Functional materials/surfaces, bioabsorbable materials, and natural minerals
Formulation, separation, processing, characterization, and application
Yujin Sun
The SURFI Team welcomes a new addition to our team, Mr. Yujin Sun. Yujin is the PhD scholar from the China University of Mining and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology. He will work on fundamentals of flotation systems including particle-liquid and particle-bubble interactions during his one-year stay at Michigan Tech.
Jeff Brookins
Together with several other undergraduate students from the Materials Science and Engineering Department, Jeff attended the Materials Science & Technology (MS&T16) fall meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, which took place on October 23-27 this year. Jeff presented his poster entitled The Use of Heat Treatment to Restore Zn-Alloy Microstructure for Biomedical Uses. PhD Candidate, Zhiyong Yin and Professor Emeritus Karl Rundman also contributed to this poster presentation.
Superhydrophilicity Analysis
One of the SURFI review papers entitled Hydrophilic and Superhydrophilic Surfaces and Materials, published in Soft Matter in 2011, was marked as Highly Cited Paper by Thomson Reuters in its Web of Science. This highly cited paper received enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the academic field of Materials Science based on a highly cited threshold for the field and publication year.
Curaua Plant
A new journal publication entitled Promising Curaua Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composite for High Impact Ballistic Multilayered Armor was published online in the Polymer Engineering and Science journal. This publication is a joint effort between Institute of Military Engineering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and SURFI team. In this work it is shown that less expensive polyester matrix composites reinforced with 10 to 30 volume fractions of curaua fibers reveal comparable ballistic performance to aramid fabric. Despite being much less stronger and less stiff than aramid, the curaua/polyester composites were associated with similar trauma indentation in a clay witness simulating the human body. The impedance matching and scanning electron microscopy analyses suggest effective energy absorption through ceramic fragments capturing by curaua composites. It is concluded that the curaua fiber reinforced polyester composite could replace aramid fabric in the multi-layered armor systems for personal ballistic protection.
Plenary Lecture at IMPS
The 15th International Mineral Processing Symposium took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 19-21, and gathered more than 250 participants. Dr. Drelich was invited plenary speaker. Beside the plenary lecture entitled Surface Charge Heterogeneity of Minerals: Why do We Need to Study it?, he also presented a paper entitled Meaningful Contact Angles in Flotation Systems: Personal Inclination. He was invited by his collaborator from Istanbul, Prof. M.S. Celik. This visit also provided great opportunity to meet former SURFI scholars, Mr. Onur Guven (currently Dr. Guven) and Ms. Dilek Senol-Arslan.
Visiting ITU
Dr. Drelich visited the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) on October 18 during his one-week trip to Istanbul. This half-day visit at ITU provided an opportunity to discuss future directions of collaboration with Prof. M.S. Celik and his close associate Dr. Onur Guven. Dr. Guven defended his PhD degree just a few months ago – also a few months after his stay in US, working with the SURFI team in Houghton last year. This SURFI-ITU collaboration will concentrate on effects of particle geometry and roughness on flotation of minerals and particle-gas bubble interactions.
Anodized Zn
A better understanding of the surface oxide film on biodegradable metals could lead to the design of smarter, surface responsive biodegradable stents with good biocompatibility and controlled degradation rates at different stages of implantation. In our new study, the surface finish of zinc was manipulated through different material processing conditions including oxidation, electropolishing and anodization. Implant wires with oxide films of varying surface characteristics were degradated in vivo using a rodent model to understand their response to a biological endovascular environment. It was found that degradation rate was mainly dependent on the quality and stability of oxide film. The paper entitled Importance of Oxide Film in Endovascular Biodegradable Zinc Stents has been accepted by the Surface Innovations journal. The leading author is our summer scholar Adam Drelich, who completed the research presented in this paper in summer 2015.
SURFI Team 2016/17
A new academic year is already in a full swing. The SURFI team has been expanded by a PhD candidate, Mr. Zhiyong Yin, who arrived from Montana Tech in summer. We have also recruited two new undergraduate students, Ms. Morgan Jons and Mr. Philip Staublin. We also expect two new visitors from China, a visiting scholar who supposed to join our team in late October and then a visiting professor who will arrive in December.
Quebec City, Canada
Dr. Drelich attended the XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC 2016) that took place in Quebec City, Canada on September 11-15. This congress is the major international event that gathers researchers and engineers associated with processing of minerals from many countries every other year. Dr. Drelich presented a paper entitled Hydrophobic nano-asperities of rough particles in control of energy barrier during flotation. During the meeting, he also met many friends and colleagues from around the world and refreshed or established research initiatives with several researchers in the area of mineral processing fundamentals.
Konrad Rykaczewski
We were fortunate to host Dr. Konrad Rykaczewski from the Arizona State University, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, starting from Sunday midnight to Tuesday morning. Dr. Rykaczewski came for his short visit to deliver the invited talk entitled “How poison dart frogs could de-ice airplanes: fundamentals and applications of bioinspired anti-icing coatings.” He also took this opportunity to review facilities at MSE department, meet a few SURFI students, and take a tour over the Keweenaw Peninsula. We hope we make a new friend to the SURFI team!
