when the molecular dimensions are close to the sizer and shape of the pores, the most important factors that determine the observed adsorption are time, temperature, relative pressure, and the diffusion path length.

Biography:

Taiichi Otsuji received the Doctorate,Engineering degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1994. He has been a professor at RIEC, Tohoku University, Japan since 2005 after working for Kyushu Institute of Technology(1999-2005) and NTT Laboratories (1984-1999), Japan. He is authored and co-authored 250 peer-reviewed journals. He was awarded the Outstanding Paper Award of the 1997 IEEE GaAs IC Symposium, and has been served as an IEEE Electron Device Society Distinguished Lecturer since 2013.  He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a senior member of the OSA, and a member of the MRS, SPIE, JSAP, and IEICE.

Abstract:

Graphene has attracted considerable attention due to its massless and gapless energy spectrum. We designed and fabricated our original distributed-feedback dual-gate graphene-channel field-effect transistor (DFB-DG-GFET). The DG-GFET structure serves carrier population inversion in the lateral p-i-n junctions under complementary dual-gate (Vg1,2) biased and forward drain-source (Vd) biased conditions, promoting spontaneous broadband incoherent THz light emission. The tooth-brash-shaped DG forms the DFB cavity having the fundamental mode at 4.96 THz, which can transcend the incoherent broadband LED to the single-mode lasing action. The GFET channel consists of a few layer (non-Bernal) highest-quality epitaxial graphene [3], providing an intrinsic field-effect mobility exceeding 100,000 cm2/Vs. Fourier-transform far-infrared spectroscopy revealed the THz emission spectra for the fabricated samples under population inversion conditions; one sample exhibited a 1-7.6-THz broadband, rather intense (~80 μW) amplified spontaneous emission and the other sample did a weak (~0.1 μW) single mode lasing at 5.2 THz both at 100K. Introduction of the graphene plasmonics in vdW 2D heterostructures is a key to increase the operating temperature and radiation intensity. Asymmetric dual-grating-gate metasurface structures may promote plasmonic superradiance and/or plasmonic instabilities, giving rise to giant THz gain enhancement at plasmonic resonant frequencies. Further improvement will be given by a gated double-graphene-layer (G-DGL) nanocapacitor vdW 2D heterostructures. Exploitation of the graphene plasmonics in vdW 2D heterostructures will be the key to realize room-temperature, intense THz lasing.  The authors thank A.A. Dubinov, D. Svintsov, S. Boubanga-Tombet, V. Mitin, and M.S. Shur for their contributions. 

Biography:

Kun Lian, Obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering from Louisiana State University, in 1992 and 1995 respectively. Lian worked as Postdoctoral Research Follower at University Michigan at Ann Arbor after receiving his Ph.D.  from 1997, Kun Lian jointed Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, Louisiana State University/Southern University; as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor.  In 2012, Lian jointed School of Nano-Science and Nano-Engineering, Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong University as professor and deputy dean until now.

Abstract:

Biological systems found in nature provide excellent examples of highly controlled and organized architectures that generate complex materials. Using these materials and their unique microstructures as templates to produce nano-structured materials can result in some special results that manmade templates can rarely/can’t achieve at current time.This presentation will demonstrate an innovative technology to produce the copper-carbon-core-shell nanoparticles (CCCSNs) using cellulose as templates (US Patent No.: US8,828,485 B2). The technology relies on reducing the Cu⁺² ions by absorbing them in the cellulose (C₆H₁₀O₅)n  structures of natural fibers and then, going through carbonization and refining processes to produce the CCCSNs.In contrast to the conventional methods, the nanoparticles made from this technology are core/shell structures in nature and dispersible in both water and organic solvents (such as oil) with very low cost.  CCCSNs possesses many special properties that commercially available copper nanoparticles couldn’t have. CCCSNs have high physical/chemical stabilities and form the Cu<=>Cu₂O equilibrium system without forming cupric oxide, which is significant since cuprous oxide is an optical catalyst material with relatively low bandgap (2.137eV).The most unique property is the regeneration behavior of CCCSNs, when treated with reducing environment, the Cu<=>Cu₂O system will return to pure copper status with no significant changes in particle size distribution or core-shell structure.  Because of the excellent stability, superior performance and low cost, CCCSNs have been tested as anti-bacteria; anti-termite; anti-algea and as an optical catalyst for volatile organic compounds (VOC) treatment reagents and achieved outstanding results.

Biography:

Mohammed got his bacholer’s degree in Physics in 2006 from Umm Al-Qura University and Master’s degree in Applied physics in 2010 from Malaya University. He is a PhD student in the Department of Physics at the University of Kansas.
 

