Ross S. Fontenot

Triboluminescent materials for smart sensors

Since the beginning of 21 st Century, scientists and engineers have been investigating triboluminescent materials for use in smart impact sensors. One of the brightest triboluminescent materials found thus far is europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD 4 TEA). This material was discovered by Hurt in 1966 and is bright enough to be seen in daylight. Through innovative design of the material synthesis steps and by exchanging europium chloride for europium nitrate, the triboluminescent emission was increased by over 80%. In addition, the material yield was increased, as chloride washing is not required. Here, we discuss the new synthesis process, triboluminescent results, and future applications of EuD 4 TEA phosphors.

Comparison of the triboluminescent properties for europium tetrakis and ZnS:Mn powders

In 2006, some authors determined that the triboluminescence (TL) of manganese-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Mn) increases with increasing impact velocity. In 2011, the authors discovered a method of synthesizing europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD4TEA) that produced TL 106% greater than ZnS:Mn. In fact, this material is bright enough to be seen in daylight. This paper investigates the effects of increasing impact energy on the TL of EuD4TEA and various grain sizes of ZnS:Mn using a drop tower. The low energy results indicate that increasing impact energy can increase the triboluminescent light yield for impact energies up to 1.4 J, the upper limit of the drop tower. The minimum activation energies required for each material are also explored. In addition, the effects of the increasing impact energy on the triboluminescent decay time are also investigated. The details of the experimental setup, synthesis of EuD4TEA, and results are discussed in this paper.

Comparison of the triboluminescent yield and decay time for europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium synthesized using different solvents

Europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD4TEA) is one of the brightest known triboluminescent (TL) materials. First synthesized in 1966, emission from EuD4TEA is bright enough to be seen in daylight. In this paper we report the synthesis of Eu(III) tetrakis compounds using different solvents, and their influence on the appearance, TL yield, and decay time. The physical appearance of Eu compounds changed with the solvent type. Further, the solvents influenced the time for nucleation and completion of the reaction. TL measurements show that Eu tetrakis compounds derived from acetone solvent had the largest emission, while the smallest emission with the shortest decay time was obtained for the product from chloroform solvent. Photoluminescent emission spectra for the compounds from different solvents show the 5D0 → 7F1, 5D0 → 7F2 and 5D0 → 7F3 peaks which are consistent with previously reported results for EuD4TEA. However the intensity of the 5D0 → 7F2 transition shows the 613.5 nm is larger than the 611.7 nm for the products from 1-butanol and methylene chloride. Eu compound from 1-butanol shows a more intense 616.5 nm and 624.2 nm peaks, of which the later peak is almost merged into the background for Eu compounds obtained from the other solvents.

Luminescent properties of lanthanide dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium compounds

Triboluminescence (TL) is defined as the emission of cold light based on mechanical action. In 1999, Sage and Geddes used this property to design a sensor capable of discerning the location of impacts. By coating a structure with various triboluminescent materials, impacts to structures could be monitored with simple light detectors. However, the intensity of most materials is very low. Of the thousands of known triboluminescent materials, only a few can emit enough light to be seen in daylight. One of these materials is europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD4TEA). This material shows 206% of the TL yield compared to the more commonly known manganese-doped zinc sulfide. Due to the high TL yield of EuD4TEA, exploration of the lanthanide series compounds was attempted for different emission wavelengths. This will help to monitor the locations of impacts on structures. This paper will investigate the TL yields, TL decay times, and the spectra of various lanthanide dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium compounds.PACS78.60.Mq, 78.55.Bq, 71.20.Eh

Measurement of the triboluminescent properties for europium and samarium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium

AbstractTriboluminescence (TL) is the emission of cold light that is created when materials are fractured. Europium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD4TEA) is one of the brightest triboluminescent materials that exist. In 2010, efforts began to introduce additives to the synthesis to increase the triboluminescent yield of EuD4TEA. To date, this research has increased the overall emission yield of EuD4TEA by nearly two fold. This paper explores the effects of adding samarium to EuD4TEA. The effects of this additive on the decay time and photoluminescent emission spectra are reported. In addition, the effects of europium on samarium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium are also determined. The effects of europium on the decay time and photoluminescent emission spectra are also reported. Results will show that both additives have an adverse effect on the triboluminescent emission yield.

