Maui-led project gets $200K science grant
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A Maui-led research project intended to study new materials with possible uses in advanced electronics and carbon capture has received a $200,000 National Science Foundation Award.
Led by Chad Junkermeier, materials computation laboratory instructor at the University of Hawaii Maui College, the project aims to contribute to better devices to capture carbon dioxide and methane, according to a news release.
Junkermeier explained that a couple of years ago, a team of researchers had reported that they had synthesized a long-hypothesized type of two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms called graphenylene.
He said those researchers "hedged their bets" by saying they may have instead created a similar, but never before proposed, type of material called carbophene.
To determine the effectiveness of carbophenes for absorption of these gases, the team plans to compare carbophenes structures with other proposed materials. In addition to greenhouse gas absorption, the work will seek to determine other physical properties of carbophenes so they can be reliably used in devices.
The two-year project also involves researchers from Pennsylvania State University, the University of Ottawa in Canada and Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil.