Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

 

Explore our Open Access Publications to discover research freely available to the public.

You can also view All Research Publications by the department, including both open access and subscription-based work over the past 36 months.

Follow

Submissions from 2024

PDF

Interdigitated Gear-Shaped Screen-Printed Electrode Using G-PANI Ink for Sensitive Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine, Pritu P. Sarkar, Ridma Tabassum, Ahmed Hasnain Jalal, Ali Ashraf, and Nazmul Islam

PDF

Adsorption of crystal violet dye from synthetic wastewater by ball-milled royal palm leaf sheath, Neloy Sen, Nawrin Rahman Shefa, Kismot Reza, Sk Md Ali Zaker Shawon, and Md. Wasikur Rahman

PDF

Multilayer PVA/Gelatin nanofibrous scaffolds incorporated with Tanacetum polycephalum essential oil and amoxicillin for skin tissue engineering application, Ebrahim Soleiman-Dehkordi, Vahid Reisi-Vanani, Samanesadat Hosseini, Zahra Lorigooini, Vajihe Azimian Zvareh, Mahour Farzan, Elham Moghtadaie Khorasgani, Karen Lozano, and Zohreh Abolhassanzadeh

PDF

Laser-Induced Electrochemical Biosensor Modified with Graphene-Based Ink for Label-Free Detection of Alpha-Fetoprotein and 17β-Estradiol, Ridma Tabassum, Pritu P. Sarkar, Ahmed Hasnain Jalal, Ali Ashraf, and Nazmul Islam

PDF

Work in Progress: Development of a Bootcamp for Freshman Student Success During COVID-19 Transition, Noe Vargas Hernandez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Javier A. Ortega, Laura Benitez, and Edna Orozco-Leonhardt

PDF

Board 294: HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE): Bridging the URM Gap in STEM, Noe Vargas Hernandez, Javier Ortega, Arturo A. Fuentes, and Eleazar Marquez

PDF

Work in Progress: Teaching Engineering Students to Self-Transform: Parallelisms between Product Innovation and Student Career Path Planning, Noe Vargas Hernandez, Javier Ortega, Arturo A. Fuentes, and Eleazar Marquez

PDF

Graphene Reinforced PVDF Nanofibers Fabricated With the ForceSpinning® Method for Water Desalination Applications, Elmmer A. Vera Alvarado, Md. Abdur Rahman Bin Abdus Salam, Ali Ashraf, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Spectral Clustering in Railway Crossing Accidents Analysis, Ethan Villalobos, Hector Lugo III, Biqian Cheng, Miguel Gutierrez, Constantine Tarawneh, Ping Xu, Jia Chen, and Evangelos E. Papalexakis

PDF

Kernel Ridge Regression in Predicting Railway Crossing Accidents, Ethan Villalobos, Constantine Tarawneh, Jia Chen, Evangelos E. Papalexakis, and Ping Xu

Submissions from 2023

PDF

Oxymatrine Loaded Crosslinked PVA Nanofibrous Scaffold: Design and Characterization and Anticancer Properties, Salahuddin Ahmed, Megan Keniry, Narcedalia Anaya-Barbosa, Victoria Padilla, Md Noushad Javed, Robert Gilkerson, Acharan S. Narula, Eman Ibrahim, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Development of pullulan/chitosan/salvianolic acid ternary fibrous membranes and their potential for chemotherapeutic applications, Salahuddin Ahmed, Megan Keniry, Victoria Padilla, Narcedalia Anaya-Barbosa, Md Noushad Javed, Robert Gilkerson, Kithzia Gomez, Acharan S. Narula, and Karen Lozano

Link

Processing-structure–property relationships of oleanolic acid loaded PLGA fiber membranes, Salahuddin Ahmed, Victoria Padilla, Robert Gilkerson, Acharan S. Narula, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Amplitude-Voltage Response of Parametric Resonance of Electrostatically Actuated Circular Membranes, Marcos Alipi and Dumitru I. Caruntu