Detecting Mechanoluminescence From ZnS:Mn Powder Using a High Speed Camera

There are a number of techniques currently being used for damage detection and monitoring of civil, aerospace, and military structures and aircraft. However, the major drawbacks of the current techniques are that they do not provide in-situ and distributed sensing. In addition, the associated cost resulting from the downtime required for periodic non-destructive inspections can be very high for aerospace structures and nearly impossible for remote Lunar habitats. Mechanoluminescent-based sensor systems may be able to overcome these challenges as they have the potential for wireless, in-situ, and distributed sensing that can enable real-time continuous monitoring of both the magnitude and location of damage with respect to the host structure. They can also be used as stress, fracture, and damage sensors. However, if these sensors are to become a reality, the sensing of these impacts must move out of the lab setting using expensive light detectors and oscilloscopes. Instead, inexpensive robust cameras must be utilized to reduce the cost of sensors and make them more portable. This research explores the use of replacing the typical light detector and oscilloscope with a high speed camera. The results indicate that a high-speed camera can be used to replace the typical lab setup and yield the same results. Thus, indicating that it is possible to migrate from light detectors to inexpensive cameras in the future.

Using triboluminescence as the active element for impact sensors

N including quantum dots, fullerenes, nanoparticles (zero dimension), nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibrils (one dimension), and graphene (two dimension) possess intriguing physical, chemical and biological properties. As a consequence, these materials form the basis of many interdisciplinary studies, where scientists have been inspired by self-assembly processes occurring in nature to construct advanced nanomaterials with applications in many fields. Self-assembly involves the organization of molecules into highly ordered structures through specific, local interactions among the components, without any external direction. Weak interactions, such as Van der Waals, electrostatic, and π-π interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding, and halogen bonding can lead to all kinds of challenging self-assembled nanostructures. The hierarchical structures of many peptides are attributed to self-assembly, therefore, could potentially act as building blocks for new materials with significant functionalities and a range of biological functions. In our recent work, non-covalent interactions including hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic interaction were employed to modulate the peptide assembled nanostructures. We could successfully realize the peptide assembly transition from nanospheres to nanofiber by tuning hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction; furthermore, two dimension peptide nanopatch could be constructed instead of nanofiber by introducing the terminus intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the peptide and small molecules. The electrostatic interaction was proved to play an important role in peptide self-assembly and disassembly. Furthermore, it is significant to be addressed that the mechanical properties of peptide assemblies do changing after the nanostructure transition of peptide occurred. These peptide-based nanostructures could potentially be applied to be a candidate of biomaterials with potential importance in a wide range of technological applications.Z oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (grown in the template of folic acid) are biologically useful, luminescent material. It can be used for multifunctional purposes, such as biosensor, bioimaging, targeted drug delivery and as growth promoting medicine. Though, ZnO is categorized as: “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) but ZnO nanoparticle system may be cytotoxic. ZnO nanosystem could be of important relevance in the context of nanomedicine, where targeted treatment of biological systems at molecular level is a necessity. ZnO quantum dots with their surface modification and bio-conjugation for selective destruction of tumor cells and their potential use for drug delivery applications is the cardinal issue of this presentation..Nano-sized particle incorporation into metal matrix for fabrication of advance surface coatings find variety of applications in surface protection techniques. Al 