Abstract:

We have fabricated a two-dimensional MoS₂/graphene van der Waals heterostructure substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). A stronger SERS enhancement was observed on the MoS₂/graphene vdW heterostructure substrate compared to single-layer MoS₂ or graphene substrate due to charge transfer and dipole-dipole interaction through the MoS₂/graphene interface. Additionally, a novel substrate composed of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on MoS₂/graphene van der Waals heterostructure was developed to explore the SERS effect of the AuNPs. The significant observed enhancement of this substrate can be attributed to the combination of the electromagnetic mechanism of plasmonic AuNPs and the much-enhanced chemical mechanism of the MoS₂/graphene heterostructure via dipole-dipole interaction at the interface as compared to graphene only. The minimum detectable concentration of the R6G can reach 5x10^-8M using a non-resonance 632.8 nm laser, which is an order of magnitude higher than that reported on the AuNPs/graphene substrate. SERS substrate based on MoS₂/graphene van der Waals heterostructure is an excellent SERS substrate for optoelectronics and biological detection.

Biography:

Free radicals have many functions, for example, as catalyst for chemical reactions and anti-oxidants in personal care products. However, most of the radical species used in industrial processes are highly toxic, expensive and not stable. Developing green, low-cost and stable free radicals is hence significant. It has been revealed that radicals exist on the edge and defects of graphene. The radicals have been found to be ultra-stable and non-toxic.Their stability is attributed to the rigid π-conjugated planar structure of graphene which acts like a physical barrier for the radicals and prevents them to react with each other. Although the presence of graphene radicals has been demonstrated, little is known on how to control their production. Furthermore, the potential applications of graphene radicals remain largely unexplored. To understand graphene radical and its formation, chemical oxidation and exfoliation of graphite followed by different reduction method was used as a technique for mass production of graphene. The chemical characterisation of GO and reduced GO samples beside the free radical measurments has indicated that the maximum radical content could be obtained on GO samples with a specific atomic ratio of carbon to oxygen. This means over oxidizing or over reducing of GO can decrease the radical population on its surface. 

Abstract:

Zahra Komeily Nia is doing her PhD at Deakin University (Australia) and recived her master and bachelor’s degrees from Tehran polytechnic (Iran) and Guilan universities (Iran). As an undergraduagte student she studied textile engineering and has some working knowledge in the filed of chemistry of natural and synthetic fibers. During her master study, she has worked on nanomaterial characterization and fabrication and her research work was more focused on material science and engineering. In Feb 2015, she has recived Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (DUPR) and has worked on advanced characteriastion of graphene as her PhD project. She has published papers on her postgraduate research.
 

Biography:

Takafumi Ito is graduate student at Tohoku university. His major is material and science. He has been learning many kinds of material such as metal, semiconductor, ceramics and so on at college and graduate school. He studies and researches semiconductor at the university now. Tohoku University locates in Sendai. Sendai has many famous place such as Matsushima,  Akiu spring, Sakunami spring and so on. His birthplace is Ehime prefecture and it is also famous for thermal spring, ‘Dogo spring’.  It is the oldest thermal spring of Japan and Natsume Souseki who is Japanese famous writer, also loved the spring.

Abstract:

We focus on crystal growth and evaluation of 2D-layered compounds. For crystal growth, liquid phase growth with temperature difference method under controlled vapour pressure (TDM-CVP) has been studied GaSe and InSe are grown by this method. GaSe can generate wide frequency tunable terahertz (THz) wave. Due to the superior characteristic features of THz wave of high transparency like radio wave for non-polarized substances and high reflectivity to metal as light wave, THz wave can be applied for wide variety of non-destractive and non-invasive inspection. For example, disconnections and corrosion of electric wires covered with opaque insulating shield, water content in concrete, degradation of polyethelene can be measured non-destractively by using THz wave. 

Futher more, we proposed a novel friction induced growth method for 2D layered thin films. MoS2 can be grown by this method. MoS2 is one of the promising semiconductor materials of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide which exhibits expected high electron mobility for the application of the high speed field effect transistors with low power dissipation [6]. MoS2 also has much attention for spintronics research field. Therefore, a novel crystal growth and synthesis methods are urgently required at present.

In addition with the conventional photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy and XRD, we have developed a new evaluation method for the determination of Van der Waals bonding force between layers. Van der Waals bonding energy has been  directly measured for the first time since the famous London’s theoretical analysis in 1937 In this research, successful synthesis of 2D layered materials are shown with those optical, electrical and Van der Waals bonding force characterizations.

