RUI: Glass Science Research at Coe College

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Non-Technical SummaryThis grant supports research on glass science for undergraduates at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. The research plan is focused on discovering new glass families with novel properties and structure. Some examples of these glasses are of potential use in batteries. Students use various ways to rapidly quench liquids to glasses designed and built in-house. Structure is found using various forms spectroscopies. Properties include thermal and optical measurements as well as density, hardness, and electrical and ionic conductivity. Computer simulations and theoretical models are frequently done. Broader impacts are of vital importance to this project. The foremost broader impact is that these undergraduates, rapidly increasing in diversity, gain several years of research experience. This serves the national interest and helps provide the nation with urgently needed highly trained technical staff as well as provide a substantial source of well-educated students for graduate school. Another important broader impact is that Coe College is now a hub of undergraduate research expertise in glass science. Knowledge about this undergraduate research program is being systematically shared with faculty at other higher education institutions, including several minority serving ones. Also, as part of Coe’s REU program, students from research-poor colleges and high-school teachers join this research. High-school students also join this research program each summer. Technical SummaryThis grant supports research on novel oxide glasses by undergraduate students at Coe College. The research plan is to extend glass formation to new compositions in a variety of potential binary and ternary glass forming systems that are currently understudied. Some examples of these systems include alkali tellurites and vanadates where there are promising results from this lab. For example, invert tellurite glasses have been formed with up to 65 molar percent sodium oxide. For this project, twin-roller quenching is used on custom designed and built instruments made here by students and faculty. Properties and atomic structure are measured and compared. These techniques include thermal (Tg, Tx, Tm, and fragility), optical (TOF-MS, laser levitation studies of glass formation and viscosity, Raman spectroscopy, and XRD) properties as well as density, hardness, and ionic conductivity. With collaborators NMR, x-ray, and neutron scattering studies are carried out. Also, molecular dynamics simulations and topological constraint theory are employed to determine compositionally changing properties from structural models and knowledge of bond constraints. Broader impacts are of vital importance to this project. The foremost broader impact is that many undergraduates gain multiple years of publishable research experience. This provides the nation with trained technical staff as well as provide a source of well-educated graduate students. Another important broader impact is that Coe College continues to serve as hub of undergraduate research expertise. This knowledge is being systematically shared with other higher education institutions, including several minority serving ones. Workshops, presentations at technical conferences, and mutual visits also occur. Outreach to elementary schools and high schools happens often. High-school students join this research program each summer. Students from research-poor colleges and teachers join this research each summer as part of Coe’s REU program.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.