Mounting Protocol Development for Photovoltaic Cells for CubeSat on PCBs

Student: Devin Benson

Major Professor: Dr. Ingrid Fritsch

Research Area(s):

Biological Sensors

View Research Quadslide

Background/Relevance

 

  • Magneto hydrodynamics (MHD) as a pumping system, enables the ability to detect and follow the effect of treatment and improve accessibility of and decrease cost of healthcare through microfluidics.
  • MHD follows the right hand rule ForceMHD = current X magnetic field.
  • PEDOT(Poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) improves electrical response.

  • PEDOT morphology can be modified by changing solvent and electrolyte increasing current and charge capacity creating a better pumping system allowing for longer operational time without need to recharge the film.

Innovation

 

  • Conducting polymer as redox species
  • Improve polymer electrochemical properties through different electrodeposition conditions.

Approach

  • Deposit PEDOT onto gold electrodes using cyclicvoltammetry while varying deposition parameters.       
  • Used acetonitrile and propylene carbonate (PC) as solvents, and LiClO4 and TBAPF6 as electrolytes.
  • Characterized modified electrodes using chronoamperometry (CA). 
  • MHD study using chronopotentiometry.
  • Particle image velocimetry software used to determine velocity profile.

Key Results

  • Electrodeposition from PC and LiClO4  provides maximum charge density.
  • Increased scan rate during deposition decreases current density.
  • PEDOT film is more stable in aqueous solution than in organic solution.
  • Able to maintain flow rate above 20 µm/s for more than 200 s at 30 µA applied current, longer than previous attempts (75 s).

Conclusions

 

  • PEDOT deposited from propylene carbonate and LiClO4 can be effectively used as an immobilized redox species for use as an effective MHD pumping system.
  • Films produced from propylene carbonate have higher stability.
  • The use of an organic solvent has significant current and charge density improvements over water. This means MHD pumping can produce faster velocities and pump fluid farther.
  • Future work: Optimize pumping system for use with cell cytometry and other lab-on-a-chip applications.