Chemistry has helped shape our past, present, and future with the discovery of new elements and the uses for them in chemistry to make our world that we live in safer and more efficient than what it was before. I believe that chemistry with continue to make the world safer and more efficient. Without Chemistry we would not have gas for cars, different kinds of cloths, or protective materials such as Kevlar for solders and law enforcement.
Matter on the atomic level varies from element to element depending on the number of protons, electrons and neutrons. On the atomic and molecular scale is how different types of matter react with each other and is the reasons materials act the way that they do and why it has the pros and cons that they do. The microscopic and macroscopic is basically the same. It's what the matter is used for and how it works and the applications for it. The only difference is that the microscopic is more of "behind the seen's." at what we can see happening with our naked eye.
December/11/2014
Director of Research and Development
Makerbot Industries
1 Metrotech CTR FL. 21
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dear Director of Research and Development
3D printers are the future of personal and commercial product making . They are capable of printing virtually any shape with many different materials. Most of the materials used in 3D printing are forms of plastics such as PLA, ABS, and PVC. There are some other forms of printing materials with wood partials in the filament so that it forms a wood like substance. Metals are not a printing material. There are some forms of filament to get a heavier, metal like substance, but these are still coated with a plastic to allow bonding and prevent over melting. I propose an alloy that can be printed through 3D printers at a temperature very similar to the printing temperature of ABS. 3D printing metals would give printing projects or trinkets a lot of more weight and strength over the plastics that are used in the current printers. Because of its extra strength, less Infill would be needed in the printing process therefore saving more materials. This also opens a door into printing electronic parts, printing conductive materials for electrical work or rough circuit boards.
An alloy such as a tin, silver, copper, zinc has a low temperature at which the metal does not quite go from solid to liquid but goes through a slush state. The slush state is when the molecules are gaining enough energy to start to liquefy but not enough to get there. The alloy becomes very soft and very bendable and begins to “sweat” and almost liquid outer layer which will allow for bonding between printed layers. For a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy for printing at a temperature about 218 degrees Celsius seems to be ideal. At a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy there is a range in temperature to stay in that “slush” state between about 217 to 220 degrees Celsius. This allows for there to be a small inconsistency in the printers and still achieve printable metal. There is a lead tin alloy that can be printed with but with the lead it can rust much more easily, is more toxic, and is not as electrically conductive as a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy. The ratio percentage for this alloy is 95.5% tin, 3.5% silver, .74% copper, and .21%zinc.
The only problem that I have found with the tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy is that it’s not as malleable after it has been printed. The lead tin alloy doesn’t have as much of a tendency to fracture, or split. The tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy has a tendency to fracture more often than the lead tin alloy.
Sources:
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/sb.htm
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/sn.htm
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/849/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11669-012-0054-8.pdf?auth66=1417885949_04180fcef5a1f6bb81e0468a638ae23e&ext=.pdf
http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/impress/text/education/Solidification/Phase_Diagrams.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder
Trevor Jordan
1/12/15
Draft of Elevator Pitch
Building metal parts and products have always been kind of a hassle, especially in the prototype or idea stage. By funding this project you have made a contribution to the future of product making for the individual. You help the individual with low budgets and no connections to factory machinery, and that is full of ideas to help people. Circuit boards have been around for a long time, 3D printing is a new and futuristic way of making products and parts. For years and years it has always been build the circuit board and then put them into of the shells of the products. With 3D printing metals you can print the circuit boards right into the electronics. Also with 3D printing metals you can build stronger parts from the printer and build conductive parts. The world of parts making have made a large turn and advancement for the individual. 3D printing with plastics and metals have allowed the individual to become more creative and imaginative with new ideas and inventions.
