Upcoming
Prof. William Tarpeh
Tuesday, April 27
at 4 PM
Designing Nitrogen-Selective Materials for Electrochemical Wastewater Valorization
Functional nanomaterials, in the form of piezoelectric/triboelectric nanomaterials and thermoelectric nanocomposites, are attracting increasing attention for mechanical and thermal energy harvesting applications respectively. Our research involves understanding structure-property and functionality relationships in novel polymer-based piezoelectric, ferroelectric and thermoelectric nanostructures, with a focus on the role of phase, crystallinity and morphology on their energy harvesting performance. At the same time, these nanomaterials can also be integrated into functional sensing devices using advanced microscale additive manufacturing techniques to create a range of flexible and stretchable sensors, including those aimed at biomedical or clinical applications. For example, a combination of aerosol-jet printing and 3d printing can be used to fabricate both bio-piezoelectric interfaces for sensing and stimulation of cells, as well as functionalised conformable microfluidic force sensors for precision joint replacement surgery. The ability to control properties at the nanoscale through processing therefore allows for subsequent integration into functional devices through additive manufacturing.