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 and SiO 2 nanoparticles have been codeposited with Zn using electrodeposition process to produce Zn nanocomposite coatings. The fabricated coatings were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope affixed with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometer. The mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings were investigated using diamond microhardness indenter and dry abrasive wear tester. Zn-10g/L Cr 2 O 3 nanocomposite exhibited the highest microhardness of 228 HV and Zn-5g/L Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite possessed the highest corrosion resistance and lowest wear loss. Zn-5g/L SiO 2 nanocomposite showed good stability as compared to other composite coatings. The incorporation of the nanoparticles of Al 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 and SiO 2 induce grain refinement and modify crystallographic orientation of Zn matrix. Zn-5g/L Al 2 O 3 and Zn-5g/L SiO 2 proved to be better coatings which can find variety of industrial applications where both mechanical and electrochemical properties are required.The existence of vibrations in undesired parts of mechanical machinery, civil structures, aerospace and automotive components,will cause overall setback and efficiency reductions in processes when the above parts are used. Hence is advising to completely get rid of the unnecessary vibrations or reduce them to a minimum possible value. This experiment is an effort to reduce these vibrations using Magneto Rheological fluids. A Magneto Rheological fluid provides viscous damping. The damping factor increases when a magnetic field is applied and is multiplied as the strength of the magnetic field is more, also the natural frequency of the body under test changes from to a value which is different from the initial value. This technique was utilized and a three layered MR fluid sandwich beam was fabricated. This beam was subjected to testing and analysis under both undamped and damped conditions. The controllability of variations in the various dynamic parameters like natural frequencies, vibration amplitudes and damping factors were observed. A reduction is natural frequency of beam was obtained in the presence of MR fluid under magnetic field, from 550 Hz to 300 Hz. Keywords: Magnetorheological fluid, MRFluid sandwich Beam, Natural frequency, Damping factor, Damping coefficient.A perovskite-like phase, K3B6O10Cl exhibits a large second harmonic response about four times that of KH2PO4 (KDP) and is transparent from the deep UV (180 nm) to middle-IR region. A high quality single crystal of K3B6O10Cl with dimensions up to 30 × 15 × 7 mm3 was successfully grown by the top-seeded solution growth method. Crystal morphologies and growth habits of K3B6O10Cl grown with seeds oriented along [101] and [211] were studied, and the best growth direction was obtained., The refractive indices of the crystal were measured by the minimum deviation technique and fitted to the Sellmeier equations. The nonlinear optical coefficients have been determined by the method of Maker fringes at λ=1064 nm. The suitable nonlinear optical coefficients as well as comparatively easy crystal growth make the K3B6O10Cl crystal a promising candidate for NLO materials.A carbon and fiberglass are the two mostly studied materials in air filtration industry due to their good performance with associated low cost. The advancement in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology produced materials with improved properties than conventional materials. Nanofibers are one of the nanotechnology products, which have been explored for applications such as healthcare, water, energy, electronics, catalysis, environmental, air filtration, bioengineering and biotechnology. Pores and pore size distribution of nanofibers can be easily tunable. Recently, they have been explored in various air filtration products such as high efficiency particulate absorption (HEPA) filters and so on. In this talk, various nanofibers that are electrospun and deposited on HEPA filters, process variation, additives addition, and their performances, challenges faced and their potential application in air filtration industry will be presented.O (OA) and meniscus injury are often met from injury and aging. In the USA alone, approximately 50 million people are affected by OA, and over 50% among them require replacing total joints, which cost approximately

Increasing the triboluminescence of europium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium for its use as an impact sensor

