Mechanics of Nanoporous Metal Foams

该奖项的研究目的是通过纳米力学测试，实验研究内部几何形状对纳米多孔金属泡沫力学性能的影响。最终目标是通过纳米多孔泡沫的智能材料设计来提高机械性能的程度。纳米多孔金属泡沫由纳米级支柱组成的互连网络组成，由于其大的表面体积比，在电池、燃料电池、传感器等各种应用中显示出巨大的前景。由于其独特的脱合金合成技术产生了具有纳米尺寸特征的独特几何结构，因此纳米多孔金属泡沫的性能不能简单地从块状金属泡沫或其他纳米结构材料的性能推断出来。本研究的成功完成将对这些新型材料的结构-性能关系有更深入的了解。大部分实验工作将由研究生完成，他们将获得纳米技术研究的宝贵经验。通过本科生研究经验（REU）计划，PI将吸引本科生参与本项目的部分工作。该项目还将通过乔治亚州教师实习奖学金项目（GIFT）与当地高中教师合作，将拟议工作的成果引入示范/实验，向大学预科学生介绍纳米技术和能源概念。

The research objective of this award is to experimentally study, via nanomechanical tests, the effect of internal geometry on the mechanical properties of nanoporous metal foams. The ultimate goal is to provide understanding of the extent to which the mechanical properties can be enhanced via intelligent material design of nanoporous foams. Nanoporous metal foams consist of an interconnected network of nanosized struts and show great promise in a variety of applications including batteries, fuel cells, sensors, etc. due to their large surface to volume ratios. Due to their unique synthesis technique by dealloying that results in distinct geometrical structure with nanosized features, nanoporous metal foam properties cannot be simply inferred from the properties of bulk metal foams or other nanostructured materials. Successful completion of the proposed research will establish a deeper understanding of the structure-property relation of these novel materials. The majority of the experimental work will be performed by graduate students who will gain invaluable experience in nanotechnology research. Through Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program the PI will attract undergraduate students to work on parts of this project. The PI will also work with local high-school teachers through the Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers Program (GIFT) to introduce results from the proposed work into demos/experiments that introduce nanotechnology and energy concepts to pre-college students.