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April 9-April 16

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This week, the PowerPuff Girls worked to finalize all components of the design. The apparatus was completely covered with the metallic material and all of the parts were assembled. The complete apparatus can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 1: A photograph of the complete apparatus. Additional testing was conducted to add more control tests to our data. A graph showing the mixing of particles was made using MATLAB and can be seen in Figure 2. Figure 2: A plot showing the position of a single particle during recirculation. The final presentation and poster were completed. The Poster can be seen in Figure 3. Figure 3: A screenshot of the poster draft for the completed design. This week we completed the Capstone project. We successfully collected an increased concentration of nanoparticles. The apparatus was also able to increase the binding probability of nanoparticles to tumor cells through the use of an Arduino code connected to the recirculation component. Overall, t...
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March 27-April 8, 2018

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Over the past two weeks, the Power Puff girls have continued testing and improving the apparatus. In the previous post, the girls discussed the data collected for the collection device and the error associated with it from the control tests. From there, the girls worked on conducting tests for the re-circulation device to ensure the mixing ability. Figure 1 is a video of the device using the 3D printed holder, pulleys, and the Arduino code. The testing was successful as there was visible mixing of the fluid and particles. Figure 1: A video showing the re-circulation of fluid. Along with this, the apparatus was made mobile. Legs and wheels were attached to the base of the box. The wheels have a locking mechanism that keeps the device stationary during testing. Also, the collection plate was slightly altered in order to have gravity help the fluid flow through the system. A metallic film was placed around the box to hide the wood and give a more aesthetic appearance. The new desig...
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March 20-March 26 2018

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This week the Power Puff Girls worked to accomplish testing and redesign of the recirculation apparatus. The testing was done for three rounds using 5 concentrations of approximately .17g/L. the results showed an average yield of 65.11%. This value accounts for the mass of nanoparticles that collected on the magnet and were removed from the system. Along with this, we had to consider the control. The control test was run my flowing the same volume through the system without any magnetic field. After the total 5L was run through the system, the number of nanoparticles left in the tubing and bags was then flushed out of the system and weighed. The percent of nanoparticles left in the system was 31.39%. This percentage is large and is mostly due to the nanoparticles attaching to the walls of the bag and tubing. The percent needs to be accounted for when considering the results from testing if the amount left in the system is approximately 30%, then we would assume that the number of nanop...
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March 12th - March 19th blog

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This past week, we continued our testing. We tested collection and re-circulation separately. the video of re-circulation can be seen on the following link:   recirculation , the video is called recirculation 2. With the recirculation, we realized that for the particles to not stick on the surface of the bag, the motors have to move faster than they are moving in this video. We are waiting for the system that supports the motors better to be able to move them faster. For the collection, We collected 3 different samples of nanoparticles using magnets, and one control without the magnet.  both 4 samples were evaporated to remove all the water out. One of the three was measured to have collected 69.13%, we are yet to measure the yield of the rest. Figure 1: The collection process.  Figure 2: Nanoparticles after evaporating water. In the spring break, we want to use the whole system together to measure how much we can collect
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March 5th-March 12th

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This week we continued to do testing. We tested to find the right amount of nanoparticles to use. The number we first used was way too many, see the picture below of running the system after only 1L. We redid our calculations, and found a different number. We successfully ran 5L through at a consistent concentration. See the pictures below at the 1L mark and 5L mark. We extracted the nanoparticles solution from the bag at the end and plan on either getting access to a chem lab through Jen to use a vacuum so that we can meausre teh weight of dry nanoparticles collected, or using an oven to evaporate the (per Dr. Xe's suggestion). We will then compare the final weight to the initial weight. After 1L After 5L We replaced our motors with the new ones ordered, and took some time to add screws into them to stregthen the connection. However one motor is still giving us trouble with the weight of the water-filled bag, so we will be figuring that out this week...
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February 26th - March 5th, 2018

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This week, the PowerPuff Girls reached the mid-semester point. The girls presented the design and some testing results to the class and adviser. Throughout the week, the girls continued to work on testing and obtaining a better magnet placement for nanoparticle collection. Also, Esther worked to slow down the movement of the motors in the recirculation device. Previously, the movement of the device was abrupt. Using 'for' loops and minor pauses in the program, Esther was able generate a slower, more fluid motion for the pulley system. One motor stopped working during testing, so a new motor was ordered and should be arriving shortly. Jennifer worked on updating the design. Instead f the metal pieces used for the recirculation device, the girls are wanting to 3D print a part for a more stable and aesthetically pleasing design. A few screenshots of the 3D parts can be seen below in Figures 1 and 2. The girls are discussing which part they believe would work the best before sendin...
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2/25/2018 -mid-semester

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This week we finished building the housing and attaching all the components together. We also tested our neodymium magnets for the first time, completed our mid-semester presentation, and starting creating test-protocols. Figure 1 shows our completed prototype Figure 2&3 shows the results of using neodymium magnets. They worked very well, leaving no observable particles in the end product, only slight discoloration of the water. Figure 1. Figure 3. Figure 2.
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