15 billion per year. Tissue engineering (TE) approach to cartilage regeneration has promises to repair damaged or diseased cartilage. Biodegradable scaffolds as one of key elements in TE are expected to offer a complex biological microenvironment mimicking with native tissue to promote cell ingrowth and tissue regeneration. However, current scaffolds cannot simulate the complex microenvironment of native cartilage. To the end, our group developed a biodegradable extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel derived from pig cartilages. The hydrogel contained complex components including collagen, glycosaminoglycan, growth factors and peptides, which were mimetic with biological components in the cartilage. This hydrogel solution was flowable at 4oC and formed a solid hydrogel at a body temperature, which is appropriate for non-invasive surgery. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels could be tuned by altering ECM concentration. The chondrocytes survived and proliferated inside the hydrogel with a round shape due to a good cellular microenvironment. The hydrogel solution was easily injected into a mouse subcutaneous model and formed a solidified hydrogel in vivo. No severe immunogenetic response was observed till to 7 day implantation, indicating a good biocompatibility. The attractive injectability and biomimetic complexity showed that the cartilage-derived hydrogel would be a good candidate to be applied for cartilage regeneration.T development of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) as a potent alternative to conventional antibiotics has been extensively investigated over the last decades. However, due to the prominent cytotoxic effect of silver on mammalian cells, there is always strong motivation to develop alternative technology that can compact bacterial infection without affecting the mammalian cells. Capping AgNPs with appropriate functional groups and incorporating them into a polymeric matrix is a feasible alternative to overcome these limitations. AgNPs with different chemical structures (nanocapsules and nanoparticles) and functionalities (polymer, lipid, and starch) were synthesized. To demonstrate application as antibacterial coatings, the stabilized AgNPs were then immobilized onto model surfaces made of a thin layer of allylamine plasma polymerized film. This substrate-independent technique preserves the AgNPs functionalities for a longer period of application time. All fabricated surface coatings exhibited superior antibacterial activity against four important Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. This study further aimed to focus on investigating the effects of AgNPs surface components on delivery of engineered AgNPs from the coatings into the human fibroblast cell as well as bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM). Most of the surfaces did not affect BMDM function or viability and demonstrated no toxicity toward fibroblast cells, except for lipid coated nanosilvers. Therefore, the chemical structures of nanoparticles significantly affect the coatings’ antibacterial, biofilm prevention and biocompatibility capabilities. We believe that such biocompatible nanostructures are of potential interest for various biomedical applications such as smart drug carriers and antibacterial coatings for medical devices and wound dressings.I order to develop compliant seal systems for SOFCs operating in the temperature range of 800-950°C, this project has focused on iterations in materials systems. The materials consisting of composites of a base glass with appropriate ceramic components in order to identify a stable sealing system with adequate and acceptable thermal characteristics, such as, the viscosity and coefficient of thermal expansion. Appropriate viscosity was targeted to ensure good flow behavior of the glass at temperatures where fuel cells operate and sealing effects are required. Viscosity variation in the composites was brought about by the selection of ceramic additives; a large number of candidates ranging from phase pure alumina, magnesia, ceria and barium zirconate, to ceria doped with 10 mole % gadolinium oxide (GDC). SCN1 glass (trade name of sealing glass developed by SEM-COM) was used as the base component, whose composition was such as to provide a CTE match with the SOFC system (in the RT-Tg range), when composited with a second ceramic phase. Additives in both nanoand micro-scale dimensions (as fine powders or in the form of fibers) were introduced mainly to block the bubbles from moving but also to make the composite structure stronger. In addition, their role was also to inhibit the growth of air bubbles within the glass matrix and to or prevent their coalescence during long soak-time at 850°C, with the goal of eliminating or minimizing the CTE drift in the resultant glass composition. No reaction between SCN1 glass and the GDC additives was discerned. Moreover, the bubbles remained small and did not move or coalesce. The CTE of the GDC composites was very close to the targeted value and not change significantly when aged up to 232 h at 850°C in air.

Synthesis and characterization of highly triboluminescent doped europium tetrakis compounds