PDF

Sensitivity of puff dynamics and airborne droplet nuclei distribution to variations in violent expiration events, M. Allahyari, K. Liu (刘凯), J. Salinas, ‪Nadim Zgheib, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Multifunctional Graphene–Polymer Nanocomposite Sensors Formed by One-Step In Situ Shear Exfoliation of Graphite, Ali Ashraf, Elizabeth Chang, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Dipannita Ghosh, Nazmul Islam, and Jennifer K. Lynch-Branzoi

Link

Drop-Landing Inverse Dynamics Model of Human Knee, Dumitru Caruntu and Ricardo Moreno

PDF

Effectiveness of RANS in predicting indoor airborne viral transmission: A critical evaluation against LES, K. Choudhary, K. A. Krishnaprasad, S. Pandey, ‪Nadim Zgheib, J. S. Salinas, M. Y. Ha, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Effect of room size, shape, AC placement, and air leakage on indoor airborne viral transmission, K. Choudhary, K. A. Krishnaprasad, ‪Nadim Zgheib, M. Y. Ha, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Graphene-conductive polymer-based electrochemical sensor for dopamine detection, Dipannita Ghosh, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Ali Ashraf, and Nazmul Islam

Link

Preparation of SnO2/TiO2/C composite fibres and their use as binder-free anodes for lithium-ion batteries, Gabriel Gonzalez, David Sanchez, Daniel Ramirez, Jason C. Myers, Timothy P. Lodge, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

PDF

Computational and experimental study on undoped and Er-doped lithium tantalate nanofluorescent probes, Mkhitar A. Hobosyan, Andrea Pelayo Carvajal, Bhupendra B. Srivastava, Tamanna Zakia, Mohammed Uddin, Karen S. Martirosyan, Eric Rodriguez, Kofi Nketia Ackaah-Gyasi, and Nicholas Dimakis

PDF

A direct fiber approach to model sclera collagen architecture and biomechanics, Fengting Ji, Manik Bansal, Bingrui Wang, Yi Hua, Mohammad R. Islam, Felix Matuschke, Markus Axer, and Ian A. Sigal

Link

Catalytic role of binary oxides (CuO and Al2O3) on hydrogen storage in MgH2, Ahammed Jubair, Md. Akhlakur Rahman, Md. Maksudur Rahman Khan, and Md. Wasikur Rahman

PDF

Fluid mechanics of air recycling and filtration for indoor airborne transmission, K. A. Krishnaprasad, J. S. Salinas, ‪Nadim Zgheib, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Wave energy converters with rigid hull encapsulation: A review, Mahmodul Hasan Maheen and Yingchen Yang

PDF

Recent Advances in Centrifugal Spinning and Their Applications in Tissue Engineering, Shaik Merkatur Hakim Marjuban, Musfira Rahman, Syeda Sharmin Duza, Mohammad Boshir Ahmed, Dinesh K. Patel, Md Saifur Rahman, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Development of an Improved Mathematical Representation which Captures the Nonlinear Dynamic Behavior of a Drill-string Assembly, Eleazar Marquez

PDF

Estimation of the Response, Power Spectra, and Whirling Patterns Generated from Mud Circulating Along the Annulus During Drilling Procedures: An Alternative Mathematical Representation via Finite Element Modelling, Eleazar Marquez

PDF

A Probabilistic Analysis in Vibration-Assisted Drilling to Measure Dynamic Behavior During Drilling and Understand Risk Factors, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Bend and not Break: Examining Hispanic Engineering Student's Academic Challenges During Covid-19, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Keeping Calm and Staying Balanced: Exploring the Academic Pressures Faced by Engineering Students to Attain High Grades and Their Impact on Mental Health, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Learning in Transition: Developing and Employing Pedagogical Supports to Enhance Student Learning in Engineering Education, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Leveling the Playing Field: Enacting Equitable Pedagogy to Teach Rigid Body Dynamics, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

