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The transition to lead-free solder in the electronics industry has benefitted the environment in many ways. However, with new materials systems comes new materials issues. During the processing of copper pads, a protective surface treatment is needed to prevent the copper from oxidizing. Characterizing the copper oxidation underneath the surface

The transition to lead-free solder in the electronics industry has benefitted the environment in many ways. However, with new materials systems comes new materials issues. During the processing of copper pads, a protective surface treatment is needed to prevent the copper from oxidizing. Characterizing the copper oxidation underneath the surface treatment is challenging but necessary for product reliability and failure analysis. Currently, FIB-SEM, which is time-consuming and expensive, is what is used to understand and analyze the surface treatment-copper oxide(s)-copper system. This project's goals were to determine a characterization methodology that cuts both characterization time and cost in half for characterizing copper oxidation beneath a surface treatment and to determine which protective surface treatment is the best as defined by multiple criterion such as cost, sustainability, and reliability. Two protective surface treatments, organic solderability preservative (OSP) and chromium zincate, were investigated, and multiple characterization techniques were researched. Six techniques were tested, and three were deemed promising. Through our studies, it was determined that the best surface treatment was organic solderability preservative (OSP) and the ideal characterization methodology would be using FIB-SEM to calibrate a QCM model, along with using SERA to confirm the QCM model results. The methodology we propose would result in a 91% reduction in characterization cost and a 92% reduction in characterization time. Future work includes further calibration of the QCM model using more FIB/SEM data points and eventually creating a model for oxide layer thickness as a function of exposure time and processing temperature using QCM as the primary data source. In doing my Capstone project for Intel, a large electronics manufacturing company, I feel it is important to remember the effects of our tools and industry on the environment and to consider the product life cycle in terms other than monetary gain and raw material recycling. To this end I will be discussing how lead is and was used in manufacturing, how it is disposed of, and how this effects the environment including plant, animal, and insect life, as well as ground water contamination. Since the ban was enacted several years ago, I will compare how lead-free alternatives currently in use compare in environmental impact and possibly raise the question of whether we have simply traded one evil for another.
ContributorsBranch Kelly, Marion Zoe (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Krause, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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The main objective of this project is to create a hydrogel based material system to capture and release CCRF-CEM Leukemia cancer cells via chemo-mechanical modulation. This system is composed of an aptamer-functionalized hydrogel thin film at the bottom of a microfluidic channel, which changes its film thickness as the temperature

The main objective of this project is to create a hydrogel based material system to capture and release CCRF-CEM Leukemia cancer cells via chemo-mechanical modulation. This system is composed of an aptamer-functionalized hydrogel thin film at the bottom of a microfluidic channel, which changes its film thickness as the temperature of the fluid in the system changes. The functionalized hydrogel film has been created as the primary steps to creating the microfluidic device that could capture and release leukemia cells by turning the temperature of the fluid and length of exposure. Circulating tumor cells have recently become a highly studied area since they have become associated with the likelihood of patient survival. Further, circulating tumor cells can be used to determine changes in the genome of the cancer leading to targeted treatment. First, the aptamers were attached onto the hydrogel through an EDC/NHS reaction. The aptamers were verified to be attached onto the hydrogel through FTIR spectroscopy. The cell capture experiments were completed by exposing the hydrogel to a solution of leukemia cells for 10 minutes at room temperature. The cell release experiments were completed by exposing the hydrogel to a 40°C solution. Several capture and release experiments were completed to measure how many cells could be captured, how quickly, and how many cells captured were released. The aptamers were chemically attached to the hydrogel. 300 cells per square millimeter could be captured at a time in a 10 minute time period and released in a 5 minute period. Of the cells captured, 96% of them were alive once caught. 99% of cells caught were released once exposed to elevated temperature. The project opens the possibility to quickly and efficiently capture and release tumor cells using only changes in temperature. Further, most of the cells that were captured were alive and nearly all of those were released leading to high survival and capture efficiency.
ContributorsPaxton, Rebecca Joanne (Author) / Stephanopoulos, Nicholas (Thesis director) / He, Ximin (Committee member) / Gould, Ian (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Description

There is surprisingly little scientific literature describing whether a hockey slap shot positively or negatively transfers to a driving golf swing. Golf and hockey use a similar kinematic sequence to send the ball / puck towards a target, but does that directly translate to positive skill transfer between the two

