Ph. D. Research in the Meredith Group Fall 2011

Bio-Inspired Sensors and Advanced Materials from

Renewable Resources

Carson Meredith Georgia Tech ChBE/IPST

Outline

Three project areas relevant to new bio-based materials

Optical materials / whitening materials (Jie Wu)

Lightweight composites for transportation

Bio-inspired adhesive particles

Bio-enabled sensor particles

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LM-AFRL X-55

BioPAINTS : Bio-enabled

Particle Adherents for

INTegrative Spectroscopy

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Scientific Motivation

Address existing knowledge and capability gap for design,

synthesis, and characterization of particles that combine

Dispersion on demand

Tailored adhesion to surfaces

Tailored optical excitation and

emission

Remote and covert overt optical detection

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F Polymer film

Biological Models: Adhesion & Optics

Pollen

Diatoms

Marine luminescent species

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Technological Motivation

Basic processes to support potential military / security applications

Remote tracking of movement / position

Covert search and rescue

Intelligence and security

Dual use applications (commercial)

Adhesives

Medicine (diagnostics / imaging / drug delivery)

Security inks and watermarks

Inventory management

Agrochemical delivery

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Program Overview

$7.5 Million funding from Air Force

5 years

PI (Meredith) + 8 Co-Pis

8 PhD students and 8 post docs

Georgia Tech

Technical University of Dresden (Germany)

University of Arizona

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

South Dakota State University

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People - Expertise

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Bob Norwood

UA

Joe Perry

GT

Dimitri Deheyn

SIO

Cheng Zhang

SDSU

Nils Kroger

GT

Carson Meredith

GT

Nicole Poulsen

GT

Optics

Adhesion Biology Fabrication

Ken Sandhage

GT

Mark Hildebrand

SIO

Project Structurerated Approach

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Thrust 1: Bioparticle Adhesion (CM)

1.1 High-throughput screening (CM,MH)

1.2 Detailed Adhesion (CM)

1.3 Biomolecular Control (NK,NP,MH)

Thrust 2: Adhesive Particle Synthesis (JP)

2.1 Lithographic Particle Fabrication (JP,RN)

2.2 Chemical Particle Tailoring (KS)

2.3 Bioinspired Synthetic Adhesives (CZ)

Structures

Bio-templates

Thrust 3: Spectroscopic Interrogation (RN)

3.1 Chemical-Tailored Optical Resonators (KS, NK)

3.2 Organic chromophore development (CZ)

3.3 Biochromophore characterization (DD)

Evaluate

effects on

adhesion

Assess

Adhesion

processes

Particles

Structures

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Lightweight composites for transportation

Airlines: Composite Materials Lower Operating Costs

Increased fuel economy with lighter weight

Reduced time for maintenance and minor repairs

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LM-AFRL X-55

Large potential market that can absorb

high materials costs

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Boeing Aero Magazine

Boeing 787 case study for airframe materials

1.Short Term - Performance filler

1. low loadings added to existing

materials

2. 170 tons per year at 3 wt.%

II. Long Term – Replacement of carbon fiber

1. CNCs spun into fiber

2. 3800 tons per year

Estimated cellulose

nanocrystal

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Like carbon fiber,

potential for high-

strength

but light-weight

Project Goals

Overall: Identify fundamental mechanisms of processing

and strengthening CNC/NFC-polymer composites relevant

to aerospace industry.

Commercially-relevant model system

-water-borne thermoset polymers

-CNCs: single nanocrystals & whiskers (initially)

-NFC: nanofibrils (eventually)

Specific Aims:

1) Adhesion and reactions at CNC interface with thermosets

2) Humidity effects

3) Thermal Stability & Mechanical Properties

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Model Systems of Study

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Polyurethane 0.5-1 ton per commercial

plane

Epoxy 12 tons per 787

(35 tons CFRP)

faa.gov toray.com

Polyimide Higher temperature structural

matrix or insulation

compositesworld.com

Initial phase

Ancarez™ 555 Waterborne Epoxy Resin

Anquamine 401 Polyamine

(Air Products)

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Cellulose surface should participate in reactions with

thermoset materials

epoxides reactive with protic groups (-OH)

isocyanates

What is rate relative to bulk curing?

Interface segregation of components?

Polyamine adsorption

water adsorption

How does adhesive strength develop with time and water

content?

What are opportunities for pre-modification of surface of

CNC?

1) Adhesion: surface reactivity

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1) Adhesion: Quantitative Atomic Force

Microscopy measurement of interfacial adhesion

Thio and Meredith, Col Surf B:

Biointerfaces, 2008 , 65, 308-312

1. Inorganic particle interactions

2. Metal-mineral interactions in the environment

3. Zeolite adhesion to polymers

4. Pollen – polyamide / PS adhesion

5. E. coli – polyamide / PS adhesion

6. Polymers

Thio and Meredith, J Coll Int Sci, 2007, 314, 52-62.

Thio, Lee, Meredith Env Sci Tech, 2009, 43, 4308–4313

Lee, Bae, and Meredith, Langmuir, 2009, 25, 9101-9107.

Thio, Lee, Meredith, Keller, Langmuir, 2010, 26, 13995

Lee and Meredith, Langmuir, 2011, 27, 10000.

Lee and Meredith, Langmuir, 2011, 27, 6897

2) Humidity

Challenge:

CNCs are hydrophilic and water can impede curing

reactions and hinder component interactions

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Solution: Understand the impact(s) on composite performance

Mechanical Properties:

temperatures, rates, loading conditions,

environmental humidity Dynamic Mechanical

Analysis

Thermal Analysis:

glass transition, curing kinetics,

conversion Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Conventional and MEMS-based

Quasi-Static Testing

3) Thermal Stability

Challenge:

Isolation techniques can further

reduce thermal stability of CNCs

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Adapted from: Roman and Winter,

Biomacromolecules (2004)

Lu, Askeland and Drzal, Polymer (2008)

Increasing surface

sulfate groups

from hydrolysis

Bacterial Cellulose

Potential Solutions: 1, 2, and/or 3

2. Surface

Chemistry

1. Isolation

Techniques

Dorgan, Personal Communication (2011)

3. Curing

Strategies

Summary

WHY: Significant market potential for forest-based nanocomposites in

advanced materials industries

Aerospace: 200 to 4000 tons / year CNC of NFC potential

size for just one aircraft model

Potential for packaging, automotive plastics, adhesives & sensors

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WHAT: Significant challenges addressed by research

USDA FPL-University Collaboration with Georgia Tech

Air Force BioPAINTS Multi-University Research Initiative

IPST-funded research projects in optical / whitening materials

Acknowledgements

Collaborators

Meisha Shofner, Georgia Tech MSE/IPST

Greg Schueneman, USDA FPL

Yulin Deng, ChBE/IPST – access to homogenizer

Sven Behrens, ChBE – instrument access (Zeta sizer)

Students and Postdocs

Jie Wu, Natalie Girouard, Timi Fadiran, Ismael Gomez

Dr. Shanhong Xu and Dr. Haisheng Lin

Funding

IPST PSE Fellowship

USDA FPL

Air Force Office of Sponsored Research

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