Current Research Project Titles

Click Research Category for Project Summaries. Some Projects are Cross-listed.

Advanced Ceramic Materials: Projects involving advanced ceramics and their synthesis, processing and mechanical properties.

  Melissa J. Baumann  Eldon D. Case

• Microcracking in Bioceramics
• Ceramic Membrane Water Filtration Combined with Ozonation

Advanced Metallic Systems: Alloy development and process design for improved properties

  Thomas R. Bieler  Carl Boehlert  Martin A. Crimp  David S. Grummon  Andre Y. Lee  K.N. Subramanian

• Microstructural Evolution from Ageing, Creep and Thermomechanical Fatigue in Lead Free Solders
• Effects of Heat Treatment on Primary Creep of TiAl
• Deformation Transfer and/or Fracture Initiation in Micro-lamellar TiAl
• High Temperature Shape Memory Alloy Development for Use above 500 C.
• Imaging of Dislocations in Bulk SEM Samples
• Elevated-Temp Grain Boundary Deformation Processes of Structural Alloys: Grain Boundary Engineering
• Lead-Free Electronic Solders for Severe Service Conditions
• Reducing defects in manufactured titanium fasteners
• Thin Film Shape Memory Alloys on Polymeric Substrates for Microactuators
• Development of Nanostructured Lead-free Solder
• Radiation Effects on the Structure and Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes
• Growth and Characterization of Rare-Earth Silicide Nanowires and Nanostructures
• Nitinol Brazing
• Functional Superelastic Interlayers for Control of Friction and Wear in Hard-Coated Components
• Development of In-Situ Electron-Microscopy Techniques
• The Effect of Boron the Creep and Fatigue Behavior of Ti-6Al-4V(wt.%)

Biobased Industrial Products: Projects leading to products made from renewable resources.

  Kris Arvid Berglund  Bruce E. Dale  David Hodge  Carl T. Lira  Dennis J Miller  Robert Y. Ofoli

• Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems
• Utilization of Renewable Resources
• Property Measurement and Prediction for Bio-derived Chemicals
• Hydrogenolysis of Carbohydrate Feedstocks
• Aqueous Phase Hydrogenation of Organic Acids
• Advanced Biofuel Blends as Petroleum Diesel Replacements
• Reactive Separations
• Distilled Beverage Technology for Value Added Agricultural Products
• Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilizing Alkaline Pretreatments
• Catalytic transformation of biorenewables to petrochemicals
• Alkaline and Oxidative Pretreatments of Lignocellulose

Biomaterials: Development of materials to function in living systems

  Melissa J. Baumann  Carl Boehlert  Scott Calabrese Barton  Eldon D. Case  Lawrence T. Drzal  David Hodge  Ilsoon Lee  Robert Y. Ofoli

• Interactions of nisin with selected proteins at the liquid-liquid interface
• 'Green’ Biobased Sustainable Polymer and Composite Materials
• Alkaline and Oxidative Pretreatments of Lignocellulose
• Microcracking in Bioceramics
• Bioactive Hydroxyapatite Whisker Composite Ceramic Bone Substitutes
• Colloidal Interfaces between Biomaterials and Biological Tissue
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Adsorption of liposomes on charged polyelectrolyte substrates (Collaborative with Worden and Lee)
• Opto-electrochemical characterization of bilayer-embedded biomacromolecules in TIR geometry
• Quantitation of biomolecular coverages at the liquid-liquid interface
• Biomedical Compatibility of Ti-Al-Nb Alloys for Implant Applications
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Transport and Stability in Biocatalytic Fuel Cells

Biomedical Engineering: Addressing medical problems by application of engineering principles.

  S. Patrick Walton

• in vitro Interactions of RNAs with Recombinant Human Dicer
• Molecular Barcode-Labeled Aptamers for Parallel Protein Measurements
• Quantitative, Genomics-Based Measurement of Transcription Factor Levels
• Delivery of siRNAs by Polymeric Nanoparticles

Biomolecular Engineering: Manipulation of the physical and chemical characteristics of biomolecules for improved performance

  S. Patrick Walton

• in vitro Interactions of RNAs with Recombinant Human Dicer
• Molecular Barcode-Labeled Aptamers for Parallel Protein Measurements
• Quantitative, Genomics-Based Measurement of Transcription Factor Levels
• Delivery of siRNAs by Polymeric Nanoparticles

Biotechnology: Projects combining biology and microbiology with engineering.

