Toprak Eraslan
| tcerasla@ncsu.edu
B.S., Materials Science and NanoEngineering, 2020 |
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My research focuses on direct ink write (DIW) printing of multifunctional silicone foams with mechanically and magnetically programmable responses. I aim to design cellular materials, similar to wood and bone, that have aligned microstructures that induce orientation-dependent stress responses. This is achieved by constructing the architecture from high-aspect-ratio silicone microparticles, which shear-align during DIW printing and capillary bridge into aligned networks. The particle building blocks can additionally be functionalized with paramagnetic particles, which have the potential for field-driven alignment during printing and actuation after curing the foam. With these in mind, my goals are the following: 1) investigate the rheology of silicone formulations and emulsion processes that yield unique silicone morphologies, 2) construct and characterize the differences in particle-stabilized foam assemblies, and 3) understand the organization and actuation abilities of magnetically susceptible, particle-loaded inks and architectures.