MEMS Cantilever Biosensors Driven by Fringe Effect: Voltage-Amplitude Response of Parametric Resonance, Miguel A. Martinez and Dumitru I. Caruntu

PDF

Harnessing the Potential of Fibrous Polyester Composites Meant for Bioactive Medical Devices, Graciela Morales, Heriberto Rodríguez-Tobías, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, Karen Lozano, and Daniel Grande

PDF

Investigation of the Thermodynamics for the Removal of As(III) and As(V) from Water Using Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles and the Effects of pH, Temperature, and Time, Helia M. Morales Ramirez, Grecia Torreblanca, Arnulfo Mar, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Thomas Eubanks, Erik Plata, and Jason Parsons

PDF

Regulating the size and assembled structure of graphene building blocks for high-performance silicon nanocomposite anodes, Bo Nie, David Sanchez, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Tengxiao Liu, Saurabh Basu, Soundar Kumara, Gongkai Wang, and Hongtao Sun

PDF

Adsorption of methylene blue on papaya bark fiber: Equilibrium, isotherm and kinetic perspectives, Sumaya Tarannum Nipa, Nawrin Rahman Shefa, Shahanaz Parvin, Most Afroza Khatun, Md Jahangir Alam, Sujan Chowdhury, M. Azizur R. Khan, Sk Md Ali Zaker Shawon, Biplob K. Biswas, and Md. Wasikur Rahman

PDF

The Application of Transition Metal Sulfide Nanomaterials and Their Composite Nanomaterials in the Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2: A Review, Jason Parsons and Mataz Alcoutlabi

Link

Characterization of ENMs in water, soil, and plant media, Jason Parsons, Helia Magali Morales, Evangelia Kotsikorou, Robert K. Dearth, Rupesh R. Kariyat, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

PDF

Effect of nanoparticle loading and magnetic field application on the thermodynamic, optical, and rheological behavior of thermoresponsive polymer solutions, Christopher A. P. Neal, Grace V. Kresge, Michelle C. Quan, Valeria León, Nondumiso O. Chibambo, and Michelle A. Calabrese

PDF

Non-Destructive Infrared Thermographic Curing Analysis of Polymer Composites, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Javier Becerril, Dipannita Ghosh, Nazmul Islam, and Ali Ashraf

PDF

A Facile Graphene Conductive Polymer Paper Based Biosensor for Dopamine, TNF-α, and IL-6 Detection, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Ramendra Kishor Pal, Nazmul Islam, Robert Freeman, Francois Berthiaume, Aaron Mazzeo, and Ali Ashraf

PDF

Automatic dispersion, defect, curing, and thermal characteristics determination of polymer composites using micro-scale infrared thermography and machine learning algorithm, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Mirza Masfiqur Rahman, and Ali Ashraf

Link

Testing and modeling of an in situ shear exfoliated 2D nanocomposite coating casing material for the suppression of Li-ion battery fires in electric vehicles, Md Abdur RBA Salam, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Mohammad Humaun Kabir, Elmmer Vera Alvarado, Tousif Sadman, Rajib Mahamud, Lawrence Cano, and Ali Ashraf

PDF

Thermal Transport and Rheological Properties of Hybrid Nanofluids Based on Vegetable Lubricants, Helio Ribeiro, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Ofelia Gomez, Ever Acosta, Gabriel M. Pinto, Lorena R. C. Moraes, Guilhermino J. M. Fechine, Ricardo J. E. Andrade, Jefferson Reinoza, Victoria Padilla, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Functionalized Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanofibers: An Innovative Triboelectric Energy Generator, Julia I. Salas, Diego de Leon, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Mohammed Jasim Uddin, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Sagittal Plane Dynamic Model Using Tibiofemoral Articular Geometric Center and Experimental Tibiofemoral Center of Rotation to Predict Joint Forces During Knee Extension Exercise, Jose Mario Salinas and Dumitru I. Caruntu

