Session: Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering Celebration & Showcase

Paper Number: 147883

147883 - Multi-Scale Manufacturing of Porous Carbon Nanostructures 

While porous carbon structures have been manufactured for decades, it remains difficult to manufacture these structures with pre-specified porosity. The objective of this research is to address this deficiency by determining the relationship between the parameters describing the manufacturing process and the pore-size distribution of the resulting porous carbon nanostructures. This research takes a two-pronged approach: an experimental component directed at exploring the relationship between manufacturing parameters and pore-size distribution, and a theoretical component aimed at obtaining a unified interpretation of the experimental data with predictive capability. Experiments will be conducted over a range of filler morphologies, filling parameters, and etching parameters to determine the resulting pore-size distributions, with an aim of controlling porosity to within tens of nanometers. The expected result of this research will be a set of validated models explaining the impact of the manufacturing parameters on the resulting pore-size distributions, thus enabling the manufacture of the nanostructures specifically as desired, as well as tests validating the performance of the porous structures for water desalination. This research will provide the groundwork for continued improvement of high-performance nanostructures and future kinetics studies.

Presenting Author: Pei Dong George Mason University

Presenting Author Biography: Pei Dong is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She obtained her BS in Microelectronics from Nankai University and her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University. She then did her postdoctoral research in the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University before joining George Mason University. She is the recipient of the Franz and Frances Brotzen Fellowship Award, Best Thesis Award, Materials Today Energy Promising Early Career Award, Rising Star of Science Award, and the NSF Career Award. Her current research interests include the design and manufacturing of advanced materials, as well as their applications in energy, water, and biomedical fields.

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