Creating New Energy Transduction Material Platforms
Jennifer Lu
University of California at Merced
The main research theme of Prof. Lu’s functional nanomaterial lab is to rationally design, synthesize and fabricate high‐performance transducer material platforms for energyc onversion, storage, artificial intelligence and life science. In this talk, she will discuss the following three research thrusts.
Her lab has designed consistent and reproducible 3D carbon scaffolds that can maintain their porous architecture during down-stream processes (e.g. acid treatment and surface functionalization) for maximum mass and electron transport. Currently new surface functionalization strategies are being developed for green energy storage (e.g. aqueous-based batteries for load leveling) and for green energy conversion (e.g. electrocatalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction, a key process for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells).
Her lab has revealed a new sub-molecular switch, a dibenzocyclooctadiene(DBCOD), a hinge, which consists of a flexible eight‐membered ring connecting two rigidp henyl rings. Like proteins, it can undergo a conformational change from twist‐boat to chair, using a low‐energy stimulus such as near infrared. We have demonstrated that a polymer system that can tains a small amount of DBCODs without any processing optimization exhibits an anomalous giant thermal contraction. This thermal contraction value is about 10 times greater than the second best reported system.The discovery of this new submolecular switch opens a pathway to create low-thermal expansion polymers and enable the development of low-energy driven micro- and nano-actuators. It also offers a means for thermal waste harvesting.
Her Lab is also creating a dynamic scaffold that can delivers patially and temporally defined mechanical forces onto cells. This new platform isc omprised of (a)a thick bottom layer of a near infrared mechanoresponsive nanocomposite of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and few‐walled carbon nanotubes, and (b) a thin cell‐seeding top layer of collagen functionalized poly(acrylicacid)‐co‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) that interpenetrates into the bottom layer. We have demonstrated that human fetal hepatocytes seeded on this bilayer change their shapes in response to near infrared stimulation with no obvious detrimental effect on cellv iability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a cell seeding platform that can impose spatio temporal mechanical forces on to cells.
Jennifer Lu is one of the first three faculty members who established the Materials Science and Engineering program at UC Merced ‐‐ California?s newest research university. Prior to joining UC Merced, she acquired ten years industry experience at IBM and Agilent Technologies. She holds 20 patents related to device fabrication, and consistently publishes her work in high impact factor journals. She was a recipient of the DARPA Young Investigator award. She was an invited participant in the Frontiers of Science and Engineering workshop co‐sponsored by NAE, NAS, and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. She serves as the Center Director for Merced NAnomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing (MACES) sponsored by NASA.
报告时间：2015.11.03下午13：00
报告地点：宝山东校区材料楼520室