Technion-MURPA Seminar, Tuesday 29 November 7-8pm: Research in the Department of Materials Engineering at Monash University

Venue: Seminar Room 135, Building 26 Clayton

George Simon Department of Materials Engineering Monash University george.simon@monash.edu

Abstract:

Research in the Department of Materials Engineering at Monash University (about my Department) and Functional Nanomaterials (some of my own research)

In this talk I will first take the opportunity to overview the Department of Materials Engineering and some of its research areas in a very general sense, with the aim of hopefully encouraging interaction between our two Departments. The Department works in the areas of energy and sustainable materials, light metals and various types of metals processing, functional materials, polymers, ceramics, corrosion, materials characterization, modeling of materials and tissue engineering and biomaterials more generally. My own personal research was for many years in the area of polymer science and engineering, and in particular in new polymer materials. This developed into composites with nanoparticles, particularly nanoclays some 10 years or more ago. This evolved into an interest in nanoparticles, particularly carbon nanotubes – first as mechanical elements in polymer blends, to modification of nanotubes and their use to make polymers conducting, and ultimately as elements in their own right for properties such as electron emission. It is this last topic that I will talk about, including use of a microwave oven to modify nanotubes and even to produce nanomaterials from a polymer feedstock in a simple way. Recent work using carbon nanotubes blended into amorphous bulk metallic glass will also be shown, as a way of making good electron emitting coupons.