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Bauer's Project Page |
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Teacher Intern: Martha Bauer
Mentor: Vinny Manoharan
Faculty Supervisor: Professor David Pine
Department: Chemical Engineering |
2001 Research Project: Preparation of ceramic spheres
of Titanium dioxide
My research project was involved with the preparation of ceramic spheres
of Titanium dioxide. The goal was to make uniform hollow spheres of
TiO2. The purpose of this research was to try to make uniform spheres
that could be used in the preparation of paints, paper, and other
materials that use white pigment. Titanium is used to make white
pigments, and can be one of the most expensive parts. If the titanium
dioxide used in the preparation of white pigments can be made from
hollow spheres rather than solid sphere the cost could be brought down.
We used sol-gel chemistry techniques to make emulsions of formamide with
oil droplets of decalene and titanium buxtoxide. These emulsions needed
to be prepared in a nitrogen environment to exclude H2O. This was done
in a glove bag. We experimented with different concentrations of
titanium in the oil, and using a chelating agent.
2002 Curriculum Project: Improving Observational Skills
Download curriculum project as a PDF file
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