MSE Colloquium: Perena Gouma, Nanomaterials for a Healthier and Cleaner World

Professor, MSE Department, University of Texas at Arlington

All dates for this event occur in the past.

264 MacQuigg Labs
105 W. Woodruff Ave
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Abstract

My research over the last decade has focused on developing novel nanomaterials for functional applications. Using a variety of nanoscale processing and nanomanufacturing techniques (sol-gel chemistry, hydrothermal processing, flame spray pyrolysis, (high-throughput) electrospinning, and high-energy electron lithography) a toolbox of new phases for ceramic nanomaterials as well as a plethora of hybrid materials, were developed. Functional metal oxides, such as titania and tungsten trioxide, existing as several distinct phases-polymorphs-, depending on the processing method used to synthesize them and their relative grain size are presented here. Each of these polymorphs typically has distinct properties, such as affinity to a specific chemical or a class of chemical compounds. This presentation reviews how these oxide nanostructures were used as sensing elements to detect signaling metabolites-i.e. gases/vapors released in a single human breath exhaled. Handheld, portable, battery-operated, breathalyzer device prototypes have also been developed by my research group, which may detect the onset of an asthma attack or monitor metabolic diseases and malfunctions, such as diabetes, or viral infections, such as the flu. A new class of self-supported 3D nano-architectures of ceramic oxides that we invented, Nanogrids™, a breakthrough nanotechnology which finds uses from water remediation to solar energy harvesting, is also presented and discussed.

Bio

 

gouma_profile_uncropped.jpg
Dr. Perena Gouma

Dr. Pelagia-Irene (Perena) Gouma is a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Texas at Arlington and a Lead Researcher at the UTARI: Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies. Previously she was a Professor at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, and the Founder and Director of the Center for Nanomaterials and Sensor Development (CNSD). She holds a B.Sc. degree in Applied Physics from the Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki Greece; a M.Sc. (Eng) degree in Materials from the University of Liverpool, UK and a M.Phil in Organizational Management from the same Institution. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Birmingham in the UK and she carried our post-doctoral work at The Ohio State University, prior to joining Stony Brook in 2000. Dr. Gouma’s research activities involve the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials for bio-/chemical sensors and biotechnology as well as the development of artificial olfaction systems (breath analyzers, electronic noses and tongues). Dr. Gouma has secured several millions in funding from external sources (federal, state, and private) to support a variety of research projects and to equip her laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities for nanoscale materials processing and nanomanufacturing, for chemical and structural characterization, for sensing property assessment and for microelectronics processing. Dr. Gouma has established novel and highly successful programs on ceramics for nanomedicine, with emphasis on the development of non-invasive breath and skin-based diagnostic tools. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles, several book chapters and a monograph. She also holds 18 patents US and International. She is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, she was a Fulbright Scholar to UNICAMP in Brazil, and she has received the prestigious Richard M. Fulrath award of The American Ceramic Society. She was the sole Chair of the 2011 ISOEN Conference on Artificial Olfaction. Dr. Gouma has been a visiting faculty at various Universities and Research Institutions (University of Brescia, Italy; NIMS, Japan). She has also been a graduate of the Inaugural class of NSF’s ICorps’ program taught by Steve Blank. Her start up has received support from Federal and State agencies. Dr. Gouma’s research on breath printing using ceramic nanotechnology has been featured at a NSF’s Science Nation video. Furthermore, numerous press releases, videos and documentaries on the breathalyzer that Dr. Gouma has invented and developed and its importance to personalized medicine have appeared in the news, papers, and the social media.

Your Own Breath Could Make Needle Sticks a Thing of the Past--NBC News

Breath Monitor Detects Flu Virus--Univ. of Texas at Arlington