IRES Track 1: Sustainable Materials Development

学生可持续材料开发国际研究经验（IRES）旨在教育本科生和研究生在可持续材料开发和制造的环境，技术和立法方面。该计划的总体目标是提高学生对材料生命周期的环境和社会影响的认识，同时让他们参与旨在改善和量化材料可持续性的具体研究活动。在为期三年的时间里，来自北卡罗来纳州州立大学和北卡罗来纳州中央大学的18名学生将在谢菲尔德大学度过十周，在多学科环境中进行指导研究。学生的研究项目将分为三个一般领域：i）低能耗材料加工，ii）关键元素替代材料的设计和iii）材料分析。在国际场所开展这些活动将为材料的可持续性提供广泛的全球背景，因为与这些问题相关的立法和研究环境可能具有高度的国家特异性。该计划旨在培养具有全球意识和参与的学生，他们在可持续发展和环境影响的全球背景下思考材料科学，工程和制造。该计划将利用谢菲尔德大学功能材料和器件（SUBST）中心的替代和可持续性的独特跨学科环境，它汇集了开发新材料合成和加工策略的跨学科科学家，以及开发和应用材料制造生命周期分析（LCA）模型的领导者。学生将由参与的美国和英国机构的教师共同指导，并将在三个技术领域进行研究：低能耗材料加工（例如，通过冷烧结工艺进行陶瓷的近室温烧结），关键元素替代材料的设计（例如，开发用于能量收集和存储应用的无铅BaTiO 3和BiFeO 3基陶瓷），和材料生命周期分析（例如无铅压电材料的混合生命周期分析）。该项目提供材料生命周期评估的关键输入数据，将有助于评估新发现的材料和工艺的潜力，以提高关键电子陶瓷技术的可持续性。该项目由材料研究部（DMR/MPS）的交叉活动，多学科活动办公室（OMA/MPS），该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) in Sustainable Materials Development aims to educate undergraduate and graduate students in the environmental, technical and legislative aspects of sustainable materials development and manufacturing. The overall goal of the program is to increase students' awareness of the environmental and societal impacts of the materials lifecycle, while involving them in specific research activities aimed at improving and quantifying materials sustainability. Over a three-year period, eighteen students from North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University will spend ten weeks at The University of Sheffield conducting mentored research in a multidisciplinary environment. Student research projects will fall into three general areas: i) Low-energy Materials Processing, ii) Design of Materials for Critical Element Substitution and iii) Materials Lifecycle Analysis. Pursing these activities in an international venue will provide a broad, global context for materials sustainability, as the legislative and research environments associated with these issues can be highly country-specific. The program intends to develop globally aware and engaged students, who think about materials science, engineering and manufacturing within the global context of sustainability and environmental impact.The program will leverage the unique interdisciplinary environment of the Substitution and Sustainability in Functional Materials and Devices (SUBST) center at the University of Sheffield, which brings together interdisciplinary scientists developing new materials synthesis and processing strategies alongside leaders in the development and application of life-cycle analysis (LCA) models for materials manufacturing. The students will be co-mentored by faculty within the participating US and UK institutions and will conduct research within three technical areas: Low-Energy Materials Processing (e.g. near-room temperature sintering of ceramics via cold-sintering processing), Design of Materials for Critical-Element Substitution (e.g. development of Pb-free BaTiO3- and BiFeO3 based ceramics for energy harvesting and storage applications), and Materials Lifecycle Analysis (e.g. hybrid life-cycle analysis of lead-free piezoelectrics). Providing critical input data for materials LCA, the program will help assess the potential of newly discovered materials and processes to improve the sustainability of key electronic-ceramic technologies.This project is co-funded by Cross-Cutting Activities in the Division of Materials Research (DMR/MPS), the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA/MPS), and OISE.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.