Measuring voltage current and mass created by magnesium-air batteries (MAB’s)
By Brandon Navratil, Trevor Jordan, Andrew Allsopp
Abstract
The purpose of this lab was to use magnesium, oxygen and a carbon rod to create an output of electricity large enough to charge a cell phone. This is known as a magnesium air battery. To accomplish this we first had to create the battery by first wrapping the carbon rod in a paper towel to put a barrier between the magnesium and the carbon. Then the magnesium ribbons were wrapped around it and put into saltwater to activate the reaction. The results we found were that individually each battery gave off 1.66 volts and when put into a series they put out 4.93 volts, nearly enough to charge a smartphone. The final test we did was to put five MABs into a series which put out a total of 8.25 volts. This shows that these batteries could be implemented for use in natural disasters or even just an off the grid phone charger.
Introduction
The purpose of this experiment was to measure voltage of single magnesium air batteries and MAB’s aligned in series. The goal of the experiment was to generate enough voltage to charge smartphone.
A magnesium air battery is a type of electrochemical cell. This means that a flow of electrons is created using a chemical reaction A MAB requires a magnesium ribbon, a carbon rod, paper towel, oxygen, and water. All batteries require an anode and a cathode (see Figure 1). An anode, is the negative terminal of the battery where the electrical current is entering the circuit the cathode is the positive end of the battery, where the electrons are going into the body of the battery. Magnesium is a highly flammable, insoluble, metal with two valence electrons. Because it has only two valence electrons, magnesium has a low electronegativity which means it will have a positive ionic charge because it gives up two electrons. Batteries work by creating a flow of electricity, this electrical current is caused by a flow of electrons. In a MAB, the magnesium is giving electrons up to the non-metal in the battery and serves as the anode (negative end). This is called oxidation because the metal is reacting to oxygen in the air. The non-metal used to create a MAB is oxygen when they. Oxygen has a higher electronegativity than magnesium and will attract the two electrons given up by magnesium. The oxygen serves as the cathode (positive end). The oxygen comes from the air surrounding the battery and pulled from water. The purpose of the carbon rod in the battery is to carry the electrons from the anode (magnesium) to the cathode (oxygen). The paper used to cover the carbon rod acts as an insulator, separating the carbon rod from the magnesium ribbon and form hydroxide ions by reacts with oxygen.
What makes a MAB attractive is that it could provide clean energy with a small carbon footprint. The materials needed to produce a MAB are non-restricted, which means none of them are rare metals or toxic. These batteries do not activate until the electrolyte solution is added, so they can be stored indefinitely until ready for use. Which makes this a good device to have as backup in case of a power failure when a natural disaster occurs. A prototype of the MAB called the Mg box battery was developed in eastern Japan. The prototype put out five DC volts, which is enough to power a cell phone charger and LED lights at the same time. The battery will last for only five days once activated and can be activated by adding any sort of electrolyte solution into the battery causing it to have a reaction with the magnesium creating carbon footprint free energy. One con of this product being used as a power source is that it would take more energy to create this battery than it gives off, making it inefficient as a regular power supply because it only produces five volts. However in an emergency situation these batteries would be made useful by being available in emergency shelters or stored at home for emergency use.
http://www.furukawadenchi.co.jp/english/csr/pdf/2014/05_3.pdf
Methods
We started off by gathering the materials we needed which were magnesium, paper towel, carbon rods, jumper wires, and salt water. We then wrapped the carbon rod in one layer of paper towel making sure there were no gaps. We then wrapped the covered rod with magnesium strip making sure that the magnesium strip was always 1mm away from itself to prevent shorts that could reduce the power output. Then we soaked the batteries with the saltwater solution (electrolyte). Then we wired the batteries in series with the jumper wires and measured the voltage with a volt meter. We then added a LED in series with the battery so we could measure the amperage the batteries had. Near the end of the lab we decided to test whether our batteries were able to charge a smartphone. We then disassembled the batteries and disposed of the magnesium properly.
Hazards
There were no hazards associated with our lab other than magnesium is a minor irritant and can cause issues in large quantities. All lab materials were properly disposed of. Rubber gloves and safety googles where worn at all times thought the lab.