Link

The Effect of Thermal Treatment on the Morphology and Structure of SnO2/TiO2 Composite Micro-fibers, David Sanchez, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

Link

Centrifugally spun PVP/ZnO composite fibers with different surfactants and their use as antibacterial agents, Jo Ann Sanchez, Amin Ibrahim, Luis A. Materon, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

Link

Electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of compression molded carbon nanofiber-reinforced polyvinylidene difluoride film, Veronica M. Serrato, Victoria Padilla, Daniel Jones, Sergio Herrera, Luis Campos, Ignacio Serrato III, Heinrich D. Foltz, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Halloysite Reinforced Natural Esters for Energy Applications, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Karla Aviña, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, and Aditya Akundi

Link

Study on thermal transport behavior of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanostructures as lubricant additives in vegetable oils, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Kollol Sarker Jogesh, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, Jefferson Reinoza, and Maysam Pournik

PDF

Board 399: The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE): Bridging the URM Gap in STEM, Noe Vargas Hernandez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Karen Lozano, Javier A. Ortega, and Eleazar Marquez

PDF

Quadcopter Control Using Single Network Adaptive Critics, Alberto Velazquez, Lei Xu, and Tohid Sardarmehni

PDF

Feasibility analysis of a wave powered autonomous underwater vehicle, Yingchen Yang and Erick Martinez

Submissions from 2022

PDF

Synthesis of color tunable piezoelectric nanogenerators using CsPbX3 perovskite nanocrystals embedded in poly(D,L-lactide) membranes, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Julio E. Trevino, Bhupendra B. Srivastava, Muhtasim Ul Karim Sadaf, Julia I. Salas, Karen Lozano, and Mohammed Jasim Uddin

PDF

Conductive Polymer Pad for Use in Freight Railcar Bearing Adapters, Jesse Aguilera, Constantine Tarawneh, Harry Siegel, Robert Jones, and Santana Gutierrez

PDF

Performance of a Thermoelectric-Based Energy Harvesting Device on a Realistic Railroad Route, Martin Amaro Jr., Constantine Tarawneh, Heinrich D. Foltz, Ruben Aguilera Toro, and Curtis Pena

PDF

Transient Thermal Analysis of a Railroad Bearing Adapter for Optimal Placement of Onboard Sensors, Javier E. Arroyo, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo Fuentes, Roberto A. Garcia, and Jose G. Gallegos

PDF

Model-assisted deep learning of rare extreme events from partial observations, Anna Asch, Ethan Brady, Hugo Gallardo, John Hood, Bryan Chu, and Mohammad Farazmanda

PDF

Pilot field test of an onboard wireless condition monitoring system for railroad rolling stock, Marco A. Barrera, Heinrich D. Foltz, Lee R. Cantu, Brent Wilson, Constantine Tarawneh, and Byron Porter

PDF

Lubrication Performance of Sunflower Oil Reinforced with Halloysite Clay Nanotubes (HNT) as Lubricant Additives, Md Abu Sayeed Biswas, Md Mashfiqur Rahman, Javier A. Ortega, Laura Peña-Parás, Demófilo Maldonado-Cortés, José A. González, Ricardo Cantú, Adrián Campos, and Eugenio Flores

Link

Hierarchical Design Strategies to Produce Internally Structured Nanofibers, Saptasree Bose, Victoria Padilla, Alexandra Salinas, Fariha Ahmad, Timothy P. Lodge, Christopher J. Ellison, and Karen Lozano

Link

Hierarchical Design Strategies to Produce Internally Structured Nanofibers, Saptasree Bose, Victoria Padilla, Alexandra Salinas, Fariha Ahmad, Timothy P. Lodge, Christopher J. Ellison, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Efficient near infrared to visible light upconversion from Er/Yb codoped PVDF fibrous mats synthesized using a direct polymer doping technique, Saptasree Bose, Jack Ryan Summers, Bhupendra B. Srivastava, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, Manuel Peredo, Carlos Trevino De Leon, Bryan Hoke, Santosh K. Gupta, and Karen Lozano

