Nanoscale Energy-Fluids Transport Research
Boston University Engineering Internship, Summer 2016
Working with a wonderful team under the direction of Professor Duan in Boston University's College of Engineering, I worked to further understand and characterize the behavior of flow of water through nanochannels. The relationships I cultivated with the people that I encountered have helped me develop into who I am today.
The challenge of delving into concepts I never had at such depth before was an amazing challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. After being taught the general premise for the project that I would be contributing to, I was assigned the task of comparing the flow of water through silica nanochannels with that of water through graphene coated nanochannels. First, I earnestly studied the existing theory to better grasp the conceptual foundation on which my work would be based. Then, in a clean room, I helped design and manufacture silica and graphene-coated silica microchips with nanochannels with which to conduct my observations.
Next, I used a high-speed microscope camera to film the flow of the water through the silica and graphene-coated nanochannels. Then, manipulating the video frames with a MATLAB program and produce plots of the water progress allowed me to apply our knowledge of the existing theory to characterize the differences in the interactions between water and silica interfaces and the water and graphene interfaces. Wrapping up all my observations and conclusions, I presented my work at a research symposium.