  Melissa J. Baumann  Carl Boehlert  Christina Chan  Bruce E. Dale  Martin C Hawley  Ilsoon Lee  Ramani Narayan  Robert Y. Ofoli  S. Patrick Walton  R Mark Worden

• Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems
• Utilization of Renewable Resources
• Conversion of Biomass into Fuel and Chemicals
• Biodegradation and Composting Studies
• Biobased and Recyclable Composite Materials
• Metabolic Engineering
• Multiphase Biocatalysis
• Metabolic Profiling
• Systems Biology
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Protein Expression
• Adsorption of liposomes on charged polyelectrolyte substrates (Collaborative with Worden and Lee)
• Catalytic transformation of biorenewables to petrochemicals
• Opto-electrochemical characterization of bilayer-embedded biomacromolecules in TIR geometry
• Biomedical Compatibility of Ti-Al-Nb Alloys for Implant Applications
• Ceramic Membrane Water Filtration Combined with Ozonation
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films
• Lab Homepage - http://www.egr.msu.edu/abel
• in vitro Interactions of RNAs with Recombinant Human Dicer
• Molecular Barcode-Labeled Aptamers for Parallel Protein Measurements
• Quantitative, Genomics-Based Measurement of Transcription Factor Levels
• Delivery of siRNAs by Polymeric Nanoparticles

Colloid and Interface Science: Projects studying large charged molecules and/or molecules at interfaces between phases.

  Melissa J. Baumann  Ilsoon Lee  Robert Y. Ofoli

• Novel Fabrication of Nanostructured Particles with an Arbitrary Shape
• Colloidal Interfaces between Biomaterials and Biological Tissue
• Interactions of nisin with selected proteins at the liquid-liquid interface
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Adsorption of liposomes on charged polyelectrolyte substrates (Collaborative with Worden and Lee)
• Catalytic transformation of biorenewables to petrochemicals
• Opto-electrochemical characterization of bilayer-embedded biomacromolecules in TIR geometry
• Quantitation of biomolecular coverages at the liquid-liquid interface
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Nanomixing or Nanodispersion of Nanomaterials
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films

Electronic Materials: Materials and processing for enabling microelectronic, optical, and electromechanical systems

  Thomas R. Bieler  Martin A. Crimp  Lawrence T. Drzal  Tim Hogan  Andre Y. Lee  Ilsoon Lee  Donald Morelli  K.N. Subramanian

• Nanomaterials (Graphene Nano-Platelets) as Multifunctional Modifiers for Polymers
• Optimal Microstructural Design Engineering of Diamond Films
• Nanostructured Bulk Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
• Lead-Free Electronic Solders for Severe Service Conditions
• Microstructural Evolution from Ageing, Creep and Thermomechanical Fatigue in Lead Free Solders
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Development of Nanostructured Lead-free Solder
• Radiation Effects on the Structure and Electronic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes
• Growth and Characterization of Rare-Earth Silicide Nanowires and Nanostructures
• New Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Conversion

Energy Production: Projects concerning production and utilization of energy.

  Scott Calabrese Barton  Eldon D. Case  Bruce E. Dale  David Hodge  Tim Hogan  Krishnamurthy Jayaraman  Carl T. Lira

• Utilization of Renewable Resources
• Property Measurement and Prediction for Bio-derived Chemicals
• Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems
• Processing and Characterization of Thermoelectric Materials
• Alkaline and Oxidative Pretreatments of Lignocellulose
• Nanostructured Bulk Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
• Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilizing Alkaline Pretreatments
• Mixed-feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
• Fabrication of Large Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrator Panels by Extrusion

Environmental Research: Projects studying the environmental impact of processes, and/or remediation.

  Bruce E. Dale

• Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems

Metabolic Engineering: The study of intracellular pathways in areas of biomedical and biotechnology.

  Christina Chan

• Metabolic Profiling
• Systems Biology

Nanomaterials: Improving material properties by manipulating atomic structure at the nanometer scale

  Melissa J. Baumann  Scott Calabrese Barton  Lawrence T. Drzal  Martin C Hawley  Andre Y. Lee  Ilsoon Lee  Robert Y. Ofoli

• Ceramic Membrane Water Filtration Combined with Ozonation
• Nanomaterials (Graphene Nano-Platelets) as Multifunctional Modifiers for Polymers
• Carbon Nanotube Synthesis with Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition
• Catalytic transformation of biorenewables to petrochemicals
• Development of Nanostructured Lead-free Solder
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Adsorption of liposomes on charged polyelectrolyte substrates (Collaborative with Worden and Lee)
• Opto-electrochemical characterization of bilayer-embedded biomacromolecules in TIR geometry
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Transport and Stability in Biocatalytic Fuel Cells
• Mixed-feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
• Novel Fabrication of Nanostructured Particles with an Arbitrary Shape
• Nanomixing or Nanodispersion of Nanomaterials
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films

Polymer Composites: Projects studying polymers strengthened by fibers or other materials

  Lawrence T. Drzal  Martin C Hawley  Krishnamurthy Jayaraman  Andre Y. Lee  Ilsoon Lee  K.N. Subramanian

• 'Green’ Biobased Sustainable Polymer and Composite Materials
• Electromagnetic Processing of Polymers and Composites
• Polymer nanocomposites and foams with nanoparticles
• Polymer Composites with Low CTE Particulate Fillers
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Durability Characterization of POSS-based Polyimides and Carbon-Fiber Composites
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Processing of Particulate Polymer Composites Below the Melting Point
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films

Polymer Science and Engineering: Projects involving properties and/or processing of polymeric materials.