Biography:

Bijan Nasri Nasrabadi has completed his BSc at Azad University of Shahreza (Iran) in the field of Polymer Engineering and then moved to Isfahan University of Technology (Iran) where he obtained his master degree in the same field. In 2016, he was awarded Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (DUPR) and moved to Australia. He is working on soft actuator applications of carbon nanotubes as his PhD study. He has published papers on his postgraduate research.

Abstract:

Actuators are smart materials that convert light, heat, or electricity into motion and can be attractive in areas as diverse as biomedical surgery, sensing, and robotic. However, the practical applications of these actuators are limited by defective combination of the high generated force, fast response and large motion. Normally, actuators show large displacement with small force, such as polymeric devices, or display much less motion with a higher force, such as the alloy NiTi. Short operation time and slow reflexion are another weaknesses of current actuators. This study has demonstrated that a structure of carbon nanotube filaments, can represent long operation life time as well as quick and large bending actuation, in the absence of electrolytes.

Biography:

Yeong-Tarng Shieh is currently a professor at Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of National University of Kaohsiung (NUK), Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He was the department head from 2014-2017. His research interest recently includes living free radical polymerizations, stimuli-responsive polymers, preparation of carbon dioxide-switchable nanoparticle dispersion, supercritical carbon dioxide fluids technology, and applications of carbon nanotubes.

Abstract:

We began with the study of various surface-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) for a use as a radical scavenger. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometer (UV/Vis) were used to measure radical scavenging efficiencies of the modified CNT for hydroxyl (OH^.) radical and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, respectively. ESR, UV/Vis, and Raman spectra revealed that all CNT samples were good radical scavengers for both radicals and the radical scavenging efficiencies increased with increasing contents of defect sites on the modified CNT. We also investigated the radical scavenging efficiencies of silane-grafted CNTs for OH and DPPH radicals and found that the radical scavenging efficiencies decreased upon increasing the degree of the silane grafting, due to the steric bulk of the silane grafts on the surfaces of the CNTs. We used DSC to examine the effects of the silane-grafted CNTs on the exothermic peaks of the free radical–initiated crosslinking reactions of vinyl ester/styrene resins. The silane-grafted CNTs were found to retard the crosslinking reactions to various extents: a higher degree of grafting resulting in a lower crosslinking retardation. Finally, we assessed the surface-modified CNT (CNT, bmCNT, and CNT-COOH) as thermal stabilizers in poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC). Films of pure PVC, CNT/PVC, bmCNT/PVC, and CNT-COOH/PVC cast from tetrahydrofuran were subjected to thermal aging in N₂ in a test tube submerged in an oil bath maintained at 180 °C for a certain time. FTIR and UV-Vis spectra and discoloration of aged PVC composites were investigated on the formation of conjugated polyene structure in PVC. The results found that all three types of CNT of small amounts (0.1 or 0.3 phr) could stabilize PVC against thermal degradation by resisting the formation of a conjugated polyene structure in the order of bmCNT > CNT > CNT-COOH. Moreover, Congo red test and pH measurement were investigated on the dehydrochlorination of PVC during the thermal aging. The bmCNT was also the most effective thermal stabilizer among the three types of nanotubes studied to resist degradation of HCl from PVC. This newly-developed PVC composite with CNT as an additive can provide an efficient route towards the development of highly thermal-stabilized PVC.

Biography:

Rahul Ramamurti expertise in plasma physics, thin film materials, nano technology, Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD), process development of diamond, DLC, SiC, SiCN coatings for several applications.He has a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and Post Doctoral Research experience at Michigan State University/Fraunhofer U.S.A. He has worked in companies  involving DLC coatings for the oil and gas industry, single crystal diamond for gem applications and oxide coatings for optical filter applications

Abstract:

