TECHNICAL ABSTRACTS 8:40 – 9:00
Winifred Burks‐Houck Undergraduate Awardee ELECTROLESS NICKEL BASED CATALYSTS FOR HYDROGEN GENERATION BY HYDROLYSIS OF NABH4 Shannon P. Anderson, Egwu Eric Kalu Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering FAMU‐FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL Abstract Catalysts based on electroless nickel and bi‐metallic Ni‐Mo nanoparticles were developed for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride for hydrogen generation. The catalysts were synthesized by polymer‐stabilized Pd nanoparticle‐catalyzation and activation of Al2O3 substrate and electroless Ni or Ni‐Mo plating of the substrate for selected time lengths. Catalytic activity of synthesized catalysts was tested for the hydrolyzation of alkaline‐stabilized NaBH4 solution for hydrogen generation. The effects of electroless plating time lengths, temperature and NaBH4 concentration on hydrogen generation rates were analyzed and discussed. Compositional analysis and surface morphology were carried out for nano‐metallized Al2O3 using XRD, SEM and EDAX. Suggestions are provided for further work needed prior to using the catalyst for hydrogen generation for portable devices including fuel cell powered smart phones, hand‐held video games etc. 9:00 – 9:20 The Lubrizol Corporation Undergraduate Awardee ARTIFICAL KIDNEY RESEARCH Yazmin Feliz, Edward Leonard*, Michael Hill* and Joe Woo* 1Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY 2Columbia University, New York, NY Abstract Background: At Columbia University, the Artificial Kidney Research Group is working towards developing a model of a kidney that would be effective in removing excess waste from the human blood of patients who have failing kidneys. Our purpose is to devise a filter that could act a nephron by separating the entering blood into a stream of waste, and a clean stream that would be re‐deposited into the body. An unforeseen problem that arose was the excessive clotting in the filters that would ultimately lead to filters not separating blood. Click Chemistry is being used to find an appropriate coating that would avoid cohesion of blood to the surface of the chips. Another goal of the team is to find the right dimensions and power needed for the motor of this apparatus. The group worked as a whole on providing input to improve the model and its dimensions, and devise new tests which would result in more reproducible and presentable data. Results: High pressure readings were obtained when running blood through filters, which led to the conclusion of clotting. Electron Scanning Microscope pictures clearly showed material adhesion on the surface of the chips. When running blood tests with different surface treatments, the chip treated with PerFluorinated OctoTrichloroSilane (FOTS), yielded best results of lower hemoglobin levels. However, the composition of FOTS was overly hydrophobic, restricting all passage of blood. Simultaneously, work through a series of different tests allowed for a successful determination of power (Watts) consumption of the apparatus using one and two feed streams. 41