There is surprisingly little scientific literature describing whether a hockey slap shot positively or negatively transfers to a driving golf swing. Golf and hockey use a similar kinematic sequence to send the ball / puck towards a target, but does that directly translate to positive skill transfer between the two sports, or are there other important factors that could result in a negative skill transfer? The aim of this study is to look further into the two kinematic sequences and determine their intertask skill transfer type. A field experiment was conducted, following a specific research design, in order to compare performance between two groups, one being familiar with the skill that may transfer (hockey slapshot) and the other group being unfamiliar. Both groups had no experience in the skill being tested (driving golf swing) and various data was collected as all of the subjects performed 10 golf swings. The results of the data analysis showed that the group with experience in hockey had a higher variability of ball distance and ball speed. There are many factors of a hockey slapshot that are likely to develop a negative intertask skill transfer, resulting in this group's high inconsistency when performing a golf swing. On the other hand, the group with hockey experience also had higher mean club speed, showing that some aspects of the hockey slapshot resulted in a positive skill transfer, aiding their ability to perform a golf swing.

ContributorsLarson, Finn Althea (Author) / Peterson, Daniel (Thesis director) / Cryer, Michael (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
With renewable energy on the rise, researchers have turned their funding and their focus towards new solar cell technologies, and perovskites are a major source of interest. This class of materials is particularly interesting due to their quick, simple synthesis as well as their physical and electrical superiority when compared

With renewable energy on the rise, researchers have turned their funding and their focus towards new solar cell technologies, and perovskites are a major source of interest. This class of materials is particularly interesting due to their quick, simple synthesis as well as their physical and electrical superiority when compared to current silicon-based solar cells. Through this thesis, we will explore the synthesis of various types of perovskites and their subsequent characterization, which includes optical microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Analyzing two different perovskites both before and after a two-week period of storage revealed that while synthesis is indeed experiment-friendly, these materials have a concerning lack of stability even in ideal conditions.
ContributorsBuzas, Benjamin Joseph (Author) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Thesis director) / Muhich, Christopher (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Hyperspectral imaging is a novel technology which allows for the collection of reflectance spectra of a sample in-situ and at a distance. A rapidly developing technology, hyperspectral imaging has been of particular interest in the field of art characterization, authentication, and conservation as it avoids the pitfalls of traditional characterization

Hyperspectral imaging is a novel technology which allows for the collection of reflectance spectra of a sample in-situ and at a distance. A rapidly developing technology, hyperspectral imaging has been of particular interest in the field of art characterization, authentication, and conservation as it avoids the pitfalls of traditional characterization techniques and allows for the rapid and wide collection of data never before possible. It is hypothesized that by combining the power of hyperspectral imaging with machine learning, a new framework for the in-situ and automated characterization and authentication of artworks can be developed. This project, using the CMYK set of inks, began the preliminary development of such a framework. It was found that hyperspectral imaging and machine learning as a combination show significant potential as an avenue for art authentication, though further progress and research is needed to match the reliability of status quo techniques.
ContributorsChowdhury, Tanzil Aziz (Author) / Newman, Nathan (Thesis director) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Description

The purpose of this project is to analyze the current state of cancer nanomedicine and its challenges. Cancer is the second most deadly illness in the United States after heart disease. Nanomedicine, the use of materials between 1 and 100 nm to for the purpose of addressing healthcare-related problems, is

The purpose of this project is to analyze the current state of cancer nanomedicine and its challenges. Cancer is the second most deadly illness in the United States after heart disease. Nanomedicine, the use of materials between 1 and 100 nm to for the purpose of addressing healthcare-related problems, is particularly suited for treating it since nanoparticles have properties such as high surface area-to-volume ratios and favorable drug release profiles that make them more suitable for tasks such as consistent drug delivery to tumor tissue. The questions posed are: What are the current nanomedical treatments for cancer? What are the technical, social, and legal challenges related to nanomedical treatments and how can they be overcome? To answer the questions mentioned above, information from several scientific papers on nanomedical treatments for cancer as well as from social science journals was synthesized. Based on the findings, nanomedicine has a wide range of applications for cancer drug delivery, detection, and immunotherapy. The main technical challenge related to nanomedical treatments is navigating through biological barriers such as the mononuclear phagocyte system, the kidney, the blood-brain barrier, and the tumor microenvironment. Current approaches to meeting this challenge include altering the size, shape, and charge of nanoparticles for easier passage. The main social and legal challenge related to nanomedical treatments is the difficulty of regulating them due to factors such as the near impossibility of detecting nanowaste. Current approaches to meeting this challenge include the use of techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy to help distinguish nanowaste from the surroundings. More research will have to be done in these and other areas to enhance a major cancer-fighting tool.

ContributorsAbraham, Alfred Francy (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Liu, Yan (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05