High-temperature electronics and MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) based on polycrystalline diamond (PCD) are promising because of its wide band gap, high thermal conductivity, and large carrier mobility. To take advantage of this opportunity, research was undertaken to develop techniques for the synthesis of both undoped and doped high quality PCD films with good surface flatness suitable for the fabrication of high temperature electronics and MEMS devices. One way to fabricate smooth films is to decrease the grain size because diamond films with large grain size bring forth problems in contact formation and device fabrication due to the large surface roughness. Consequently, there is a need to fabricate nanocrystalline films with small grain size and good smoothness. In addition, the electrical properties and conduction mechanisms in nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films have not been sufficiently analyzed. This study also aims at achieving high resistivity nanocrystalline diamond films and to study the electrical conduction mechanism.  Electrical properties of the microcrystalline and nanocrystalline diamond films were measured over a range of temperatures by fabricating capacitors using a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) configuration that could withstand temperatures up to 600 °C. Typical electrical resistivities of MCD were ~10¹² W.cm while the dielectric constant was near 5.6, which was representative of natural diamond. For NCD, the electrical resistivities were of ~10¹¹ W.cm was obtained, which was eight orders of magnitude higher than values reported by other researchers. A lower dielectric constant of 5.2 was obtained for the NCD. The electrical conduction mechanisms in undoped MCD, NCD, and nitrogen-doped films were studied. The Hill’s conduction mechanism was dominant in MCD and NCD films due to the deep-level traps present, which contributed to grain-boundary conduction. The average distances between the trap sites were found to be 11 nm for the MCD, and 5 nm for the NCD were estimated. These related to the hopping conduction across impurities present in the grain boundaries. These impurities were attributed to graphite in the PCD films. The nitrogen-doped diamond films were processed to fabricate a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure. The resistivity of a 1% nitrogen-doped diamond was 2.8x10⁷ Wcm. The space-charge-limited-conduction mechanism was suggested for the nitrogen-doped diamond films due to holes injected from the p-type silicon into the n-type diamond layer, and the injected holes played a role of the current carriers.    

Biography:

Hamid Idriss is working as Senior Chemistry Labs officer in the Department of chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah. He has a long experience in forensic chemistry and Natural products. He published two papers on Tarminalia brownii a plant used as a traditional medication for a number of diseases. He worked also as senior chemistry Laboratory in Qatar petroleum for more than 5 years.  His interest shifted to the synthesis of Nanoparticles using green techniques such as plant extracts.

Abstract:

Fascinating green and cost-effective technique for the synthesis and preparation of silver nanoparticles for an easy assay for the detection of hydrogen peroxide as reactive oxygen species is described in the present study. Silver nanoparticles were capped using an extract of an algae harvested from the Arabian sea in Al-Fujairah, UAE.  Nanoparticles were obtained at an optimum time of 3h under an optimum temperature of 75ËšC in a water bath shaker. The optimum pH was found to be the normal pH of the plant extract (pH= 7). The nanoparticles were characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The nanoparticles were used for the sensing of hydrogen peroxide based on a colorimetric technique. The silver catalytic ability for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide was assessed using a different concentration of AgNPs, pH effect, temperature effect and different loads of hydrogen peroxide. The red color of the silver nanoparticles solution was found to change gradually to a transparent solution with the increase of the concentration of H₂O₂.

Biography:

Henry C. de Groh received his B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1985, and his M.S. in Materials Sci. & Eng. from Case Western Reserve University in 1988 and has been at NASA for 32 years. de Groh is currently working on Oxide Dispersion Strengthened alloys for high temperature engines; Cu and Al carbon nanotube composites for wire; and high strength textile fibers through incorporation of CNT into silk. Mr. de Groh is married with two sons in college and likes to sail, plays guitar and sings in a band, and is a competitive Olympic weightlifter at the international level.

Abstract:

NASA is investing in advanced aviation propulsion technology that includes greater electrification of the power train. Increased electrical conductivity of power transmission wires is a technology that can substantially improve future aircraft. Both higher electrical conductivity and lower densities compared to copper and aluminum are needed. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are being considered as a composite component to improve the electrical properties of Cu and Al. Electrical conductivity, density, and chemistry were measured for dilute Cu-CNT composites. CNT electrical conductivity depends on structure, or its chirality. All commercially available CNT consist of a mixture of approximately 66% CNT with structures that result in conductivities characteristic of semiconductors and 33% with conductivities more like metals. The average electrical conductivity of this mixture of CNT is not high enough to benefit Cu or Al. In this work composites with Cu were made using no CNT, mixed CNT, and sorted metallic only CNT. For composte wire fabrication, carbon nanotubes were coated with Cu and sealed in an evacuated pure Cu 0.25 in. diameter tube;  sealed tube assemblies were hot isostatically pressed and mechanically worked into 1 mm diameter wires. The conductivity of both mixed and sorted CNT composites was 10 to 25% lower than Cu. The decrease in electrical conductivity of the composites was large compared to a bounding estimate of introducing equivalent void fractions and this suggests multiple factors were affecting the conductivity.  Detailed analysis of the factors will be presented and will provide insight into future options for improving conductivity.

Biography:

Eimutis Juzeliūnas is the rector of the Klaipeda University and the principal research associate at the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology in Vilnius, Lithuania. His recent research areas include silicon electrochemistry for energy applications, environmental and microbiological degradation of metallic materials, PVD alloys, molten salt electrochemistry. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission 7^th Framework Programme under grant agreement PIOF-GA-300501.

