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Nanoparticle Arrangement Controls Electrical Current Rosario A. Gerhardt, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, DMR 0604211.

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  1. Nanoparticle Arrangement Controls Electrical CurrentRosario A. Gerhardt, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, DMR 0604211 Nanocomposites are ubiquitous in a myriad of electrical, optical and magnetic applications such as components for flat panel displays, solar cells and fuel cell electrodes to name a few. One of the more vexing problems is how to distribute the conducting filler material so as to minimize the amount needed to achieve the desired conductivity and/or other related properties. Prof. Gerhardt’s research group has been able to conclusively demonstrate that in order to achieve the best electrical response, it is necessary to create a segregated network of the nanofillers rather than a homogeneous dispersion. The measured resistivity for two ways of arranging the conducting carbon black (CB) nanofillers shows that percolation can be achieved at much smaller filler volume fractions in the segregated network case. Proof that the fillers form 3D interconnected pathways was obtained by using current-AFM imaging. (a) (c) (b) (a) Atomic force microscopy (AFM) topographic image of a polymer composite showing the conducting particles located at the triple point junction (b) Current-AFM image of the same region shown in (a) . Images (a,b) were obtained by applying a voltage to the AFM tip and detecting the regions where current flows across the thickness of the specimen as depicted in (c).

  2. Development of Human Resources in Composites ResearchRosario A. Gerhardt, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, DMR 0604211 The prospect of helping to develop multifunctional composites for a variety of cutting edge applications attracted a large number of students to work in Prof. Gerhardt’s group. Many of the students started out as undergraduate researchers and stayed on to do some graduate work at GT or elsewhere. Throughout the period of this grant, a total of 14 students were involved in this project (3 PhDs, 4 M.S. and 8 B.S. students). Out of the 14, three were women (21%) and 3 were under-represented minorities (21%). Together with Prof. Gerhardt, many of these students are leaders in the student group organizations and help out with K-12 demonstrations and MSE-related recruitment activities. Extensive collaboration with researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs and Argonne National Labs have resulted in several joint papers and additional fruitful interactions.

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