Mecartney LabAdvanced Ceramic Materialsmartham@uci.edu http://www.eng.uci.edu/users/martha-mecartney

Research Summary: Professor Mecartney has published over 100 articles, primarily research on developing high tech ceramics for applications in electronics and energy. She has been recognized both as an outstanding instructor, receiving the Professor of the Year award at UC Irvine, and as an exemplary mentor, receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring presented by the White House. She also has been recognized for her research by the David and Lucille Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering. Her current research interests are in ceramics for energy applications where she studies how grain boundaries and interfaces control physical properties of ceramics, projects in collaboration with industry and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her group conducts studies on the synthesis of materials, characterization of microstructures (using state-of-the-art SEM, TEM, AFM, and XRD) , thermal and ionic behavior, and computational materials science approaches to virtual materials design for these projects. Three projects are currently ongoing.

1. Improved materials for solid oxide electrolytes for fuel cells and oxygen sensors. This project area encompasses both alternative materials development (Sr doped LaPO4 proton conductors) and multiphase ceramic development (second phase additives in yttria-stabilized zirconia).

2. Multiphase ceramics for nuclear energy applications including inert matrix nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. This project has implications for enhanced efficiency and better thermal management for these systems.

3. The development of low thermal conductivity materials for environmental barrier coatings. This research involves the understanding how new phases of oxide materials interact with the environment and impurities in the atmosphere at high temperatures.

Prof. M.L. Mecartney Full Professor• B.S. MSE, Case Western

Reserve University, (1979)• M.S. Materials Science &

Engineering, Stanford University (1980) • Ph.D. Materials Science &

Engineering, Stanford University (1984)

Key Publications:1. M.C. Martin and M.L. Mecartney. “Grain Boundary Ionic Conductivity of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia as a Function of Silica Content and Grain Size,” Solid State Ionics, 161 [1-2] 67-79 (2003).2. M.T. Schatzmann, M. L. Mecartney, and P.E.D. Morgan, “Synthesis of Monoclinic Monazite, LaPO4, by Direct Precipitation,” J. of Mater. Chem. 19 [32] 5720-5722 (2009). 3. C. M. Hoo, D. Men, L. Taherabadi, M. L. Mecartney, “Grain Boundary Sliding in a Superplastic Three - Phase Alumina - Zirconia - Mullite Ceramic Composite,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 97 [7] 2171-2180 (2011).

Multiphase Ceramics

Computational Modeling of Virtual Materials

Solid Oxide Electrolytes