CAREER: Porous Materials from Nanoparticle Agglomerates

最近在开发纳米颗粒的可控合成技术方面取得了很大进展。 现在需要从纳米颗粒产生功能材料同时保持其小晶粒尺寸的方法。 在本项目中，将开发一种混合高温颗粒合成/低温互连工艺，用于生产机械强度高的多孔薄膜。 通过这种方法，将产生没有晶粒生长的多孔膜，从而保留与纳米颗粒尺寸相关的性质。 最初的重点将是二氧化钛的多孔薄膜，应用于光伏材料和化学传感器。 这种通用技术也可应用于许多其它材料如二氧化硅或氧化锡的多孔膜的生产。 该研究部分将导致对纳米颗粒材料的颗粒传输和加工/结构/性能关系的机制的更好的理解。 这将通过在粒子科学和技术领域开发本科生选修课，并通过将用于本研究的数值方法纳入所需的研究生水平传输现象课程，以基于项目的团队活动的形式，与教育部分相结合。 外联活动将包括访问华盛顿，华盛顿特区的高中和初中，因为这些学生现在可以作为“州内”学生进入马里兰州大学。 这些访问旨在增加工程学院合格申请人的数量和多样性，并提高对化学工程作为职业选择的认识。

0093649EhrmanMuch recent progress has been made towards the development of techniques for the controlled synthesis of nanoparticles. A need now exists for methods of creating functional materials from nanoparticles while preserving their small grain size. In this project, a hybrid high temperature particle synthesis/low temperature interconnection process will be developed for production of mechanically strong porous films. With this process, porous films will be produced with no grain growth, thus preserving properties associated with nanoparticle size. The initial focus will be on porous films of titania, with applications to photovoltaic materials and chemical sensors. This general technique may also be applicable to the production of porous films of many other materials such as silica or tin oxide. %%%The research component will lead to an improved understanding of the mechanisms of particle transport and processing/structure/property relationships for nanoparticle-based materials. This will be integrated with the educational component through the development of an undergraduate elective in the area of particle science and technology, and by incorporating numerical methods used for this research into the required graduate level transport phenomena course, in the form of project-based team activities. Outreach activities will consist of visits to high schools and junior high schools in Washington, D.C., as these students are now able to attend the University of Maryland as 'in state' students. These visits are directed towards increasing the number and diversity of qualified applicants to the College of Engineering, and towards increasing the awareness of chemical engineering as a career option.