Achievement

Five IGERT trainees and their advisors from Tuskegee and Purdue created a virtual collaborative research team developing processing and characterization methods for new sustainable polymer-based nanocomposites for electronic circuit boards and casings. Trainees with backgrounds in physics, chemistry, materials, aeronautical, and biomedical engineering are researching nanocomposite systems from bio-sourced and petrol-based polymer matrices and fill components from sustainably sourced organic and inorganic materials, such as flax and jute fibers, cellulose, and lignin. The team has benefited from a peer-mentoring environment by which technical lab challenges can be addressed at the trainee level. As a result, trainees have been able to rapidly overcome processing challenges related to homogenous incorporation of fill components. In addition, the team has discovered key structure-property relationships with respect to specific bio-derived composites through collaborative team dialogue.