A UNF team of mechanical engineering researchers are working on a product that could make computers cheaper and more efficient in the future.
Dr. Stephen Stagon, an assistant professor in the UNF’s department of mechanical engineering, along with his research assistants, have been working on a metallic adhesive that they’re calling MesoGlue.
MesoGlue first came about when Stagon was a PhD. student for Dr. Hanchen Huang at Northeastern University. Stagon continued the project when he became an assistant professor at UNF in 2014. Both UNF and Northeastern University share the pending patent of MesoGlue.
This metallic adhesive is game-changing in several ways. It would improve heat transfer for devices, like computers and tablets, allowing more efficient CPU cooling. MesoGlue would also replace the soldering process and make it easier to piece together tiny parts at room temperature. For computers, MesoGlue would replace thermal grease that would increase power and lifetime of computer chips.
When creating MesoGlue, metal is the primary ingredient.
“First of all metal is strong,” Stagon said. “Second of all, metal can conduct electricity well and metal can also conduct heat very well.”
UNF research students had the job of testing out this adhesive. Last summer, Alex Knapp, a graduate research assistant, worked on the preliminary testing while others worked on the advanced use of nanorods.
The UNF team is working on a project that not many get to work on. In the past, the lack of proper equipment has limited further research in nanotechnology.
“I don’t think there has been a whole lot of practical applications to the science that technology has allowed for it,” Knapp said
MesoGlue could also benefit gamers, who would be able to run games that would normally overclock and overheat their CPU.
When it comes to potentially making computers cheaper, the use of MesoGlue would lower the costs in assembling of computer parts, and thus making the process more cost efficient.
“I can use the same computer and the same technology as right now, put more power through it, but it will operate better,” Stagon said.
The research team hopes to have MesoGlue eventually bottled up, but as of now, they’re excited to be part of this rare opportunity in research that could impact the science of nanotechnology.
“Everything gets smaller and smaller as technology advances. So it’s pretty cool to be on the cutting-edge of something like that,” Knapp said.
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