Team NATURE

Monthly Update

March 2017

Extensive thesis writing and revisions along with last minute data collection. We're excitedly looking forward to the thesis conference on April 21, 2017 at 2:45 pm in Riggs Alumni Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

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February 2017

Experimentation and analyzing data! Every subteam has been hard at work finishing data collection and analyzing that data ahead of thesis conference in April.

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January 2017

Most of the team was enjoying winter break at home or abroad, but some members of the paper making subteam produced bottles of jute and pine solution to be microfluidized. There were issues performing the microfluidization and that will be revisited in February. A mold was produced for ALD samples.

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December 2016

Several team members were trained on FTIR for ALD samples and esterification samples. Spectroscopy was also attempted for conductivity samples but there were issues with testing. A bending test was also performed on some of our pine nanopaper samples. The team also took some time off to focus on finals as the fall semester wraps up.

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November 2016

Contact angle testing was done on some esterified samples. We also contacted faculty and industry professionals to be discussants for our thesis conference.

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October 2016

Tensile testing was attempted for all of the existing samples, however the tensile tester was not strong enough to break any samples. All subteams made progress on their experiments to prepare for property testing.

 

September 2016

The paper making subteam produced several samples of paper for other subteams to experiment on. The ALD subteam successfully depositing aluminum oxide onto several samples of cellulose nanopaper for property testing. 

 

August 2016

The team set their goals for the fall semester to prepare for thesis conference in the spring and gathered more sources for the thesis paper.

 

July 2016

The team focused on their internships for the summer while still researching information for the team's thesis paper.

 

June 2016

One member of the team presented our research to date at the TAPPI conference in Grenoble, France.

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May 2016

The team prepared for final exams and the end of the semester. The ALD subteam successfully deposited titanium oxide onto a sample of cellulose nanopaper.

 

April 2016

The team presented our research thus far at undergraduate research day. We spent time AFMing some of our CNF suspensions. The conductivity subteam took measurements of their samples with a four point probe to measure the resistance of the sample.

 

March 2016

The team concentrated even more CNF solution for more casting attempts. We also began concentrating a jute CNF solution ro prepare for casting. We also have spent time preparing for undergraduate research day at the end of April. The conductivity subteam produced ink for their experiments.

 

February 2016

We casted several sheets of paper to have the necessary samples for subteam experiments and property testing. The conductivity subteam began experimenting with Meyer rods.

 

January 2016

We received training on AFM (atomic-force microscopy) to help us analyze our samples. We determined the concentrations of our CNF solutions to yield more consistent results from the casting process. The esterification subteam also began their experiments.

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December 2015

This month, the team spent most of the time with their noses on the books prepping for finals week and then enjoying winter break. We were able to obtain PDMS to improve our casting process.

 

November 2015

Our Junior Colloquia presentation went very well! After Junior Colloquia, we began working on casting paper and improving our casting process. We also outlined our goals for the rest of the semester.

 

October 2015

The team has spent time preparing our presentation for Junior Colloquia and working in the lab to produce paper. We found the concentrations of our CNF suspensions and began concentrating a sample of our CNF solution for casting. We also constructed another glass tray so that we can cast multiple sheets of paper at once. 

 

September 2015

This month, we spent a lot of time in the lab so that we have enough paper to perform property tests ahead of Junior Colloquia.  The team is currently casting paper and training for property tests to prepare for data collection. 

 

August 2015

August marked the end of summer and the beginning of the school year for Team NATURE. Our entire team was able to meet together and we identified our goals for the semester. We also developed our first piece of dried paper! We will need to refine our paper making process so that we can make higher quality paper.

 

July 2015

We identified the property tests that we want to complete before Junior Colloquia. The team split up the tests to be performed and identified what training we need to complete to perform these tests. We also lost some of our prepared solution and we will need to work harder to make more solution.

 

June 2015

Everyone has been busy this past month, from internships to traveling internationally. Unfortunately, this has led to much less time in the lab than we are accustomed to. When we have been able to get into the lab, we have attempted to turn our solutions into paper via casting. This has taken some trial and error and we are still awaiting results.

 

May 2015

The end of the semester was busy for Team NATURE. Between finals and end of semester projects, it was tough to find time to get in the lab. Luckily, we were able to find time to microfluidize our solutions! This was a huge step that we were unable to complete for the last few months. We outlined our plans for the summer so that we can still make progress. We hope to have multiple sheets of CNP by the start of the fall semester.

 

April 2015

 LaunchUMD has gone live for Team NATURE! Our fundraising period ends May 8th. Please help us reach our goal! The team also had a booth promoting LaunchUMD at Maryland Day! In the lab, our subteams have been goingregularly and we have been making a lot of progress! We hope to have multiple sheets of CNP before the semester ends. 

 

March 2015

The team has split into subteams to accomplish our goals more efficiently. For the remainder of this semester, we have split into project managers (2), source material (3), water stability (3), and cellulose nanopaper production (6). We were approved for LaunchUMD, which goes live on April 8.

 

February 2015

The team successfully completed our proposal defense. We finally have begun making cellulose nanopaper! We plan to continue to make more cellulose nanopaper for the next few months so that we have enough samples to complete our testing. The team will hopefully begin altering the cellulose nanopaper by changing its source material and its water stability.

 

January 2015

We spent time in the lab learning the process of making nanopaper. We have also been preparing for our proposal defense which will be in late February. We plan to begin making cellulose nanopaper next month!

 

December 2014

We submitted our Draft Proposal to our GEMS202 section leaders, Dr. Skendall and Dr. Coale. The team is currently outlining what we hope to accomplish over winter break. We will hopefully begin making cellulose nanopaper within the next 2 months!

 

November 2014

We submitted our methodology and presented our First Draft Proposal to our cohort, GEMS202 section leaders, Dr. Skendall, and Dr. Coale. The team is working on completing our First Draft Proposal paper, tackling the specifics of our overall methodology, timeline, and budget. We even got acquainted with Dr. Hu's lab and the TEMPO-oxidation process of making cellulose nanopaper.

 

October 2014

The team has begun drafting our Methodology paper. To answer our research question, we have decided to modify and test several cellulose nanopaper development processes and treatments. In addition, we are preparing for our First Draft Proposal Presentation next month, and we have created a Grant sub-team to focus on applying for funding.

 

September 2014

After spending the summer reading literature on cellulose nanopaper, Team NATURE spent the whole of September working on our preliminary Literature Review. During the month, we also established our team norms and organization. Not to mention, we had a blast at Team Gemstone!