Link

Copper(II) and lead(II) adsorption onto zinc sulfide nanoparticles effects of light, pH, time, temperature, and interferences, J. M. Cantu, J. P. Valle, A. Puente, C. Valdes, K. Flores, Helia Magali Morales, Elizabeth M. Fletes, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Evangelia Kotsikorou, and Jason Parsons

PDF

Quantum dynamics effects on amplitude-frequency response of Superharmonic resonance of second-order of electrostatically actuated NEMS circular plates, Dumitru Caruntu and Julio S. Beatriz

PDF

Spatters and Spills: Spreading Dynamics for Partially Wetting Droplets, Sylvia C. L. Durian, Sam Dillavou, Kwame Markin, Adrian Portales, Bryan O. Torres Maldonado, William T. M. Irvine, Paulo E. Arratia, and Douglas J. Durian

PDF

Sensitivity Analysis of Frost Deposition in Turbulent Flow over a Cold Plate using Direct Numerical Simulation, N. Farzaneh, ‪Nadim Zgheib, S. A. Sherif, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Matrix Acidizing in Carbonate Formations, Ofelia Gomez Chacon and Maysam Pournik

Link

Synthesis of SnO2/TiO2 micro belt fibers from polymer composite precursors and their applications in Li-ion batteries*, Gabriel Gonzalez, Md Toukir Hasan, Daniel Ramirez, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

Link

Centrifugally spun alginate-poly(lactic acid) microbeads: A promising carrier for drug delivery and tissue engineering, Eman Ibrahim, Salahuddin Ahmed, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Keith Taylor, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, and Karen Lozano

Link

Enhanced piezoelectric performance of aligned PVDF electrospun fiber mats, Jui Kharade, Horacio Vasquez, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Innovations in Engineering Education for Fast-paced Virtual Summer Courses, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

In-Person Instruction or Remote Learning?: Understanding Students' Learning Experiences during COVID-19, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Navigating the Virtual Landscape: Implementing a Pedagogical Framework in a Virtual Summer Engineering Course to Enhance Students' Academic Development, Eleazar Marquez and Samuel Garcia

PDF

Development of A Bootcamp for Freshman Student Success During COVID-19 Transition, Eleazar Marquez, Noe Vargas Hernandez, and Arturo A. Fuentes

PDF

Tuning the thermodynamic, optical, and rheological properties of thermoresponsive polymer solutions via silica nanoparticle shape and concentration, Christopher A P Neal, Valeria León, Michelle C. Quan, Nondumiso O. Chibambo, and Michelle A. Calabrese

Link

State-of-the-art biosynthesis of tin oxide nanoparticles by chemical precipitation method towards photocatalytic application, Sumaya Tarannum Nipa, Rumana Akter, Al Raihan, Shahriar bin Rasul, Uday Som, Shafi Ahmed, Jahangir Alam, Maksudur Rahman Khan, Stefano Enzo, and Md. Wasikur Rahman

PDF

On the thermogravimetric analysis of polymers: Polyethylene oxide powder and nanofibers, Oriretan Omosola, Dorina M. Chipara, Mohammed Jasim Uddin, Karen Lozano, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, and Mircea Chipara

PDF

Development of zinc oxide/hydroxyapatite/poly(D,L-lactic acid) fibrous scaffold for tissue engineering applications, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, Heriberto Rodríguez-Tobías, Graciela Morales, Antonio Ledezma-Pérez, Carmen Alvarado-Canché, Raúl Loera-Valencia, Cristóbal Rodríguez, Robert Gilkerson, Carlos Trevino De Leo, and Karen Lozano

PDF

Review of vegetable nanolubricants for tribological applications, Laura Peña-Parás, Martha Rodríguez-Villalobos, Demófilo Maldonado-Cortés, José Andrés González, Ricardo de Jesús Durán, and Javier A. Ortega

