Opportunity Details

Details about the opportunity you selected and the mentor are shown below. It is your responsibility to contact the mentor to discuss collaborating with them this summer. If your mentor invites you to submit an application, you can access that from the front page of this site. Upon completion of the application, it will be sent to the mentor for approval before being passed on to the Summer Scholar Selection Committee, which will make the decisions.

Faculty Information

Hyunmin Yi

hyunmin.yi@tufts.edu

Assistant Professor

P: (617) 627-2195

F: (617) 627-3991

Address:

4 Colby St. Rm 147
Science and Technology Center

Medford, MA 02155

Affiliated Institutions:

Engineering

Associated Departments:

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Web Sites:

http://engineering.tufts.edu/chbe/people/yi/index.asp

Opportunity:

Microfluidic Fabrication of Catalytically Active Viral-Synthetic Microparticles

Summary:

Development of highly stable functional materials for facile catalytic processes is an unmet challenge. With the increasing interest in environmental sustainability, catalysis offers simple and efficient means for cleanup of toxic chemicals and wastes. We exploit viral templates for fabrication of readily controllable and catalytically active metal nanoparticles. Particularly, simple and rapid manufacturing of microscale carriers for the viral-metallic composite catalysts is our current interest. The Summer Scholar student will be carrying out microfluidic fabrication of viral-synthetic hybrid microparticles as stable carriers for the formation of palladium nanoparticle catalysts. Hands-on training of laboratory skills, highly exploratory research topic and close interaction with the mentor are expected to benefit the student's research experience.

Contact Via:

E-mail
Phone

What is the timeframe for this research opportunity?

June to August 2009 (10-12 weeks) with potential for extension

Prerequisities for students?

Sophomore or Junior Standing at Chemistry or Chemical and Biological Engineering

Responsibilities for students?

The Summer Scholar student is expected to carry out experiments on virus-embedded polyethylene glycol microparticles and subsequent metallization with palladium nanoparticles. Depending on the success of the fabrication, further catalytic reactions and characterization is also expected.

Area(s) of Research:

Nanobiotechnology

Nanocatalysis

Microfluidics

Advanced Functional Composite Materials