bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
(Invited) Fundamentals for Effective Research in Materials Science at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution
Authors: Lofland Samuel E 
Published: February 2020

Over the past 15 years, Rowan University has strived to include hands-on experiences into the curriculum for science and engineering majors. While it may seem that such efforts lead to increased faculty load and a concomitant reduction in scholarly work, proper integration of education and research is synergistic. Consider that since 2001, more than 40 undergraduates have co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers with the speaker, and many more have worked on a variety of other projects. The list of majors involved includes chemistry, engineering, physics, and even science education. Not only can these opportunities boost the productivity of cutting-edge research, but they prepare students for success in graduate school or careers in industry and greatly enhance their chances for admission or hiring. There are several important factors that are key to effective implementation. These include flexibility in the curriculum, institutional support, interdisciplinary collaborations, summer programs, and institutional partnerships. We will discuss each of these areas in detail and how each component is necessary for sustaining advanced research programs with students at undergraduate institutions.
(Invited) Making Electrochemical Research Accessible to an Undergraduate Audience
Authors: LeSuer Robert J 
Published: February 2020

In principle, undergraduate students are introduced to electrochemical reactions within the first year of the chemistry program. In practice, the amount of content covered in the second semester of general chemistry is oftentimes limited to oxidation numbers and possibly balancing redox reactions. Coverage of electrochemical concepts in higher level classes seems to be largely dependent on how comfortable the instructor is with the material. While increased exposure to the topic within the formal curriculum is certainly encouraged, training in electrochemistry is perhaps better served by a more informal undergraduate research learning environment. Presented here is one approach towards establishing a rigorous research program designed to train and teach undergraduate students utilizing principles derived from Bloom's taxonomy of learning. Development of a successful electrochemical research program has involved several factors, including: identifying projects that are accessible to undergraduate students given their limited exposure to the topic; developing tools and resources to facilitate training and learning; establishing forums for formal and informal scientific communication opportunities; and creating partnerships and collaborations that not only appreciate the challenges of undergraduate research, but leverage them in order to add meaningful value to the research program. Strategies for implementing direct and indirect methods to assess scholarly and instructional outcomes will also be presented.
(Invited) Nanofab Lab . . . in a Box!™ for Teaching and Outreach
Authors: Zach Michael 
Published: February 2020

Creating patterned nanowires or highly ordered nanostructures is normally a difficult and expensive project that requires use of a multimillion dollar clean room, expensive tools such as an electron beam lithography tool and highly trained technical team to use and maintain the instruments and laboratory. Once the first copy is made, traditional lithographic patterns need to be reproduced starting from bare wafers. Each and every copy of the nanowire circuits requires new wafers, many hours of patterning, photoresist developing, vacuum deposition and selective removal of materials. Once made, characterizing the product requires additional specialized equipment and skills. For all the work involved, there are no short cuts. The full complexity for making patterned nanowires delays hands on nanotechnology until graduate level classes for most students.
The undergraduate research group at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point has introduced a practical alternative to these techniques for a wide variety of materials (metals, alloys, semiconductors and conductive polymers). Electroplate and Lift Lithography simplifies making patterned nanowires to two steps: electroplate the material on an ultrananocrystalline diamond template and lift the resulting structures away using Scotch tape. Making duplicate copies is accomplished in minutes by repeating the process on the non-sacrificial template. By growing wires for a longer duration, the patterned wires can be characterized with a simple USB powered microscope. The lack of expensive consumables or capital equipment makes this accessible to students even in rural, inner-city or tribal school districts.
As a STEM outreach activity, this provides some extraordinary opportunities for students and provides a pathway for high school students to make novel microwire/nanowire research contributions while they are still in high school. A volunteer from the audience will make nanowires and microwires in a live demonstration of the technique.
Warning for general high school and undergraduate audiences: After making wires, participants are not allowed to claim “I am no good at science” because you will have performed cutting-edge science. The amazing proof will be the wires that you may keep to show your friends!