N including quantum dots, fullerenes, nanoparticles (zero dimension), nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibrils (one dimension), and graphene (two dimension) possess intriguing physical, chemical and biological properties. As a consequence, these materials form the basis of many interdisciplinary studies, where scientists have been inspired by self-assembly processes occurring in nature to construct advanced nanomaterials with applications in many fields. Self-assembly involves the organization of molecules into highly ordered structures through specific, local interactions among the components, without any external direction. Weak interactions, such as Van der Waals, electrostatic, and π-π interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding, and halogen bonding can lead to all kinds of challenging self-assembled nanostructures. The hierarchical structures of many peptides are attributed to self-assembly, therefore, could potentially act as building blocks for new materials with significant functionalities and a range of biological functions. In our recent work, non-covalent interactions including hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic interaction were employed to modulate the peptide assembled nanostructures. We could successfully realize the peptide assembly transition from nanospheres to nanofiber by tuning hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction; furthermore, two dimension peptide nanopatch could be constructed instead of nanofiber by introducing the terminus intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the peptide and small molecules. The electrostatic interaction was proved to play an important role in peptide self-assembly and disassembly. Furthermore, it is significant to be addressed that the mechanical properties of peptide assemblies do changing after the nanostructure transition of peptide occurred. These peptide-based nanostructures could potentially be applied to be a candidate of biomaterials with potential importance in a wide range of technological applications.Z oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (grown in the template of folic acid) are biologically useful, luminescent material. It can be used for multifunctional purposes, such as biosensor, bioimaging, targeted drug delivery and as growth promoting medicine. Though, ZnO is categorized as: “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) but ZnO nanoparticle system may be cytotoxic. ZnO nanosystem could be of important relevance in the context of nanomedicine, where targeted treatment of biological systems at molecular level is a necessity. ZnO quantum dots with their surface modification and bio-conjugation for selective destruction of tumor cells and their potential use for drug delivery applications is the cardinal issue of this presentation..Nano-sized particle incorporation into metal matrix for fabrication of advance surface coatings find variety of applications in surface protection techniques. Al 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 and SiO 2 nanoparticles have been codeposited with Zn using electrodeposition process to produce Zn nanocomposite coatings. The fabricated coatings were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope affixed with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometer. The mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings were investigated using diamond microhardness indenter and dry abrasive wear tester. Zn-10g/L Cr 2 O 3 nanocomposite exhibited the highest microhardness of 228 HV and Zn-5g/L Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite possessed the highest corrosion resistance and lowest wear loss. Zn-5g/L SiO 2 nanocomposite showed good stability as compared to other composite coatings. The incorporation of the nanoparticles of Al 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 and SiO 2 induce grain refinement and modify crystallographic orientation of Zn matrix. Zn-5g/L Al 2 O 3 and Zn-5g/L SiO 2 proved to be better coatings which can find variety of industrial applications where both mechanical and electrochemical properties are required.The existence of vibrations in undesired parts of mechanical machinery, civil structures, aerospace and automotive components,will cause overall setback and efficiency reductions in processes when the above parts are used. Hence is advising to completely get rid of the unnecessary vibrations or reduce them to a minimum possible value. This experiment is an effort to reduce these vibrations using Magneto Rheological fluids. A Magneto Rheological fluid provides viscous damping. The damping factor increases when a magnetic field is applied and is multiplied as the strength of the magnetic field is more, also the natural frequency of the body under test changes from to a value which is different from the initial value. This technique was utilized and a three layered MR fluid sandwich beam was fabricated. This beam was subjected to testing and analysis under both undamped and damped conditions. The controllability of variations in the various dynamic parameters like natural frequencies, vibration amplitudes and damping factors were observed. A reduction is natural frequency of beam was obtained in the presence of MR fluid under magnetic field, from 550 Hz to 300 Hz. Keywords: Magnetorheological fluid, MRFluid sandwich Beam, Natural frequency, Damping factor, Damping coefficient.A perovskite-like phase, K3B6O10Cl exhibits a large second harmonic response about four times that of KH2PO4 (KDP) and is transparent from the deep UV (180 nm) to middle-IR region. A high quality single crystal of K3B6O10Cl with dimensions up to 30 × 15 × 7 mm3 was successfully grown by the top-seeded solution growth method. Crystal morphologies and growth habits of K3B6O10Cl grown with seeds oriented along [101] and [211] were studied, and the best growth direction was obtained., The refractive indices of the crystal were measured by the minimum deviation technique and fitted to the Sellmeier equations. The nonlinear optical coefficients have been determined by the method of Maker fringes at λ=1064 nm. The suitable nonlinear optical coefficients as well as comparatively easy crystal growth make the K3B6O10Cl crystal a promising candidate for NLO materials.A carbon and fiberglass are the two mostly studied materials in air filtration industry due to their good performance with associated low cost. The advancement in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology produced materials with improved properties than conventional materials. Nanofibers are one of the nanotechnology products, which have been explored for applications such as healthcare, water, energy, electronics, catalysis, environmental, air filtration, bioengineering and biotechnology. Pores and pore size distribution of nanofibers can be easily tunable. Recently, they have been explored in various air filtration products such as high efficiency particulate absorption (HEPA) filters and so on. In this talk, various nanofibers that are electrospun and deposited on HEPA filters, process variation, additives addition, and their performances, challenges faced and their potential application in air filtration industry will be presented.O (OA) and meniscus injury are often met from injury and aging. In the USA alone, approximately 50 million people are affected by OA, and over 50% among them require replacing total joints, which cost approximately