  Krishnamurthy Jayaraman  Andre Y. Lee  Ilsoon Lee  Ramani Narayan

• Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Polymers
• Extensional Viscosity of Elastomers and Thermoplastic Elastomers
• Engineering and Design of Natural-Synthetic Polymer Composite Systems
• Reactive Extrusion Processing
• Extrusion and extensional flow of thermoplastic elastomers
• Molecular Dynamics in Polymeric Glass Transition
• Polymer nanocomposites and foams with nanoparticles
• Structure-Property Relationships of Polymer Nanocomposites
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Novel Fabrication of Nanostructured Particles with an Arbitrary Shape
• Nanomixing or Nanodispersion of Nanomaterials
• Fabrication of Large Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrator Panels by Extrusion
• Processing of Particulate Polymer Composites Below the Melting Point
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films

Rheology and Multiphase Flow: Projects for understanding the behavior of fluid flow fields.

  Scott Calabrese Barton  Krishnamurthy Jayaraman  Ilsoon Lee  Charles A Petty

• Novel Fabrication of Nanostructured Particles with an Arbitrary Shape
• Extensional Viscosity of Elastomers and Thermoplastic Elastomers
• Relaxation Models for Turbulent Mass Transfer Near Free and Rigid Interfaces
• Drag Reduction by High Molecular Weight Polymers
• Extrusion and extensional flow of thermoplastic elastomers
• Polymer nanocomposites and foams with nanoparticles
• Mixed-feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
• Nanomixing or Nanodispersion of Nanomaterials
• Fabrication of Large Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrator Panels by Extrusion

Separation Science: Projects focusing on separation/purification technologies.

  Kris Arvid Berglund  David Hodge  Carl T. Lira  Dennis J Miller  Charles A Petty

• Crystallization of foods and pharmaceuticals
• Effects of Polymer Additives on Hydrocyclone Performance
• Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilizing Alkaline Pretreatments
• Reactive Separations

Structural Materials: Metals, ceramics, and polymers for optimized mechanical performance

  Thomas R. Bieler  Carl Boehlert  Martin A. Crimp  Krishnamurthy Jayaraman  Ilsoon Lee

• Elevated-Temp Grain Boundary Deformation Processes of Structural Alloys: Grain Boundary Engineering
• Imaging of Dislocations in Bulk SEM Samples
• Effects of Heat Treatment on Primary Creep of TiAl
• Microstructural Evolution from Ageing, Creep and Thermomechanical Fatigue in Lead Free Solders
• Deformation Transfer and/or Fracture Initiation in Micro-lamellar TiAl
• Reducing defects in manufactured titanium fasteners
• Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces
• Understanding Processing-Microstructure-Property Relationships of Structural Magnesium Alloys
• Self-assembled, Nanostructured Biomimetic Interfaces
• Bio-Carbon Nanomaterials
• Novel Fabrication of Nanostructured Particles with an Arbitrary Shape
• Development of In-Situ Electron-Microscopy Techniques
• The Effect of Boron the Creep and Fatigue Behavior of Ti-6Al-4V(wt.%)
• Fabrication of Large Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrator Panels by Extrusion
• Processing of Particulate Polymer Composites Below the Melting Point
• Wrinkle-free Nanomechanical Films

Sustainable Economy: Projects aimed at life-cycle analysis and products/processes using renewable resources.

  Scott Calabrese Barton  Bruce E. Dale  David Hodge  Carl T. Lira  Dennis J Miller  Robert Y. Ofoli

• Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems
• Utilization of Renewable Resources
• Property Measurement and Prediction for Bio-derived Chemicals
• Hydrogenolysis of Carbohydrate Feedstocks
• Aqueous Phase Hydrogenation of Organic Acids
• Reactive Separations
• Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilizing Alkaline Pretreatments
• Catalytic transformation of biorenewables to petrochemicals
• Transport and Stability in Biocatalytic Fuel Cells
• Mixed-feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
• Alkaline and Oxidative Pretreatments of Lignocellulose