Results
In this lab we weren't able to measure the amperage (flow of electrons) long enough to know its energy density because it is based on how long the battery lasted. We did measure the voltage as we increased the amount of batteries we added as seen in Figure #2 at this amount we did not see a decline in power output across the batteries but it would be interesting to see if there would be a decline when adding more batteries. In the lab we were able to charge a smartphone with the power produced this shows that the battery array was able to handle a sizable load. Because we ran our batteries in series we were not able to increase the amperage but only the voltage and this is why our batteries no matter how many of them we had would still output 46.3 amps. One problem we did notice was the fact that the batteries needed a fairly consistent supply of electrolyte solution in the form of salt water, this means that the batteries would not last long if the supply stopped. Air was also a variable in how well these batteries performed because any change in the amount of air would directly change the power output of the batteries. These two dependencies made these batteries act more like fuel cells.
Conclusion
The testing from the magnesium air batteries show that even though the hand built batteries are much larger and a bit difficult to deal with when trying to put the batteries to use charging or powering something. Although the batteries have several benefits as well above other batteries. They are easy to build and they last for a couple of days under constant use. Also the batteries are reusable when a charge is fired through it the reaction is reversed and the battery can be used again. Over time the magnesium on the battery will need to be replaced. Although the salt water used to increase the conductivity will have to be re added the most often as the water evaporates. This type of battery is a new and advancing battery that shows potential to be a battery of the future. This battery will be very useful because it uses simple materials and it is very easy to build. This allows the battery to be mass produced or handmade easily and quickly, as well as being ready for use immediately.
(Info-graphic at the bottom of the page.)
This project allowed us to have the freedom make up our own lab allowing us to explore and test whatever we want, to try something that interests us in the goal of knowledge and experience.
You can find the connecting project for this project in the humanities page.
Post Project reflection:
I have learned through this project what it really takes to try and come up with something that you want to test and creating a plan that will work for the testing. All with no guide lines as to what needs to be done, what tests should be done, what the variables are, and how to eliminate them. This becomes very difficult without a lot of thought and planning prior to the testing. this takes a lot of thought before hand to decide what needs to be tested and what the official goal is so the process is understood and the tests can be executed without wasting time or resources.
I learned that Energy can be made from nearly any resource and from many different forms. Such as from the sun, the wind, the flow of water, fire, chemical reactions, and even from the air itself. This opens many doors for energy production and the advancements to make them more and more efficient.
Matter on the atomic level varies from element to element depending on the number of protons, electrons and neutrons. On the atomic and molecular scale is how different types of matter react with each other and is the reasons materials act the way that they do and why it has the pros and cons that they do. The microscopic and macroscopic is basically the same. It's what the matter is used for and how it works and the applications for it. The only difference is that the microscopic is more of "behind the seen's." at what we can see happening with our naked eye.
December/11/2014
Director of Research and Development
Makerbot Industries
1 Metrotech CTR FL. 21
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dear Director of Research and Development
3D printers are the future of personal and commercial product making . They are capable of printing virtually any shape with many different materials. Most of the materials used in 3D printing are forms of plastics such as PLA, ABS, and PVC. There are some other forms of printing materials with wood partials in the filament so that it forms a wood like substance. Metals are not a printing material. There are some forms of filament to get a heavier, metal like substance, but these are still coated with a plastic to allow bonding and prevent over melting. I propose an alloy that can be printed through 3D printers at a temperature very similar to the printing temperature of ABS. 3D printing metals would give printing projects or trinkets a lot of more weight and strength over the plastics that are used in the current printers. Because of its extra strength, less Infill would be needed in the printing process therefore saving more materials. This also opens a door into printing electronic parts, printing conductive materials for electrical work or rough circuit boards.
An alloy such as a tin, silver, copper, zinc has a low temperature at which the metal does not quite go from solid to liquid but goes through a slush state. The slush state is when the molecules are gaining enough energy to start to liquefy but not enough to get there. The alloy becomes very soft and very bendable and begins to “sweat” and almost liquid outer layer which will allow for bonding between printed layers. For a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy for printing at a temperature about 218 degrees Celsius seems to be ideal. At a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy there is a range in temperature to stay in that “slush” state between about 217 to 220 degrees Celsius. This allows for there to be a small inconsistency in the printers and still achieve printable metal. There is a lead tin alloy that can be printed with but with the lead it can rust much more easily, is more toxic, and is not as electrically conductive as a tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy. The ratio percentage for this alloy is 95.5% tin, 3.5% silver, .74% copper, and .21%zinc.
