REU student: Jamie Ging
Stony Brook University

 

Project: Epoxies are used industrially in mechanical components, rollers and wheels, electric motors, and as sealants. Recent studies show that these polyepoxides gain new properties such as increased strength and resistance ultraviolet degradation when nanofillers are introduced into them. We are studying what happens to these nanofillers while the epoxy breaks down, and how the released filler effects the environment and health of the users. To do this, we will be making samples of unfilled epoxy, nanocomposites of epoxy and multi-walled carbon nanotubes and nanocomposites of epoxy and TiO2 nanoparticles. We are then exposing them to long term ultraviolet radiation during heating and cooling cycles, and testing their chemical makeup, physical properties, surface morphology, and the toxicology of the filler released from the samples while they degrade.