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Material Systems

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Infrastructure Materials

Multiscale description of wood and timber: from wood cellular internal structure to buildings. (Credits: G. Cusatis)

Research Topics

Cementitious composites • geopolymer cement • recycled materials • timber & CLT • rocks • composite laminates • soil • granular materials

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Reactive Materials

3D graphene as a robust and specific adsorbent of micropollutants. (Credits: H. Fu & K. Gray)

Research Topics

Geochemical rock-fluid reactions • soil minerals • microplastics & nanoplastics • photocatalytic TiO2-based nanocomposites • plasmonic materials • antibacterial thin films • self-cleaning surfaces • polyelectrolyte complex membranes • reactive absorbents • 3D graphene • Nanoconfinement materials

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Theory & Computation

Impact of microprojectile to a graphene oxide thin film. (Credits: A. Rotta Loria)

Research Topics

Multiphysics & multiscale computation • fracture mechanics • molecular simulation of soft materials • strain localization • statistics of material strength • rheology • plasticity & limit analysis • sensing & parameter identification

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Advanced Materials Characterization

The distribution of solid Mn species in drinking water treatment residuals determined by x-ray absorption near structure. (Credits: J-F. Gaillard)

Research Topics

X-ray spectroscopy • XAS, XANES, EXAFS • nanoscale X-ray tomography • solid state NMR • nondestructive materials characterization • scratch test • mercury intrusion porosimetry  • mechanical testing with environmental controls 

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Biomaterials

Molecular structure of spider silk. (Credits: S. Keten)

Research Topics

Biomacromolecular compositions & design •  biofilms • periphyton  • mechanics of tissues •  biosensors • Lignin derived structures

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Nanomaterials

Molecular simulations of water dynamics in soil mineral nanopores. (Credits: Aristilde Lab)

Research Topics

Carbon nanotubes & nanofibers • functionalized graphene, GO, rGO • metals & metal oxides (n-ZnO, n-Ag, n-TiO2) • multifunctional catalytic, plasmonic & photoactive nanocomposites • lignin & cellulose nanoparticles • clay minerals • hydrodynamics in mineral nanopores • mixed-dimensional electronic heterostructures • nanomodification of cement-based materials • nanotoxicity • nanoconfinement using mSiO2

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Geomaterials

Electrodeposition of mineral binders in a sand. (Credits: A. Rotta Loria)

Research Topics

Sand liquefaction • cyclic behavior of soils • organic geomaterials • geochemical fluid-rock interaction • rock compaction & fracture • unsaturated soils • clay minerals • iron-oxide minerals • fluid-infiltrated rock • mineralized crystals

Faculty

Fluids

Hyporheic Exchange. (Credit: A. Packman)

Research Topics

Computational fluid dynamics • fluid mechanics • wind engineering • fluid-structure interaction • multiphase flows • boundary layer theory • instability and turbulence

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