A versatile low-cost laboratory apparatus for testing triboluminescent materials

15 billion per year. Tissue engineering (TE) approach to cartilage regeneration has promises to repair damaged or diseased cartilage. Biodegradable scaffolds as one of key elements in TE are expected to offer a complex biological microenvironment mimicking with native tissue to promote cell ingrowth and tissue regeneration. However, current scaffolds cannot simulate the complex microenvironment of native cartilage. To the end, our group developed a biodegradable extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel derived from pig cartilages. The hydrogel contained complex components including collagen, glycosaminoglycan, growth factors and peptides, which were mimetic with biological components in the cartilage. This hydrogel solution was flowable at 4oC and formed a solid hydrogel at a body temperature, which is appropriate for non-invasive surgery. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels could be tuned by altering ECM concentration. The chondrocytes survived and proliferated inside the hydrogel with a round shape due to a good cellular microenvironment. The hydrogel solution was easily injected into a mouse subcutaneous model and formed a solidified hydrogel in vivo. No severe immunogenetic response was observed till to 7 day implantation, indicating a good biocompatibility. The attractive injectability and biomimetic complexity showed that the cartilage-derived hydrogel would be a good candidate to be applied for cartilage regeneration.T development of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) as a potent alternative to conventional antibiotics has been extensively investigated over the last decades. However, due to the prominent cytotoxic effect of silver on mammalian cells, there is always strong motivation to develop alternative technology that can compact bacterial infection without affecting the mammalian cells. Capping AgNPs with appropriate functional groups and incorporating them into a polymeric matrix is a feasible alternative to overcome these limitations. AgNPs with different chemical structures (nanocapsules and nanoparticles) and functionalities (polymer, lipid, and starch) were synthesized. To demonstrate application as antibacterial coatings, the stabilized AgNPs were then immobilized onto model surfaces made of a thin layer of allylamine plasma polymerized film. This substrate-independent technique preserves the AgNPs functionalities for a longer period of application time. All fabricated surface coatings exhibited superior antibacterial activity against four important Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. This study further aimed to focus on investigating the effects of AgNPs surface components on delivery of engineered AgNPs from the coatings into the human fibroblast cell as well as bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM). Most of the surfaces did not affect BMDM function or viability and demonstrated no toxicity toward fibroblast cells, except for lipid coated nanosilvers. Therefore, the chemical structures of nanoparticles significantly affect the coatings’ antibacterial, biofilm prevention and biocompatibility capabilities. We believe that such biocompatible nanostructures are of potential interest for various biomedical applications such as smart drug carriers and antibacterial coatings for medical devices and wound dressings.I order to develop compliant seal systems for SOFCs operating in the temperature range of 800-950°C, this project has focused on iterations in materials systems. The materials consisting of composites of a base glass with appropriate ceramic components in order to identify a stable sealing system with adequate and acceptable thermal characteristics, such as, the viscosity and coefficient of thermal expansion. Appropriate viscosity was targeted to ensure good flow behavior of the glass at temperatures where fuel cells operate and sealing effects are required. Viscosity variation in the composites was brought about by the selection of ceramic additives; a large number of candidates ranging from phase pure alumina, magnesia, ceria and barium zirconate, to ceria doped with 10 mole % gadolinium oxide (GDC). SCN1 glass (trade name of sealing glass developed by SEM-COM) was used as the base component, whose composition was such as to provide a CTE match with the SOFC system (in the RT-Tg range), when composited with a second ceramic phase. Additives in both nanoand micro-scale dimensions (as fine powders or in the form of fibers) were introduced mainly to block the bubbles from moving but also to make the composite structure stronger. In addition, their role was also to inhibit the growth of air bubbles within the glass matrix and to or prevent their coalescence during long soak-time at 850°C, with the goal of eliminating or minimizing the CTE drift in the resultant glass composition. No reaction between SCN1 glass and the GDC additives was discerned. Moreover, the bubbles remained small and did not move or coalesce. The CTE of the GDC composites was very close to the targeted value and not change significantly when aged up to 232 h at 850°C in air.