2013-2014 Academic Year NSF REU Program
College of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Project #8 (Fall) and Project #8.5 (Spring): Synthesis and Surface
Modification of Carbon
Nanotubes and Graphene for
Advanced Applications
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Vesselin Shanov
Application Deadline: April 17, 2013
Outline for a 2-Phase Project Description for AY-REU 2013-2014
Lab Name:
Nanoworld Lab. Nanoworld is a large interdisciplinary teaching and research laboratory at the
College of Engineering. In this establishment focus is on 2 thrust areas: (a) synthesis,
processing, and characterization of Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) and other nanomaterials; and (b)
design and fabrication of nanodevices and sensors for structural health monitoring and
biomedical applications. Nanoworld is part of the Institute for Nanoscale Science and
Technology and provides an outstanding mechanism for faculty members and students of the
Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, and Arts and Sciences to share knowledge and experiences.
The long term goals of Nanoworld Lab is to integrate nanotechnology into the teaching curricula
at University of Cincinnati, retain undergraduate students, develop interest in students to pursue
graduate education in engineering, contribute to the Nano-Bio research at UC, foster
development of research programs that use nanotechnology, create new versatile materials,
sensors, and devices and implement the same into applications. Nanoworld is the site for much
of the experimental work carried out in the course Experimental Nanoscale Science and
Technology. The Lab has gained national and international reputation in the development of
nanoscale materials and devices, and in the integration of nanotechnology into research and
teaching. Nanoworld participates in several educational programs, such as Men in Engineering,
Women in Engineering (high school student tours); Emerging Ethnic Engineers (undergraduate
minority students tours); Ohio Space Grants, Graduate Summer Scholarships, CO-OP and
Internships, Women in Science and Engineering WISE (undergraduate and graduate research).
Students in the labs work and conduct research on synthesis, processing and application in
devices of CNT arrays for space and medicine.
Overall Project Goals and Description:
This REU project will explore plasma functionalization of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) materials
and their doping and coating with polymer films. The proposed research will help to improve the
properties of CNT thread, sheet, yarns, and to synthesize a new carbon material-graphene. These
materials will find important applications in aerospace and defense industries as light weight and
strong materials replacing metals. Further, CNTs and grephene are successfully used for
reinforcing of advanced polymer composites and for new electronic devices. It is anticipated that
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the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of these composites may be improved
substantially by surface modification and coating. The REU student will explore “dry
functionalization” using cold plasma state. Plasma functionalization is clean, efficient, lowtemperature approach using a glow discharge. They will also synthesize and characterize
graphene as advanced material for energy storage.
Phase 1 (Fall Semester):
The objective of the proposed research for the Fall Semester is to investigate the plasma
treatment of CNT at atmospheric pressure using the state-of-the-art facility shown in Fig. 1. The
effect of the process parameters such as gas composition, plasma power and the nature of the
CNT will be studied.
Figure 1. RF Atmospheric pressure plasma source Atmoflow 400D from Surfx: with a robotic
arm, power supply and plasma torch.
Phase 2 (Spring Semester):
The objective of the REU research for the Spring Semester is to study growing of graphene for
energy storage application. The Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) reactor is available for this
research, and encouraging preliminary results are obtained by graduate students in NanoworldFig. 2.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 2. CVD reactor at UC-(a); SEM image-(b) and TEM image-(c) of graphene synthesized
by CVD at Nanoworld-(b).
The REU students will work with graduate students and a post doc and their results will be
published with their participation as co-authors. This will enrich their academic experience.
Faculty Mentor:
Co-Mentor:
Dr. Vesselin Shanov, Associate Professor
Dr. Noe Alvarez, Post-Doctoral Fellow
School of EEBME, 580 ERC, UC
School of EEBME, UC
Tel: (513) 556-461, Email: vesselin.shanov@uc.edu Email: alvarene@UCMAIL.UC.EDU
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