Link

Graphene-Coated PVDF/PAni Fiber Mats and Their Applications in Sensing and Nanogeneration, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Fariha Rubaiya, Nazmul Islam, Karen Lozano, and Ali Ashraf

PDF

Modification of Superabsorbent Hydrogels for Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Md. Owaleur Rahman, Md. Abdul Halim, Anjan Deb, Shafi Ahmed, Md. Wasikur Rahman, N. C. Dafader, S. M. Nur Alam, Shahjalal Khandaker, and Md. Jahangir Alam

PDF

Biodiesel production from a non-edible source of royna (Aphanamixis polystachya) oil, Md. Wasikur Rahman, Asim Kumar Mondal, and Md Shakil Hasan

PDF

Pseudo-stem banana fiber as a potential low-cost adsorbent to remove methylene blue from synthetic wastewater, Md. Wasikur Rahman, Sumaya Tarannum Nipa, Sarmin Zaman Rima, Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Raghunath Saha, Md. Abdul Halim, Yousuf Ali, and Anjan Deb

Link

Cell proliferative properties of Forcespinning® nopal composite nanofibers, Cristobal Rodriguez, Victoria Padilla, Karen Lozano, Fariha Ahmad, Alexa Villarreal, Andrew McDonald, Luis A. Materon, and Robert Gilkerson

PDF

Development and characterization of Forcespinning® mesquite gum nanofibers, Cristobal Rodriguez, Victoria Padilla, Karen Lozano, Alexa Villarreal, Luis A. Materon, and Robert Gilkerson

PDF

Improved guidelines of indoor airborne transmission taking into account departure from the well-mixed assumption, Jorge S. Salinas, K. A. Krishnaprasad, ‪Nadim Zgheib, and S. Balachandar

PDF

Color tunable aerogels/sponge-like structures developed from fine fiber membranes, Alexa Villarreal, Raul Barbosa, Saptasree Bose, Bhupendra B. Srivastava, Victoria Padilla-Gainza, and Karen Lozano

PDF

A physics-based model for frost buildup under turbulent flow using direct numerical simulations, ‪Nadim Zgheib, N. Farzaneh, S. Balachandar, and S. A. Sherif

PDF

Bio-Inspired Micromachined Volumetric Flow Sensor with a Big Dynamic Range for Intravenous Systems, Lansheng Zhang, Yingchen Yang, Georgios A. Bertos, Chang Liu, and Huan Hu

Submissions from 2021

PDF

Tunable CsPb(Br/Cl)3 perovskite nanocrystals and further advancement in designing light emitting fiber membranes, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Santosh K. Gupta, A. Ibrahim, Bhupendra B. Srivastava, and Karen Lozano

Link

The Effect of Solvent and Molecular Weight on the Morphology of Centrifugally Spun Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) Nanofibers, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Md Toukir Hasan, Mataz Alcoutlabi, and Karen Lozano

Link

Nanofiber-Based Substrate for a Triboelectric Nanogenerator: High-Performance Flexible Energy Fiber Mats, Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Muhtasim Ul Karim Sadaf, Sunanda Kumar Saha, Ahmed Touhami, Karen Lozano, and Mohammed Uddin

PDF

Energy Harvesting Device for Powering Onboard Condition Monitoring Modules in Rail Service, Martin Amaro Jr., Constantine Tarawneh, Heinrich D. Foltz, and Roberto A. Garcia

Link

Performance and morphology of centrifugally spun Co3O4/C composite fibers for anode materials in lithium-ion batteries, Jonathan Ayala, Daniel Ramirez, Jason C. Myers, Timothy P. Lodge, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi

PDF

Centrifugal spinning and characterization of CO3O4 coated carbon fibers, J. Ayala, D. Ramirez, Elizabeth M. Fletes, Helia Magali Morales, Jason Parsons, and Mataz Alcoutlabi