The only problem that I have found with the tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy is that it’s not as malleable after it has been printed. The lead tin alloy doesn’t have as much of a tendency to fracture, or split. The tin, silver, copper, zinc alloy has a tendency to fracture more often than the lead tin alloy.
Sources:
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/sb.htm
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/sn.htm
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/849/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11669-012-0054-8.pdf?auth66=1417885949_04180fcef5a1f6bb81e0468a638ae23e&ext=.pdf
http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/impress/text/education/Solidification/Phase_Diagrams.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder
Trevor Jordan
1/12/15
Draft of Elevator Pitch
Building metal parts and products have always been kind of a hassle, especially in the prototype or idea stage. By funding this project you have made a contribution to the future of product making for the individual. You help the individual with low budgets and no connections to factory machinery, and that is full of ideas to help people. Circuit boards have been around for a long time, 3D printing is a new and futuristic way of making products and parts. For years and years it has always been build the circuit board and then put them into of the shells of the products. With 3D printing metals you can print the circuit boards right into the electronics. Also with 3D printing metals you can build stronger parts from the printer and build conductive parts. The world of parts making have made a large turn and advancement for the individual. 3D printing with plastics and metals have allowed the individual to become more creative and imaginative with new ideas and inventions.
Measuring voltage current and mass created by magnesium-air batteries (MAB’s)
By Brandon Navratil, Trevor Jordan, Andrew Allsopp
Abstract
The purpose of this lab was to use magnesium, oxygen and a carbon rod to create an output of electricity large enough to charge a cell phone. This is known as a magnesium air battery. To accomplish this we first had to create the battery by first wrapping the carbon rod in a paper towel to put a barrier between the magnesium and the carbon. Then the magnesium ribbons were wrapped around it and put into saltwater to activate the reaction. The results we found were that individually each battery gave off 1.66 volts and when put into a series they put out 4.93 volts, nearly enough to charge a smartphone. The final test we did was to put five MABs into a series which put out a total of 8.25 volts. This shows that these batteries could be implemented for use in natural disasters or even just an off the grid phone charger.
Introduction
The purpose of this experiment was to measure voltage of single magnesium air batteries and MAB’s aligned in series. The goal of the experiment was to generate enough voltage to charge smartphone.
A magnesium air battery is a type of electrochemical cell. This means that a flow of electrons is created using a chemical reaction A MAB requires a magnesium ribbon, a carbon rod, paper towel, oxygen, and water. All batteries require an anode and a cathode (see Figure 1). An anode, is the negative terminal of the battery where the electrical current is entering the circuit the cathode is the positive end of the battery, where the electrons are going into the body of the battery. Magnesium is a highly flammable, insoluble, metal with two valence electrons. Because it has only two valence electrons, magnesium has a low electronegativity which means it will have a positive ionic charge because it gives up two electrons. Batteries work by creating a flow of electricity, this electrical current is caused by a flow of electrons. In a MAB, the magnesium is giving electrons up to the non-metal in the battery and serves as the anode (negative end). This is called oxidation because the metal is reacting to oxygen in the air. The non-metal used to create a MAB is oxygen when they. Oxygen has a higher electronegativity than magnesium and will attract the two electrons given up by magnesium. The oxygen serves as the cathode (positive end). The oxygen comes from the air surrounding the battery and pulled from water. The purpose of the carbon rod in the battery is to carry the electrons from the anode (magnesium) to the cathode (oxygen). The paper used to cover the carbon rod acts as an insulator, separating the carbon rod from the magnesium ribbon and form hydroxide ions by reacts with oxygen.
