Monday, December 19, 2011

Blog Post 16: Dr. Matt Ray Presentation

1. Dr. Ray was talking about milk, and how water molecules deform the milk molecules when they come into contact with one another.

2. Charge Stabilization: The idea that a colloid can only attract so many layers of ions before there is no attraction.


Steric Stabilization: The idea that by using certain polymers, you can prevent certain particles from attaching to one another.

Blog Post 15: Dr. Asthana Presentation

All compounds have defects in them. In metals, these are called grain boundaries. These boundaries look like tiny fissures when viewed under an SEM microscope.




Materials with smaller grain boundaries tend to have a higher number of boundaries in a given area and tend to be highly flexible, soft, and less brittle. Materials with fewer grain boundaries tend to be harder, rigid, and more brittle.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Blog Post 14: Final Project

The final invention project is Due Dec 19, Monday and to be presented to the class during the final exam period which is at 10:00 am in room 150.

An electronic file needs to be sent/delivered of the presentation and the poster to Dr. Schultz

Blog Post 13: Nano and Proteins

1. MALDI utilizes an appropriately tuned laser to identify characteristics of a polymers that previously took many different processes.
http://www.psrc.usm.edu/mauritz/maldi.html

2. & 3. microcystin LR: 400nm


collagen: 300nm

Lamin A: average diameter of 10nm

4. Liquid proteins in protein synthesis http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn202290g


Blog Post 12: Invention References

Nano Gecko Adhesive References







Extra Video Post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiXJOYqAHoo

This is a video on Nanoknife from URMC, and how it can be used to remove lesions that are otherwise inoperable or require extensive surgery which leads to scarring.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Blog Post 11: Invention Team/Timeline

Jonathan White, Mitchel Liss, and Ben Illick will be working on this project.  We will be collaborating together on all tasks for the project, and will not be assigning specific topics to any one person.  We will assign topics if we feel that it's necessary to complete the project on time if we get close to the deadline without making headway.


We are attempting to address the issue of increasing the adhesion of climbing tools (such as climbing gloves).  We plan to do this through the use of a spray-on adhesive impregnated with carbon nanotubes.

We are basing our invention on existing supplies of both carbon nanotubes and aerosol adhesives, and combing them to form a substance that will allow carbon nanotubes to bond to the surface of the climbing glove, and thereby hold more tightly to climbing surfaces via Van der Waals forces.