This month I completed my Biomaterials Engineering undergraduate course at Loughborough University!
My final year project was titled 'Enhancing the Durability of Nanocomposite Polymer Temperature Sensors'. This focused on the optimisation of various compositions of polmer (PCL), fatty acids (LA & MA), and graphene (GNP), to enhance the thermal properties of the healthcare temperature sensor. The overall goal was to synthesise a material that had the desirable properties to be used in the medical industry, with those including flexibility, sensitivity, and conductivity, which can then be used for continuous healthcare monitoring, both in clinic and at home.
I conducted this project using an array of characterisation techniques, including Positive Temperature Coefficient measurements (PTC) to measure the change in resistivity as the temperature is increased, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to assess the phase changes of each material, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to examine the morphology and structure of the samples.
The project concluded that the fatty acids reduced the phase changing temperatures, reducing the resistivity and increasing the sensitity of the samples, and the graphene nanoplatelets increased the conductivity of the samples.
The images below are some taken using the SEM microscope, to image the samples at nanoscale to assess how well the components blend together.
This project taught me an array of laboratory skills and procedures, and I look forward to using these in my future career.
#Laboratory #Engineering #Bioengineering #PolymerScience
