Army Officer Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Foundation Gaps Place Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Operations at Risk – Part 1

This is the first of three articles from the authors describing the risk to Joint Operations incurred by an Army that is vulnerable to the STEM challenges faced in a great power competition involving CWMD operations. In this article, we describe the problem. In articles two and three of the series, we will elaborate on the problem utilizing the Joint Publication 3-0 as our guide and recommend solutions to address this gap

Inkjet-Printed Carbon Nanotubes for Fabricating a Spoof Fingerprint on Paper.

A spoof fingerprint was fabricated on paper and applied for a spoofing attack to unlock a smartphone on which a capacitive array of sensors had been embedded with a fingerprint recognition algorithm. Using an inkjet printer with an ink made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), we printed a spoof fingerprint having an electrical and geometric pattern of ridges and furrows comparable to that of the real fingerprint. With this printed spoof fingerprint, we were able to unlock a smartphone successfully; this was due to the good quality of the printed CNT material, which provided electrical conductivities and structural patterns similar to those of the real fingerprint. This result confirms that inkjet-printing CNTs to fabricate a spoof fingerprint on paper is an easy, simple spoofing route from the real fingerprint and suggests a new method for outputting the physical ridges and furrows on a two-dimensional plane

Salt-Templated Platinum-Copper Porous Macrobeams for Ethanol Oxidation

Platinum nanomaterials provide an excellent catalytic activity for diverse applications and given its high cost, platinum alloys and bi-metallic nanomaterials with transition metals are appealing for low cost and catalytic specificity. Here the synthesis of hierarchically porous Pt–Cu macrobeams and macrotubes templated from Magnus’s salt derivative needles is demonstrated. The metal composition was controlled through the combination of [PtCl4]2− with [Pt(NH3)4]2+ and [Cu(NH3)4]2+ ions in different ratios to form salt needle templates. Polycrystalline Pt–Cu porous macrotubes and macrobeams 10’ s–100’ s μm long with square cross-sections were formed through chemical reduction with dimethylamine borane (DMAB) and NaBH4, respectively. Specific capacitance as high as 20.7 F/g was demonstrated with cyclic voltammetry. For macrotubes and macrobeams synthesized from Pt2−:Pt2+:Cu2+ salt ratios of 1:1:0, 2:1:1, 3:1:2, and 1:0:1, DMAB reduced 3:1:2 macrotubes demonstrated the highest ethanol oxidation peak currents of 12.0 A/g at 0.5 mV/s and is attributed to the combination of a highly porous structure and platinum enriched surface. Salt templates with electrochemical reduction are suggested as a rapid, scalable, and tunable platform to achieve a wide range of 3-dimensional porous metal, alloy, and multi-metallic nanomaterials for catalysis, sensor, and energy storage applications

3D virus scaffolds for energy storage and microdevice applications

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biological Engineering, February 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.With constantly increasing demand for lightweight power sources, electrode architectures that eliminate the need for conductive and organic additives will increase mass specific energy and power densities. The increased demand for lightweight power is coupled with increasing device miniaturization. As the scale of devices decreases, current battery technologies add mass on the same scale as the device itself. A dual functional electro-mechanical material that serves as both the device structural material and the power source would dramatically improve device integration and range for powered movement. To address the demand for lightweight power with the objective of a dual functional electro-mechanical material, the M 13 bacteriophage was used to create novel 3-dimensional nano-architectures. To synthesize 3-dimensional nanowire scaffolds, the M13 virus is covalently linked into a hydrogel that serves as a 3-dimensional bio-template for the mineralization of copper and nickel nanowires. Control of nanowire diameter, scaffold porosity, and film thickness is demonstrated. The nanowire scaffolds are found to be highly conductive and can be synthesized as free-standing films. To demonstrate the viability of the 3-dimensional nanowire networks for electrical energy storage, copper nanowires were galvanically displaced to a mixed phase copper-tin system. These tin based anodes were used for lithium rechargeable batteries and demonstrated a high storage capacity per square area and stable cycling approaching 100 cycles. To determine the viability of the 3-dimensional nanowire networks as dual functional electro-mechanical materials and the mechanical stability of processing intermediates, phage hydrogels, aerogels, and metal nanowire networks were examined with nano-indentation. The elastic moduli of the metal networks are in the range of open cell metal foams The demonstration of 3-dimensional virus-templated metal nanowire networks as electrically conductive and mechanically robust should facilitate their implementation across a broad array of device applications to include photovoltaics, catalysis, electrochromics, and fuel cells.by F. John Burpo.Sc.D

case study

A critical review of PCR primer design algorithms and crosshybridizatio

Army Officer Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Foundation Gaps Place Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Operations at Risk – Part 2

This is the second of three articles from the authors describing the risk to Joint Operations incurred by an Army that is vulnerable to the STEM challenges faced in a great power competition involving CWMD operations. In Part 1, we described the problem: “The Army’s failure to emphasize STEM competence in the Army officer corps outside of Functional Areas creates risk to mission accomplishment in CWMD multi-domain operations. The Army must prioritize STEM education in accessions and throughout PME to prepare commanders for effective science and technology (S&T) informed decision making within mission command in CWMD multi-domain operations”. For Parts 2 and 3, we utilize the Joint Operational Model, Notional Phasing for Predominant Military Activities, from JP 3-0, Joint Operations, to describe the risk of an Army officer corps lacking STEM dominance for CWMD operations during a regional or great power competition involving CWMD operations. In this article, we address the risk of our current efforts as we operate in Phase 0 (Shape) and Phase 1 (Deter) while our final article (Part 3) will examine the transition to decisive action / unified action with Phase 2 (Seize the Initiative) through Phase 5 (Enable Civil Authority)

Salt-Mediated Au-Cu Nanofoam and Au-Cu-Pd Porous Macrobeam Synthesis.

Multi-metallic and alloy nanomaterials enable a broad range of catalytic applications with high surface area and tuning reaction specificity through the variation of metal composition. The ability to synthesize these materials as three-dimensional nanostructures enables control of surface area, pore size and mass transfer properties, electronic conductivity, and ultimately device integration. Au-Cu nanomaterials offer tunable optical and catalytic properties at reduced material cost. The synthesis methods for Au-Cu nanostructures, especially three-dimensional materials, has been limited. Here, we present Au-Cu nanofoams and Au-Cu-Pd macrobeams synthesized from salt precursors. Salt precursors formed from the precipitation of square planar ions resulted in short- and long-range ordered crystals that, when reduced in solution, form nanofoams or macrobeams that can be dried or pressed into freestanding monoliths or films. Metal composition was determined with X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Nitrogen gas adsorption indicated an Au-Cu nanofoam specific surface area of 19.4 m²/g. Specific capacitance determined with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was 46.0 F/g and 52.5 F/g for Au-Cu nanofoams and Au-Cu-Pd macrobeams, respectively. The use of salt precursors is envisioned as a synthesis route to numerous metal and multi-metallic nanostructures for catalytic, energy storage, and sensing applications