Newswise — A scientific article by researchers at North Dakota State University, Fargo, has been named one of the “Top-50 most cited articles” from 2007 to 2010, in the Journal of Aerosol Science published by Elsevier Science Ltd. The initial research covered in the article has led to an NDSU patent-pending technology that could be used in developing solar cells and printed electronics.
The article is titled “Aerosol focusing in micro-capillaries: Theory and experiment.” Its authors include Professor Iskander Akhatov, NDSU Department of Mechanical Engineering and faculty associate in NDSU’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE); Justin Hoey, CNSE research engineer and graduate student in mechanical engineering; Orven Swenson, associate professor, NDSU Department of Physics and CNSE faculty associate; and Doug Schulz, CNSE senior research scientist and adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
In the scientific article, NDSU researchers detail how they took mathematical models, applied them to a specific application not previously used, and verified the results through experiments. The results included research conducted by then-NDSU student Justin Hoey in his master’s degree thesis. As a student, Hoey worked at CNSE and later became a full-time research engineer at CNSE.
The initial research has since led to an NDSU patent-pending technology that could be used in solar cells, printed electronics, aerosol concentration, direct materials deposition, in-flight material processing, and any other application requiring an aerosol micro-beam. The NDSU-developed technology includes a unique nozzle designed for use on aerosol jet printing machines and similar systems which are used to print small lines and features on a substrate or base material, comparable to the way an ink-jet printer deposits lines on a page.
The nozzle uses a micro-capillary system capable of generating a tightly focused collimated aerosol beam (CAB) in which aerosol particles stay very close to the capillary center line as they leave the nozzle. This allows particles to be deposited on a substrate as a thin line or feature. This novel CAB nozzle allows for aerosol beams with consistent diameters as thin as 1 micron, and printed lines down to 5 microns in width. A micron is a millionth of a meter. In comparison, the diameter of human hair varies from about 40 microns to 120 microns.
The material covered in the Journal of Aerosol Science article is based on research sponsored by the Defense Microelectronics Activity under agreement numbers H94003-06-2-0601. Most-Cited Articles listed are based on data from Scopus.com, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources.
About the NDSU researchersIskander Akhatov received his bachelor’s of science and master’s degrees and his Ph.D. in physics and applied mathematics from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia. Prior to joining NDSU in 2003, he served as a visiting researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y.; as a director of the Institute of Mechanics, Ufa Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia; as a visiting professor at Boston University, Boston, Mass.; and as a visiting researcher at the University of Göttingen in Göttingen, Germany. He has authored more than 100 technical articles and reports and has presented his research work at more than 40 national, international conferences and lectures.
Justin Hoey joined the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering in 2005 as a graduate research assistant in mechanical engineering. He became a research engineer apprentice in 2007 and was promoted to research engineer in 2008. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from NDSU. He has authored more than six technical articles and holds one patent.
Orven Swenson serves as associate professor in the NDSU Department of Physics. He holds a Ph.D. in laser optics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in physics from North Dakota State University, Fargo.
Douglas Schulz received a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry from NDSU, Fargo, and Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill. He previously served in positions with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and at CeraMem Corporation, Waltham, Mass. He joined the NDSU Center for Nanoscale Science & Engineering in 2003 as senior research scientist. He is a co-inventor of eight U.S. patents and has authored 87 scientific publications. His research interests are based on low-temperature atmospheric routes to electronic materials.
About the Journal of Aerosol Science and Elsevier:Founded in 1970, the Journal of Aerosol Science considers itself the prime vehicle for the publication of original work as well as reviews related to basic and applied aerosol research. Its content is directed at scientists working in areas such as physics, chemistry, engineering, applied mathematics, aerobiology, medicine, industrial and environmental hygiene, toxicology, or materials processing. The Journal is published by Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider.
More information:Akhatov, IS; Hoey, JM; Swenson, OF; Schulz, DL. "Aerosol focusing in micro-capillaries: Theory and experiment," JOURNAL OF AEROSOL SCIENCE, v.39, 2008, p. 691-709.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacrosci.2008.04.004
http://www.ndsu.edu/me/faculty/akhatov.phphttp://www.ndsu.edu/physics/people/faculty/swenson/http://www.ndsu.edu/cnse/about/bio_schulz.html
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