IRES: Nanofibers for Resource Efficiency

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IRES: Nanofibers for Resource EfficiencyA thematic basis of this program is the emerging area of nanofibers. Nanofibers have diameters from one to four orders of magnitude smaller than the diameters of conventional microfibers produced by mechanical drawing. As a result of their small size, nanofibers can demonstrate superior properties that provide critical advantages in many applications. Nanofibers (NF) are increasingly explored in high performance filtration, batteries and fuel cells, wound healing, composite material reinforcements, blood vessel and tissue engineering, smart textiles, drug delivery, gas sensors, electronics, and catalysis. The global market for NF is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 35% between 2014 and 2020 and reach ~$1 billion by 2017. There are huge needs in the development of sizeable and ?green? production of NF from a larger range of materials, providing easier ways for NF processing into functional structures, and developing a skilled workforce. This IRES will provide at least 18 undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with unique hands-on experience and significant knowledge of cutting-edge NF fabrication methods, as well as NF testing and application by providing an intense research program at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL), Czech Republic, a leading academic center in nanofiber research and commercialization, and at the Lodz University of Technology (UT-Lodz), a regional leader in catalysis and bio-fuels in Poland. Students will develop practical skills needed to address the knowledge gaps in NF science and technology, bring their experiences back to their home institutions, and help to develop a global-capable workforce for this emerging market. By using a cohesive approach and drawing on complementary expertise, facilities and traditions across the nations and regions, will enhance the intellectual as well as the societal and economic returns of this IRES program.This program will provide 18 students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a unique opportunity to carry out 8 week of cutting-edge research at the forefront of nanofiber science, technology, and biomedical and energy applications at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL), Czech Republic, a leading academic center in nanofiber research and commercialization, and at the Lodz University of Technology (UT-Lodz), a regional leader in heterogeneous catalysis, Poland. Nanofibers (NF) form a large class of materials that can exhibit nano-enabled unique properties, which are unattainable at a larger scale. However, the growth potential of the NF materials market is still hindered by the limited ability to efficiently generate sizeable quantities of nanofibers with predictable and controllable complex, macroscopic architectures and desirable properties. Students will work at TUL with a new, high-rate, alternating-current electrospinning (ac-electrospinning) process that unveils several new physical phenomena which help to overcome major disadvantages of commonly used dc-electrospinning, such as ?whipping? instability and residual electric charge, while increasing the process productivity by 1 ? 2 orders of magnitude. Students will explore selected NF-based materials for advanced catalytic systems with improved activity, selectivity and stability in many reactions at UT-Lodz, along with other applications tested at TUL. During the pre-trip training, foreign site work, and post-trip activities, students will focus on advancing basic understanding of all aspects of emerging high-rate ac-electrospinning, in order to direct the assembly of NF into desired configurations and to stimulate the development of commercializable processes for nanofiber-based materials for heterogeneous catalysis, biomedical uses, and other potential applications. Overall, this program shall facilitate a broader long-term collaboration between the US and international research groups within the nanofiber research and manufacturing domain by bringing new collaborators and facilitating multiple international links between the researchers and students in related areas.