Air Force Research Laboratory – TechConnect Briefs

Micro Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Fabrication via Inkjet Printing

Hill T.Y., Reitz T.L., Huang H., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Energy conversion and storage devices (ECSDs) are facing the challenge of manufacturing miniature dimensions and/or unconventional shapes. Furthermore, reducing the total device thickness can significantly reduce the internal resistance and potentially improve interfacial electrochemical kinetics [...]

Generating Functionalized Nanocabons and Polymer Nanocomposites in Poly(phosphoric acid)

Tan L.-S., Wang D.H., Baek J.B., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Inorganic acids such as HNO3, HCl, H2SO4 are commonly used to remove catalyst residues and carbonaceous impurities from carbon nanotubes and nanofibers. Under more forcing conditions, oxidizing nitric acid is known to “cut” the CNT [...]

Insulator oxide film formation with acid catalyzed hydrolysis of alkoxides in supercritical fluid carbon dioxide

Wang J-S., Wai C.M., Brown G.J., Apt S.D., Campo A.M., Landis G.R., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Insulator oxide films can be produced by hydrolysis of metal alkoxide precursors in the presence of an acid catalyst in supercritical fluid carbon dioxide(sc-CO2). In this study, a new process has been developed to cover [...]

Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Film Deposition Using a Simple and Fast Centrifuge Sedimentation Method

Wang J-S., Markelonis A.R., Wai C.M., Brown G.J., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Gold nanoparticles were prepared by reduction of gold cations suspended in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) water-in-hexane microemulsions with another AOT microemulsion containing a reducing agent NaCNBH3. The size of the Au nanoparticles can be controlled by [...]

Characterization of Catalyst Effect on Carbon Nanopearls

Pacley S., Theodore M., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

This presentation focuses on the effect of the Ni catalyst size on the structure of carbon nanopearls (or carbon spheres). Carbon nanopearls are known to have electronic properties, which make them ideal for cold cathode [...]

A Comparative Theoretical Study of Carbon and Boron-Nitride Single-wall Nanotubes

Akdim B., Duan X., Adams W.W., Pachter R., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

In this study, we focus on a comprehensive theoretical comparison between CNTs and BN-NTs, particularly for the radial breathing modes (RBMs), which are characteristic of nanotubes and do not have any corresponding modes in the [...]

Simulation of Cantilever Beam Micro-switch Pull-in and Collapse Voltages

Reid J.R., Starman L.A., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Simulations of cantilever beam micro-switches such as those shown in Figure 1 exhibit two important operational voltages: the pull-in voltage when contact is initiated at the landing electrode, and the collapse voltage when the cantilever [...]

Joule Heating Simulation of Poly-Silicon Thermal Micro-Actuators

Silversmith D.J., Reid J.R., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Previous studies of surface micro-machined polycrystalline silicon MEMS thermal micro-actuators have shown that these simple devices can provide deflections on the order of 10 micrometers at CMOS compatible drive voltages. These thermo-mechanical devices operate by [...]

A Common Basis for Mixed-Technology Micro-System Modeling

Hanna J.P., Hillman R.G., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

An ad hoc working group, organized under the DARPA Composite CAD program, is developing a common set of VHDL-AMS (VHSIC Hardware Description Language for Analog and Mixed Signal) definitions for modeling mixed-technology systems. This common [...]

New Materials Design.Free-Base Porphyrin and Its Meso-Tetrahalogenated Derivatives

Nguyen K.A., Pachter R., Air Force Research Laboratory, US

Ab initio electronic structure theory has been applied to predict the structures and electronic spectra of free-base porphyrin (PH2) and its meso-tetrahalogenated derivatives (m-PX8H2, X = F, Cl, Br). Structures, singlet-triplet energy gaps, and electronic [...]