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Electrochemical Energy Conversion: How Can I Successfully Integrate It into My Teaching and Research?
Authors: Gross Michael D. 
Published: February 2020

In graduate school I researched a variety of electrochemical concepts and applications including electrodeposition, solid state ion and electron transport, electrode design, and fabrication and characterization of solid oxide fuel cells. Joining the Bucknell University Chemical Engineering department with this background, I had a lot of questions on my mind: What kind of research projects can I realistically tackle with undergraduates?; Can the research be high-quality?; Can I afford the equipment?; How do I efficiently and effectively advise undergraduate researchers?; What kind of electrochemistry electives would be appropriate?; Can I integrate electrochemistry into the core curriculum? During my time at Bucknell I was able formulate very positive responses to all of these questions. To summarize, I have advised 31 undergraduate researchers in the synthesis, design, and characterization of solid oxide fuel cell materials, electrodes, and devices. Fourteen of those undergraduates have co-authored journal publications, many in ECS journals. I was able to do this with a PUI startup budget (along with some ingenuity and undergraduate engineers!). I created an “Electrochemical Energy Conversion” elective course that teaches principles of electrochemistry and applies those principles to fuel cells and batteries. As a member of the CAChE (Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering) Fuel Cell Task Force, I created 11 educational modules that incorporate fuel cell concepts into the core chemical engineering curriculum. In developing all of these educational experiences, my goal was to create an environment that allows students to develop a sense of relevance, competence, and autonomy – key elements in supporting student intrinsic motivation. Here I will share and discuss these experiences and approaches.
(Invited) Using Nanotechnology for Biosensor Applications
Authors: Williams Frances , Komirisetty Archana , Baker Doyle , Pradhan Aswini K 
Published: February 2020

Sensor related research has greatly increased over the last two decades due to the need for technology and devices for health and environmental monitoring as well as for biological warfare detection. New developments in biosensor design are crucial as these devices play important roles in daily life. This research work focuses on the development of sensors including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and glucose biosensors that are integrated with advanced nano-materials and bio-coatings to create novel devices that are highly sensitive, inexpensive, accurate, and reliable.
More specifically, this paper presents a device based on electrochemical sensing using a working electrode with bio-functionalized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods. Among all metal oxide nanostructures, ZnO nano-materials play a significant role as a sensing element in biosensors due to their properties such as high isoelectric point (IEP), fast electron transfer, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and chemical stability. Further, the diameter of these nanostructures is usually comparable to the size of the biological and chemical species being sensed which is beneficial in generating signals that interface well with macroscopic instruments and have high device sensitivity. The nanorods were immobilized with glucose oxidase (GOx) because of its stability and high selectivity to glucose. The sensor was characterized for electrical response for the evaluation of the bio-functionalization, sensitivity and response time and yielded a linear range of 0.1mM-10.6mM, sensitivity of 18.15μA cm-1 mM-1and a limit of detection of 0.1mM
In addition, a MEMS sensor that incorporates a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film will be presented. For this device the piezoelectric properties of the PZT are exploited to produce sensors that perform optimally for mass sensing applications for sensing biochemical agents. The sensor is designed to operate as a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (TFBAR) whereas a piezoelectric is sandwiched between electrodes and senses a change in mass by measuring a change in resonance frequency. The effect of the PZT thickness on device resonance is also presented. The TFBAR sensor consists of 150 nm of PZT, 150nm of silicon dioxide, the silicon substrate, titanium/platinum bottom electrodes, and aluminum top electrodes. The top electrodes are segmented to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. The resonance frequency of the device is 3.2 GHz. This research involves master’s and undergraduate level students. Thus, the challenges as well as best practices in incorporating beginning-level researchers will also be presented.
A Theoretical Comparison of Optically Concentrating, Solar Water-Splitting Devices
Authors: Stevens John , Weber Adam Z 
Published: February 2020

The use of optically concentrating lenses provides a mechanism to reduce the cost and energy input required to manufacture solar fuels-producing devices. The direct production of hydrogen via water splitting could thereby be realized in a cost-competitive, low carbon fashion. In this work, a modeling approach is used to assess which concentrator architectures are appropriate for integration with wireless photoelectrochemical cells. The model captures optical, heat transfer, photoelectrochemical and climactic phenomena. The variation of design parameters such as lens type, optical concentration ratio, deployment location, cell dimensions and tracking schemes are explored.
It is found that the devices that perform most efficiently employ modest concentration ratios, continuous tracking of the sun, and maintain sufficiently small photovoltaic cell size in order to reduce potential losses in the electrolyte. However, designs that exhibit the lowest cost and energy input per unit of produced fuel have somewhat higher concentration ratios and simpler tracking mechanisms. Employing passive cooling to maintain sufficiently low cell temperature during extreme ambient conditions becomes difficult as the photovoltaic cell size and optical concentration ratio increase.

