Microgravity Synthesis Vessel
On this project, I worked on a team of engineers to prototype a Nanolab autonomous synthesis chamber, tasked to synthesize Cu9Cl2(cpa)6 crystals aboard the ISS in microgravity. The crystals have a triangulated kagome lattice topology, creating molecular spin frustration and finite entropy down to milli-Kelvin level temperatures. This makes the material a great candidate both as a Quantum Spin Liquid and a solid cryogenic refrigerant due to its Magnetocaloric Effect (MCE) cycles.
Its potential as a solid cryogenic refrigerant leads to possible space applications; as such, all material and thermodynamic properties of the material must be studied using uniform, quality crystals. Due to the nature of the synthesis, obtaining such crystals can be quite difficult; hence, there is reason to study how the crystals grow in a microgravity environment during a rigid autonomous synthesis process. NanoRacks provides a platform for experiments aboard the ISS, though 1U experiment chambers (NanoLabs) are limited to 10x10x10 cm and a weight of 1 kg.
The attached poster and Powerpoint presentation show important characteristics both of the Cu9Cl2(cpa)6 material and the Tesseract, our NanoLab prototype. The prototype uses a Raspberry Pi Nano and three motors to produce a synthesis process that includes stirring, pumping, filtering, and caustic liquid addition. In the absence of gravity, designing mechanisms for these types of fluid motion proved to be a considerable challenge.
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Leonard ter Haar and Dr. Brad Regez
Funded by NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium and UWF Office of Undergraduate Research
Its potential as a solid cryogenic refrigerant leads to possible space applications; as such, all material and thermodynamic properties of the material must be studied using uniform, quality crystals. Due to the nature of the synthesis, obtaining such crystals can be quite difficult; hence, there is reason to study how the crystals grow in a microgravity environment during a rigid autonomous synthesis process. NanoRacks provides a platform for experiments aboard the ISS, though 1U experiment chambers (NanoLabs) are limited to 10x10x10 cm and a weight of 1 kg.
The attached poster and Powerpoint presentation show important characteristics both of the Cu9Cl2(cpa)6 material and the Tesseract, our NanoLab prototype. The prototype uses a Raspberry Pi Nano and three motors to produce a synthesis process that includes stirring, pumping, filtering, and caustic liquid addition. In the absence of gravity, designing mechanisms for these types of fluid motion proved to be a considerable challenge.
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Leonard ter Haar and Dr. Brad Regez
Funded by NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium and UWF Office of Undergraduate Research
