The College of Engineering was a hub of research and collaboration in the Fall Term. Below is a summary of the publications, sponsored research and other activity in the last several months.
Michel Barsoum, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Yong-Ji Hu, PhD, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, published “Structural and electronic properties of two-dimensional titanium carbo-oxides” in 2D Materials in January 2023. This study investigates the low-energy, stable atomic forms of newly discovered 2D titanium carbo-oxides as a function of C content.
Barsoum also published “On ripplocations and the deformation of graphite” in Carbon in January 2023. This work describes how the buckling of layered crystalline solids leads to the nucleation of multiple, oppositely signed ripplocation boundaries (RBs) that rapidly propagate, wavelike, into the bulk to form standing waves. He also pubished “A Highly Reversible Aqueous Ammonium-Ion Battery based on alpha-MoO3/Ti3C2Tz Anodes and (NH4)(x)MnO2/CNTs Cathodes” in Batteries and Supercaps in January 2023. The paper reports on a full-cell configuration of an aqueous ammonium-ion battery (AAIB) which at 2 V has one of the highest operating cell voltages reported for an AAIB.
Hao Cheng, PhD, associate professor of materials science and engineering, published “Cell delivery devices for cancer immunotherapy” in the Journal of Controlled Release in January 2023. This review summarizes a variety of devices for cell delivery and discusses perspectives and challenges of cell delivery devices for cancer immunotherapy.
Yury Gogotsi, Ph.D., Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Distinguished University Professor and Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, authored or contributed to around a dozen and a half peer-reviewed papers including papers published in Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Science, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, and other top journals. Several papers were shared by Drexel (press releases produced) and picked up by national and international news sources on important topics related to synthesis, properties, and applications of MXenes, including wearable energy storage, supercapacitors, and environmental stability.
Yong-Ji Hu, PhD, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, published “First-principles approaches and models for crystal defect energetics in metallic alloys” in Computational Materials Science in January 2023. This review provides a summary of contemporary approaches and models associated with first-principles calculations for accurate modeling and prediction of energetics of various crystal defects in metallic alloys.
Asa Lewis, a PhD candidate in civil, architectural and environmental engineering, published a paper entitled “Bioaccumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates: Impact of species and sediment organic carbon content” in the journal Science of the Total Environment in December 2022 with collaborators Galen Stevens-King, BS/MS environmental engineering ’22; Christopher Sales, PhD, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering; Xiaoyan Yun from Temple University; Daniel E. Spooner; Marie J. Kurz, Director of the W.E.T. Center at Temple University Rominder Suri; and Erica R. McKenzie. The paper explores how PFAS — chemicals that had been widely used in water, heat and stain-resistant products and have been linked to serious health problems — can leach out of fertilizer made from recycled waste and accumulate in soil, crops and groundwater.
The group also published a paper entitled “Influence of microbial weathering on the partitioning of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in biosolids” in the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts in December 2022.
Ahmad Najafi, PhD, PC Chou Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, and Sorin Siegler, PhD, professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics, published “A porous swelling copolymeric material for improved implant fixation to bone” in the February 2023 Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials. To overcome deficiencies in metallic commercial bone anchors, this study introduces a porous swelling co-polymeric material and investigates its swelling and compressive characteristics as bone anchor under different configurations.
Najafi published “Multiphysics topology optimization of a multifunctional structural battery composite” in the February 2023 issue of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. The study addresses challenges in the development of Structural Battery Composites (SBCs) through an efficient multi-objective multiphysics density-based topology optimization framework.
Ekaterina Pomerantseva, PhD, associate professor of materials science and engineering, published “Liquid Phase Exfoliation of Chemically Prelithiated Bilayered Vanadium Oxide in Aqueous Media for Li-Ion Batteries” in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C in January 2023. The piece describes the development of an environmentally friendly and safe approach to obtaining 2D bilayered vanadium oxide nanoflakes creating a pathway to constructing novel 2D heterostructures for improved performance in energy storage applications.
Pomerantseva and Gogotsi published “Vanadium and Niobium MXenes-Bilayered V2O5 Asymmetric Supercapacitors” in Small Methods in February 2023. This work highlights the importance of selecting appropriate MXenes to achieve a wide voltage window and a long cycle life in combination with oxide anodes to demonstrate the potential of MXenes beyond Ti3C2 in energy storage.
Michael Waring, PhD, professor and department head of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, James Lo, PhD, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, Dean Sharon Walker, PhD; Ian Marcus, director of academic analytics; and several others published "Design and quantitative evaluation of ‘Aerosol Bio-Containment Device (ABCD)’ for reducing aerosol exposure during infectious aerosol-generating events” in the journal PLOS One. The article discusses their design and testing of a medical device to contain airborne infectious particles emitted from patients.
Amir Farnam, PhD, associate profess of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, received a grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in collaboration with co-PIs Christopher Sales, PhD, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering and Ahmad Najafi, PhD, PC Chou Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Working with scientists from the University of Colorado, Boulder as the lead institute, as well as North Carolina State University, this project aims to engineer a biomimetic healing vasculature that remediates multiple mechanisms of degradation (i.e., cracking, chloride-induced corrosion of rebar) and maintains such biomimetic function to extend the service life of reinforced concrete structures for decades. The team will work on developing fundamental and exploratory knowledge on integrating nature-inspired vasculature and biomimetic healing in concrete infrastructure.
Yury Gogotsi, Ph.D., D.Sc., Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Distinguished University Professor, Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, and the Drexel Nanomaterials Group has begun 3 new projects and renewed 3 projects, totaling approximately $2 million, exploring MXenes in hydrogen storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, and further investigating their fundamental properties.
Steve May, PhD, professor and department head of materials science and engineering, was awarded a two-year NSF-FuSe (Future of Semiconductors) grant for his project “Co-Design of Germanium Oxide-based Semiconductors from Deposition to Devices.” This project seeks to develop research capabilities and collaborations centered around germanium oxide-based semiconductors that are of interest for applications such as power electronics and infrared detection.
Jin Wen, PhD, associate dean for faculty advancement, interim associate dean for research and professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, and her research group received an award as part of an international collaboration among the U.S., Sweden, and Denmark, from the National Science Foundation for their project “PIRE: Building Decarbonization via AI-empowered District Heat Pump Systems.” The group will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team, including researchers from engineering, information science, and social science, on innovating Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques with an understanding of human need and behaviors to enable an efficient, human-centered, resilient, and socially justifiable operation of district- and community-scale heat pump systems that promote a regional scale adoption of building decarbonization.
Shannon Capps, PhD, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, has been named a Provost Solutions Fellow, a joint initiative of the Provost's Office and the Drexel Solutions Institute. Appointed to two-year terms, Provost Solutions Fellows highlights the research and teaching capabilities of Drexel to external partners and serve as catalysts for expanding experiential learning opportunities and designing custom, interdisciplinary solutions for Drexel's corporate and nonprofit partners.
Kapil R. Dandekar, PhD, E. Warren Colehower Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering was inducted into the 2023 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.
Matthew Stamm, PhD, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, was selected as a winner of the University of Maryland’s Alumni Excellence Award for Research in information forensics, which involves developing techniques to detect multimedia forgeries, such as falsified images and videos.
Sharon L. Walker, PhD, Dean of the College of Engineering, received the Mark A. Stevens Distinguished Alumni Award at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Awards this April. The award is presented to a Viterbi Alumnus or Alumna in recognition of their exemplary professional accomplishments and in acknowledgement of his exceptional contributions to the field of engineering.