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Toward High-Efficiency Scalable GaAs and GaAsxP1-X Photoelectrodes Grown Via Vapor Transport from a Solid Source
Authors: Boettcher Shannon Wachter 
Published: February 2020

GaAs and related III-V semiconductors are attractive materials for high-efficiency water-splitting photoelectrodes, but their implementation is limited in part by the high cost of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, which employs toxic and pyrophoric gas-phase precursors. We report the study of GaAs and GaAsxP1-x grown by close-space vapor transport (CSVT), which uses solid GaAs as a source and water vapor as a transport agent as an alternative low-cost technique for depositing GaAs films and microstructures. The free carrier type and density (1016 – 1019 cm-3) in the films was adjusted by addition of Te or Zn powder to the GaAs source powder. The electronic properties of films grown under a variety of conditions are evaluated and correlated with the film structure and impurity content. We show using photoelectrochemical and electron beam-induced current analyses that the minority carrier diffusion lengths of the n- and p-GaAs epitaxial films reached 2-3 µm and 5-7 µm, respectively. Hall mobilities approach those achieved for GaAs grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition, 500 - 4,000 cm2 V-1 s-1 for n-GaAs and 50-240 cm2 V-1 s-1 for p-GaAs depending on carrier concentration. Related efforts to control carrier collection through surface texture as well as the growth of GaAs on Si as an inexpensive high-efficiency tandem photoelectrode will also be discussed.
Ritenour, A. J.; Boucher, J. W.; DeLancey, R.; Greenaway, A. L.; Aloni, S.; Boettcher, S. W. Doping and Electronic Properties of GaAs Grown by Close-Spaced Vapor Transport from Powder Sources for Scalable III-V Photovoltaics. Energy Environ. Sci. Accepted, 2014.
Ritenour, A. J.; Levinrad, S.; Bradley, C.; Cramer, R. C.; Boettcher, S. W. Electrochemical Nanostructuring of n-GaAs Photoanodes. ACS Nano, 2013, 7 (8), 6840–6849.
Ritenour, A. J.; Cramer, R. C.; Levinrad, S.; Boettcher, S. W. Efficient n-GaAs Photoelectrodes Grown by Close-Spaced Vapor Transport from a Solid Source. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces
2012, 4, 69-73.
Development of Two-Step Water Splitting Systems Under Visible Light Using Sulfide Photocatalysts
Authors: Higashi Masanobu , Shirakawa Takashi , Abe Ryu 
Published: February 2020

Photocatalytic water splitting using semiconductor materials has been attracting much attention due to the potential for the clean production of H2 from water using solar energy. Most of metal sulfide semiconductors, such as CdS, possess appropriate band levels for water reduction and oxidation as well as a narrow band gap allowing visible light absorption because the valence bands of them are mainly formed by S 3p orbital. However, the most of sulfides have no capability of O2 evolution from water due to the occurrence of self-oxidative deactivation by photogenerated holes. Even for the sacrificial H2 evolution, they require particular electron donor such as S2– and SO3
2– to generate H2 stably. In the present study, we attempted to combine some sulfides such as CdS with various reversible electron donors in order to develop two-step water splitting systems based on sulfide photocatalysts. We found that Pt/CdS can oxidize [Fe(CN)6]4– and generate H2 stably, and combining it with an O2 evolution system (TaON photoanode1)) enabled us to split water into H2 and O2 under visible light irradiation (Fig. 1).
1) Higashi, M.; Domen, K.; Abe, R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 6968–6971.

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Optimization of Photoelectrochemical Performance of Long TiO2 Nanotubes By Li-Doping Induced Defect Passivation
Authors: Tsui Lok-kun , Zangari Giovanni 
Published: February 2020

Photoelectrochemical conversion of sunlight into storable fuels has great potential to overcome the challenge posed by sunlight’s transient nature. TiO2 nanotubes are an attractive system for this application due to their high surface area, 1D charge transport, and stability in solution and under irradiation. The photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 nanotubes need to be optimized by balancing increased light absorption in longer nanotubes against the limitations imposed by the presence of trap states which would increase recombination of photogenerated charges. Although nanotubes from anodizing in low water content electrolytes can access the widest range of nanotube lengths, their high density of trap states facilitates recombination processes.[1] It has been demonstrated that 7 mm long nanotubes maximize efficiency in Nb doped TiO2 nanotubes.[2] Recently, we have shown that trap state passivation can be readily achieved by electrochemically induced Li doping accompanied by the formation of Ti3+ states in TiO2 nanotubes. This treatment suppresses recombination by pre-filling the traps with electrons and yields up to a 2x enhancement in the photoelectrochemical performance for 1 mm long nanotubes (Figure 1 (a)), providing a potential route to extend the length-vs-photocurrent maximum to longer tubes.[3] With this Li doping process we are able to demonstrate a 15 micron long nanotube array yields the highest photocurrent between 1 and 21 mm, generating 1.5 mA/cm2 of photocurrent under simulated sunlight (Figure 1 (b)). Studies by electrochemical impedance have confirmed the trap state passivation mechanism by direct inspection of the density of trap-state levels and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements have identified Ti3+ states that accompany this doping process.
Figure Caption
Figure 1. (a) Lithium modified TiO2 nanotubes show up to 2x enhancement in photoelectrochemical performance at 1.0 VSCE. (b) Photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 nanotubes up to 21 microns in length shows an optimum at 15 microns after Li doping.
References

