MateriAlZ Seminar Series: Olivia A. Graeve
Friday, September 17, 2021, 11:00 am MST
Olivia A. Graeve, Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California San Diego
"Morphologically controlled composites: Emerging materials for extreme environments"
Zoom link
Passcode: 170720
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Abstract: Control of powder morphology in metals and ceramics is of critical importance in applications such as catalysis and chemical sensing whereby specific crystal facets better facilitate chemical reactions. In response to this challenge, this talk will present an overview of the microstructure and phase stability of hexaboride and carbide ceramics of controlled morphologies. Hexaborides are a unique class of non-oxide ceramics with many interesting electronic, magnetic, and optical properties. The cubic crystal structure consists of covalently bonded boron octahedra surrounding a loosely bonded metal ion, which donates electrons to the boron framework and directly influences the compound’s conductivity. The compositionally diverse TaC1-x phase (as well as other carbides) is an interstitial carbide having a rock salt crystal structure and mixed covalent, metallic, and ionic bonding. Therefore, this material has an interesting combination of properties that in some respects are intermediate between typical ceramics and metals, but with extreme melting temperatures for potential applications in ultra-high temperature environments.
Bio: Olivia A. Graeve joined the University of California San Diego in 2012 and is currently a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, as well as Director of the CaliBaja Center for Resilient Materials and Systems. She holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering (2001) from the University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Engineering (1995) from the University of California San Diego. Her area of research focuses on the design and processing of new materials for extreme environments, including extremes of temperature, pressure, and radiation. Prof. Graeve has been involved in many activities related to the recruitment and retention of women and Hispanic students in science and engineering and has received several prestigious awards including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2020. She has been inducted into the Tijuana Walk of Fame (2014), the Mexican Academy of Engineering (2016), the Mexican Academy of Sciences (2019), and has been named Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (2017).