MAE Seminar: Synchrotron-based Hard X-Ray Microscopy - a Tool for 3-D Spectroscopic Imaging at the Nanoscale

Abstract: Advances in materials increasingly rely on the 3-D characteristics of its microstructure and chemistry at the nanoscale. This presentation will review 3-D imaging techniques that measure microstructural and chemical properties and discuss its influence on material function and reliability. The presentation will then focus on three-dimensional microstructural imaging methods for fuel cell, gas separation membrane and nuclear waste form materials. Two 3-D imaging modalities using X-ray absorption and fluorescence-based synchrotron-based transmission X-ray microscopy will be demonstrated by characterizing the 3-D structural and chemical distribution. Challenges and opportunities for future work will then be discussed. The goal of this research will be to obtain a scientific and engineering understanding into how microstructure-induced transport mechanisms govern performance, with a long-term goal to improve current materials and create new materials that will enable improved device performance and increased long-term reliability for advanced engineering applications.

Bio: Wilson K. S. Chiu earned his master's degree and doctorate in mechanical engineering from Rutgers University in 1997 and 1999, respectively. His research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Army Research Office and industry. He published 113 journal articles and 171 conference articles/abstracts. Among his honors, he was elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2013 and member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering in 2013. He received the Rutgers University School of Engineering Medal of Excellence Award for Distinguished Young Alumnus in 2010 and the United Technologies Corporation Professorship in Engineering Innovation in 2008. He is the editor of the ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage and serves on the editorial board of Scientific Reports. He has given over 100 plenary, keynote and invited lectures in the U.S. and abroad.