What makes a MAB attractive is that it could provide clean energy with a small carbon footprint. The materials needed to produce a MAB are non-restricted, which means none of them are rare metals or toxic. These batteries do not activate until the electrolyte solution is added, so they can be stored indefinitely until ready for use. Which makes this a good device to have as backup in case of a power failure when a natural disaster occurs. A prototype of the MAB called the Mg box battery was developed in eastern Japan. The prototype put out five DC volts, which is enough to power a cell phone charger and LED lights at the same time. The battery will last for only five days once activated and can be activated by adding any sort of electrolyte solution into the battery causing it to have a reaction with the magnesium creating carbon footprint free energy. One con of this product being used as a power source is that it would take more energy to create this battery than it gives off, making it inefficient as a regular power supply because it only produces five volts. However in an emergency situation these batteries would be made useful by being available in emergency shelters or stored at home for emergency use.
http://www.furukawadenchi.co.jp/english/csr/pdf/2014/05_3.pdf
Methods
We started off by gathering the materials we needed which were magnesium, paper towel, carbon rods, jumper wires, and salt water. We then wrapped the carbon rod in one layer of paper towel making sure there were no gaps. We then wrapped the covered rod with magnesium strip making sure that the magnesium strip was always 1mm away from itself to prevent shorts that could reduce the power output. Then we soaked the batteries with the saltwater solution (electrolyte). Then we wired the batteries in series with the jumper wires and measured the voltage with a volt meter. We then added a LED in series with the battery so we could measure the amperage the batteries had. Near the end of the lab we decided to test whether our batteries were able to charge a smartphone. We then disassembled the batteries and disposed of the magnesium properly.
Hazards
There were no hazards associated with our lab other than magnesium is a minor irritant and can cause issues in large quantities. All lab materials were properly disposed of. Rubber gloves and safety googles where worn at all times thought the lab.
Results
In this lab we weren't able to measure the amperage (flow of electrons) long enough to know its energy density because it is based on how long the battery lasted. We did measure the voltage as we increased the amount of batteries we added as seen in Figure #2 at this amount we did not see a decline in power output across the batteries but it would be interesting to see if there would be a decline when adding more batteries. In the lab we were able to charge a smartphone with the power produced this shows that the battery array was able to handle a sizable load. Because we ran our batteries in series we were not able to increase the amperage but only the voltage and this is why our batteries no matter how many of them we had would still output 46.3 amps. One problem we did notice was the fact that the batteries needed a fairly consistent supply of electrolyte solution in the form of salt water, this means that the batteries would not last long if the supply stopped. Air was also a variable in how well these batteries performed because any change in the amount of air would directly change the power output of the batteries. These two dependencies made these batteries act more like fuel cells.
Conclusion
The testing from the magnesium air batteries show that even though the hand built batteries are much larger and a bit difficult to deal with when trying to put the batteries to use charging or powering something. Although the batteries have several benefits as well above other batteries. They are easy to build and they last for a couple of days under constant use. Also the batteries are reusable when a charge is fired through it the reaction is reversed and the battery can be used again. Over time the magnesium on the battery will need to be replaced. Although the salt water used to increase the conductivity will have to be re added the most often as the water evaporates. This type of battery is a new and advancing battery that shows potential to be a battery of the future. This battery will be very useful because it uses simple materials and it is very easy to build. This allows the battery to be mass produced or handmade easily and quickly, as well as being ready for use immediately.
(Info-graphic at the bottom of the page.)
This project allowed us to have the freedom make up our own lab allowing us to explore and test whatever we want, to try something that interests us in the goal of knowledge and experience.
You can find the connecting project for this project in the humanities page.
Post Project reflection:
I have learned through this project what it really takes to try and come up with something that you want to test and creating a plan that will work for the testing. All with no guide lines as to what needs to be done, what tests should be done, what the variables are, and how to eliminate them. This becomes very difficult without a lot of thought and planning prior to the testing. this takes a lot of thought before hand to decide what needs to be tested and what the official goal is so the process is understood and the tests can be executed without wasting time or resources.
I learned that Energy can be made from nearly any resource and from many different forms. Such as from the sun, the wind, the flow of water, fire, chemical reactions, and even from the air itself. This opens many doors for energy production and the advancements to make them more and more efficient.
trevor_jordan_infographic_how_many_cells_does_it_take_to_charge_a_phone.pdf | |
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