Research And Education - Increasing Student Participation In Research At Internationally Recognized User Facilities Tabbetha Dobbins, Louisiana Tech University DMR 0508560

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Research And Education - Increasing Student
Participation In Research At Internationally
Recognized User Facilities Tabbetha Dobbins,
Louisiana Tech University DMR 0508560
The motivation for this study is to develop
self-assembly of polyelectrolytes under
non-aqueous conditions so that polyelectrolyte
films may be deposited over the surface of
hygroscopic metal hydrides (used for hydrogen
storage). Self-assembly was accomplished using
non-aqueous conditions with formamide as a
working solvent. This is a key step in
developing new catalysis schemes for metal
hydrides because few LbL self assembly studies
using nonaqueous solvents have been reported
Polystyrene-sulfonate (PSS) and polyallylamine
hydrochloride (PAH) polyelectrolyte films were
deposited onto planar substrates and colloidal
hydride particles. Figure 1 shows quartz crystal
microbalance tracking of film growth from
formamide. Figure 2 shows surface charge
associated with alternately depositing positive
(polycations) and negative (polycations) layers.
Figure 3 shows surface coverage of hydrides the
scanning microscopy image (left) may be compared
with the carbon x-ray image (right) to show
conformal coverage of the polyelectrolytes.
Figure 1. Thickness of the nanofilms determined
using QCM measurements taken for 5 minutes and 10
minutes self-assembly time from formamide as a
working solvent.
Figure 3. Energy Dispersive X-ray mapping of
NaAlH4 (bilayer of PSS/PAH) showing the conformal
step coverage of carbon
Figure 2. Surface charge (mV) measured to show
the reversal of charges with each oppositely
charged layer.
Kamineni V., Lvov Y.M., Dobbins T.A.,
Layer-by-Layer Nanoassembly Using Formamide as a
Working Solvent, Langmuir (2007) in press,
10.1021/la700465n S0743-7463(70)00465-1.
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Research And Education - Increasing Student
Participation In Research At Internationally
Recognized User Facilities Tabbetha Dobbins,
Louisiana Tech University DMR 0508560

• The Nanoscale Measurement and Analysis (NMA)
  workshop is an NSF sponsored outreach program
  targeted towards junior and senior level high
  school students with the goal of introducing
  nanotechnology to the students using hands-on
  laboratory modules.  The workshop is presented by
  Asst. Prof. Dobbins and undergraduate students
  from Louisiana Tech University and Grambling
  State University (where Dobbins holds a joint
  faculty appointment) in the high school
  classroom. During the Spring of 2006, the
  workshop was presented at two rural high schools
  in Northern Louisiana (Choudrant High and
  Simsboro High)impacting approximately 50
  students in total.  During the spring of 2007,
  the workshop was presented at two additional high
  schools, Carroll High School (located in the
  urban community of Monroe, LA) and The Louisiana
  School for Math, Sciences and Arts (LSMSA) (a
  private high school located in Nachitoches, LA)
  impacting approximately 25 students. The workshop
  is performed during the 1 hour 15 minute high
  school class periods with an optional follow-up
  tour of the IfM taking place at a later date. 
  The NMA workshop covered
• Surface Area per Unit Volume
• Top Down/Bottom Up Nano- Manipulation
• Ball Milling (with optical microscopy and image
  analysis)
• Creating Carbon Nanotube Suspensions
• UV/Vis Spectroscopy
• Nanotechnology Timeline
• In 2007, a assessment survey was administered in
  the form of a 10 question exam. The assessment
  showed an average increase of 26 points on the
  post-test relative to the pre-test.

GSU students Kristan Moore and Nicholas Dailey
preparing the demonstration units at Carroll High
School.
In 2006, LaTech studentRichard Chevious
demonstrates the create your own suspension
module at Choudrant High.
GSU student Dailey works with Carroll High
student at the UV/Vis spectrometer.
 
Four LSMSA students report their findings from
the workshop to their classmates using posters
drawn on newsprint.
High School teacher Nyoka Freeman (2nd from left)
acted as a workshop participant along-side her
students.
For NMA workshop info, visit http//www2.latech.ed
u/tdobbins/