Assignment 2: Research on Conductors

by leah

Due: 3pm, Tuesday, September 27, 2011
See student posts here

You will research different classes of conductive materials in small teams.  The goal of this assignment is for you to get a deeper understanding of a particular material, learn how to use scientific papers in your explorations, and discover new materials that you can employ in your practice.  Each team is assigned a class of material and a paper that should provide a foundation for further research.  For Tuesday’s class you should prepare a 10 minute presentation and a blog post (on this site) that documents your research.

Your talk should include:

  • An explanation of the basic properties of the material and a discussion of the varieties available and their intended applications. The goal of this talk is to share what you learned with your classmates.  Pay special attention to the material’s conductive properties and any known health hazards.
  • Identification of at least one supplier of the material (or its constituent parts) in some form.  Provide information about the material’s cost. You should be able to reasonably acquire material from this supplier.
  • At least one example of an art, design, or engineering project that employed the material. Videos and photos are preferred. Try to avoid using examples from the papers you were assigned.
  • Reflections on how you might use the material in your own practice.

Your blog post should include:

  • A few paragraphs explaining the basic properties of the material and describing the varieties that you identified and their intended applications.  Again, you should pay special attention to its conductive properties and any known health hazards.  Include references/links to papers, websites, books, and other materials that you used to collect this information.
  • Links to material suppliers you’ve found.
  • A link to a pdf of your research presentation.

Add your blog post to the the Conductors and Research categories.

Groups, materials, and starter papers are given below:

Group 1. Carbon Nanotubes
Jill Sherman
Daekwon Park
Dena Molnar

Hu, L., Choi, J.W., Yang, Y., et al. Highly conductive paper for energy-storage devices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (2009).

Lam, C.-W., James, J.T., McCluskey, R., Arepalli, S., and Hunter, R.L. A review of carbon nanotube toxicity and assessment of potential occupational and environmental health risks. Critical Reviews in Toxicology 36, 3 (2006), 189-217.

Group 2. Conductive Ink (Silver Based)
Adedoyin Ogunniyi
Jeremy Roc Jih
Shan Gao

Russo, A., Ahn, B.Y., Adams, J.J., Duoss, E.B., Bernhard, J.T., and Lewis, J.A. Pen‐on‐Paper Flexible Electronics. Advanced Materials 23, 30 (2011), 3426-3430.

Group 3. Conductive Elastomers
Sam Jacoby
Sara Hendren
Woong Ki Sung

Ruschau, G.R., Yoshikawa, S., and Newnham, R.E. Resistivities of conductive composites. Journal of Applied Physics 72, (1992), 953.

Group 4. Conductive Polymers, Conductive Plastics
Timothee Boitouzet
Oz Agar
Fangbing Qiu

Kumar D. and Sharma R.C. Advances in conductive polymers. European Polymer Journal 34, 8 (1998), 1053-1060.

Group 5. Metal Filled Polymers and Conductive Adhesives
Nicole Tariverdian
Jason Wee
Farre Nixon

Mamunya, Y.P., Davydenko, V.V., Pissis, P., and Lebedev, E.V. Electrical and thermal conductivity of polymers filled with metal powders. European Polymer Journal 38, 9 (2002), 1887-1897.