References

[1] L. Tsui, G. Zangari, Electrochim. Acta 121 (2014) 203.
[2] C. Das, P. Roy, M. Yang, H. Jha, P. Schmuki, Nanoscale 3 (2011) 3094.
[3] L. Tsui, M. Saito, T. Homma, G. Zangari, J. Mater. Chem. A (2014). In-Press. 10.1039/C4TA05620E

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Detection of Mercury with a Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Biosensor
Authors: Zheng Peng , Wu Nick 
Published: February 2020

There is a risk that toxic heavy metals are released from dental amalgams. This study has demonstrated a sensitive and selective biosensor based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), which is capable of measuring mercury(II) ions in human saliva from ppt up to ppb level. In the biosensor system, the SERS probe and the solid-state chip were functionalized with complementary single-stranded DNA, respectively, except for three artificially designed T-T mismatches. Only in the presence of mercury ions can the SERS probe be captured by the chip due to hybridization of ssDNA, rendering the specific detection of mercury ions. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations have showed that the excellent performance of the SERS biosensor is attributed to the strong coupling between SERS probe and the chip with a high enhancement factor.
Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Quantum Dots for Flexible Solar Cell Applications
Authors: Widel Zachary X.W. , Brain Samantha J. , Truffa Julianne , Keleher Jason J 
Published: February 2020

Economic distress resulting from dependence on diminishing fossil fuels has emphasized the urgent need for new, clean, and efficient fuel sources. Developments in understanding solar energy, a versatile, renewable resource, have resulted in the production of bio-inspired materials, including solar cells, which harness the power of light to produce energy. Commercially available solar cells face severe cost, efficiency, and structural limitations, which must be overcome as the energy crisis progresses. Therefore, interest in the use of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) technologies as lower cost and higher efficiency alternatives have been on the rise. Unfortunately, many existing QDSCs contain cadmium metal, which is banned in many countries due to its toxicity and leachability into aquatic environments. Furthermore, as a means to combat the structural limitations of traditional solar cells, research on conducting polymeric matrices has been a field of expanding interest. This work sought to employ a “green synthetic” route in the preparation of QDSCs with a conductive polymeric (cellulose) matrix as the active substrate. ZnO quantum dots (QD’s) were synthesized in an alkaline aqueous solution under ambient conditions. The ZnO QD’s were blended with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles in an azeotropic ethanol/water mixture and the resulting dispersion was functionalized with various light absorbing dye molecules. This nanocomposite was combined with the conductive polymer matrix, creating a thin film photoanode for photon capture. The resulting photovoltaic (PV) cell was tested to determine the voltage across the circuit. Current results show that the addition of QDs to the solar cell system results in increased stability as well as a sustainable voltage greater than 50% higher than that of their DSSC counterpart.
Low-Cost MEMS Packaging Using Polymer-Based Air-Gaps
Authors: Phillips Oluwadamilola , Kohl Paul A 
Published: February 2020

Packaging of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is vital to maintaining device performance and minimizing the impact of environmental threats. Packaging accounts for a substantial portion of the total cost of the MEMS device. In the approach taken here, the movable MEMS component is encapsulated by a sacrificial polymer in order to protect the device during processing. The component is then packaged in a traditional way, such as by overmolding on a substrate or lead-frame packaging. Thermal decomposition of the sacrificial polymer releases the MEMS device either during or after component packaging. A thermally decomposable sacrificial material, polypropylene carbonate (PPC) and overcoat material BCB (benzocyclobutene) was used for protection of the MEMS device during packaging. PPC decomposition products permeate through the overcoat to leave an air cavity. Control of the thermal decomposition of polypropylene carbonate is an integral part of the process because the MEMS device needs to be released at a critical point in the process.
In this study, the thermal decomposition temperature of the PPC was modified by kinetically inhibiting the thermal decomposition via end-capping. Reacting the hydroxyl-end group of polypropylene carbonate with chemical moieties such as organohalides and mono/difunctional acids alters the thermal stability of these materials. Furthermore, additives such as metal halides and multifunctional alcohols can also alter the thermal decomposition PPC. In this presentation, the status of these modified polymers in this cavity-forming MEMS packaging process will be discussed.