Abstract:

Carbon-silicon compositions are promising to improve light harvesting performance of silicon-based solar cells. Silicon modification by carbon species could increase light absorbance and accelerate photoelectron generation. Procedures of chemical or physical vapour deposition as well as various etchings are typically used to improve antireflection performance of silicon surface. Most of these techniques, however, are not cost effective and also include hazardous reactants. We demonstrate an environmentally friendly electrochemical method of silicon surface modification by a carbon-carbide system in molten calcium chloride. Silicon-carbon-carbide compositions were obtained by polarizing silicon-silica precursor in molten calcium chloride electrolyte using a graphite anode. A reaction scheme is discussed, which includes release of oxygen from silica, its interaction with a graphite electrode and reduction of carbon dioxide by calcium metal. Structure and composition of the structures have been studied by EDX, XRD, and XPS. Semiconductor properties of the structures have been studied by Mott-Schottky characteristics, EIS and photo electrochemistry. High photo activity of the structures is demonstrated. The surfaces absorbed over 90% of white light in a broad region of wavelengths from 400 nm to 1100 nm. The proposed method offers new opportunities for production of carbon-modified silicon surfaces with superior antireflection and protective properties for solar devices or photo electrodes.

Biography:

Giorgio Speranza is a Physicist graduated at University of Trento, Italy. He is Senior Researcher at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento. He is expert in material science and characterization of material surface properties by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. He is active in the areas of carbon nanostructures including graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon dots for energy and biomedical applications. He has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of reputed journals.

Abstract:

The shortage of non-renewable fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, oil, gas) and the increasing worldwide demand for energy together with the increasing widespread pollution make imperative developing new types of “green” energies sources. It is estimated that the world will need to double its energy supply by 2050 calling for new methods to produce, convert and store energy. The latter is considered as one of the most challenging objective for achieving an economy based on renewable energy sources. However, to date there are no efficient systems to store energy in large amounts. A promising solution is to accumulate energy in a chemical form using hydrogen, which can then be conveniently transported as a gas or stored. In this work we present recent developments in the research for magnesium/graphene, magnesium/carbon nanostructures hybrid materials and their hydrogen-storage properties. MgH₂ was synthesized by decomposing n-Dibutyl-Magnesium leading to direct formation of MgH₂ nanoparticles on the carbon substrates. TEM images show that the size of the MgH₂ particles formed on these substrates can be as low as 1-5 nm in diameters. It is demonstrated that demonstrate that playing with these nanoparticles the Mg-H bond enthalpy lowers. Experimental data show that the H desorption temperature lowers from 350°C typical of bulk MgH₂ to 140°C improving the system efficiency. However, still there are open challenges including of synthesis optimization, nanoparticle stabilization on the support and tank design to obtain an efficient hydrogen storage system. Perspectives for use these materials for mobile applications will be also discussed.

Biography:

Kimberly Cook-Chennault is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Rutgers University. She holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and Stanford University respectively; and a PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include design of integrated hybrid energy systems and investigation of the structure-property relationships in dielectric and piezoelectric films and bulk composites for sensing/actuation and energy storage/harvesting. Cook-Chennault’s research group, the Hybrid Energy Systems and Materials Laboratory, conducts work to understand the mechanisms and processing parameters that enable control of physical material characteristics.

Abstract:

High permittivity polymer-ceramic nano composite dielectric films leverage the ease of flexibility and processing of polymers and functional properties of ceramic fillers. Physical characteristics of these materials can be tuned for application to a variety of applications, such as, advanced embedded energy storage devices for printed wired electrical boards and battery seperators. In some cases, the incompatibility of the two constituent materials; hydrophilic ceramic filler and hydrophobic epoxy can limit the filler concentration and therefore, dielectric properties of these materials. Use of surfactants and core-shell processing of composite fillers is traditionally used to achieve electrostatic and steric stabilization for adequate ceramic particle distribution. This work aims to understand the role of surfactant concentration in establishing meaningful interfacial layers between the epoxy and ceramic filler particles by observing particle surface morphology, dielectric permittivity and device dissipation factors. A comprehensive study of nanocomposites that were comprised of non-treated and surface treated barium titanate (BT) embedded within an epoxy matrix was performed. The surface treatments were performed with ethanol and 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilan, where the best distribution, highest value of permittivity (~ 48.03) and the lowest value of loss (~0.136) were observed for the samples that were fabricated using 0.5 volume fraction of BaTiO₃ and 0.02 volume fraction of silane coupling agent.