Materials Technology Group

Dr. Francisco Robles Hernandez

Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology
Joint Appointments: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Science

Office:
College of Technology, University of Houston
Room 304, Technology Building 2, Houston TX, 77204-4020

Curriculum vitae
Google Scholar
ResearchGate
Material Technology Group

Education:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor Canada 2004
M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Instituto Politécnico Nacionál, Mexico City, Mexico,1999
B.Eng, Metallurgical Engineering, Instituto Politécnico Nacionál, Mexico City, Mexico, 1996

Work Experience: 

• Rice University
  Visiting Scholar – 2018 to date
• University of Houston
  Member of NSF I/UCRC BRAIN University of Houston Site – 2018 to date
  Adjunct faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering – 2017 to date
  Adjunct Faculty in Materials Science and Engineering – 2017 to date
  Associate Professor (College of Technology) – 2014 to date
  Member of the Center of Advanced Materials (CAM) – 2013 to 2017
  MS Program Coordinator (Technology Department) – 2009 to 2014
  Assistant Professor (Technology Department) – 2008 to 2014
• Transportation Technology Center Incorporated (TTCI)
  Principal Investigator/Project Manager – 2005-2008
• NSERC/FORD-NEMAK/University of Windsor IRC
  Research Assistant – 2000-2004
  
• IPN/Centre for Processing of Minerals and Advanced Materials
  Research Assistant – 1997-1999

Biography: 
Dr. Robles has a Bachelor, a Master and a PhD of Science degrees in Materials Science and Engineering. He joined the University of Houston in 2008, and become Associate Professor in 2014. His funding record since 2005 is from various sources mainly the industry, the federal railroad administration, and the Association of the American Railways. His areas of expertise include: Nanostructured Materials, structural materials and alloys, composites, catalysis, transmission electron microscopy, and in general materials for energy applications.

Dhaivat Solanki

• Bachelor’s Degree: B.Eng Metallurgy from Government Engineering College, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India; 2011-2015
• Master’s Degree: MS inMaterials Science and Engineering, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, TX; 2016-2017 (Thesis: Electroless atomic layer deposition)
• Current Degree: PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, TX
• Potential Thesis Title: Pending
• About Research: My area of interest is electrochemistry. I am working on electro and electro-less thin film deposition with help of sacrificial metal layer to improve thin film properties. In my masters degree, I have developed method to precisely deposit few monolayers thickness film of Platinum on single crystal and polycrystalline substrate at room temperature and demonstrated selective deposition of Platinum on microwire patterns to prevent etching of Copper substrate. My research is useful in semiconductor industry, corrosion prevention and synthesis of mono layer catalyst.

Kamyar Ahmadi

• Bachelor’s Degree: BSc. in Materials Engineering (Focus on Ceramics) , Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran – 2014
• Current Degree: PhD in Materials Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA – 2015-Present
• Potential Thesis Title: Pending
• Research Topic:
  1. Electrochemical Thin Film Growth (Electro, Electro-less and Atomic Layer Deposition)
  2. Stress Control in Thin Films (Cr films plated from Cr(III) electrolytes, Electrodeposited Pd films)
• Research Interest:
  1. Thin Film Deposition
  2. Electrochemical Fabrication of Functional Materials

Mehrnaz Shirazi

• Bachelor’s Degree: BSc. in Pure Chemistry, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran 
• Master’s Degree: MS in Materials Science and Engineering- Corrosion and Protection of Materials, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran 
• Current Degree: PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas (Spring 2017-Present)
• Potential Thesis Title: Pending
• About Research:
  1. Electrochemical Deposition of 2D Metal Thin Films and Analyzing Electrochemical Adsorption of Hydrogen Isotopes
  2. Specialization in Electrochemical Deposition, In-Situ FTIR Spectroscopy and STM

Miad Yarali

• Bachelor’s Degree: BS in Chemical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran; 2009 – 2013
• Master’s Degree: MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey; 2013 – 2015
• Current Degree: PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA; 2017-Present
• Potential Thesis Title: Surface Plasmon Polariton Application for Studies of Electrochemical Interface

Nikhil Chaudhari

• Bachelor’s Degree: B.Tech in Polymer Engineering and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology-Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; 2010-2014
• Master’s Degree: MS in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Houston, TX; 2014-2015
• Current Degree: PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Houston, TX; 2017-Present
• Current Project: Argonne National Laboratory; 2019
• Potential Thesis Title: Pending
• Research Topic:
  Electrochemical Deposition and Nanofabrication:

  The research in this area includes electrochemical monolayer deposition on noble metals, atomic layer deposition using under potential deposition, electroless deposition and surface layer redox reaction. Studying nucleation and growth of monolayers on single crystal surfaces using in-situ Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy, Atomic Force microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Electrochemical Quartz Microbalance etc. Studying kinetics of electrochemical processes using cyclic voltammetry, linear voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, impedance measurements etc. Potentiostaic and Galvanostatic electrodeposition, thermal evaporation of metals on various substrates, dealloying, electropolishing for electrochemical systems.

  Advanced Lead-Acid Batteries:

  Lead-acid battery research for understanding the fundamentals of lead electrodes and sulphuric acid during charge-discharge. In-situ experimental techniques that combines electrochemical techniques with Raman spectroscopy and imaging, Fourier-transformed infra-red spectroscopy to explore morphological changes on lead electrodes during sulfation and de-sulfation. Research on the effect of common impurities in lead such as Bi, Ag, Tl and In on the charge and discharge capacities to improve energy and power density of the lead acid battery. Development of highly porous lead paste electrode with additives to improve battery capacity and their contribution towards charge and discharge process.

  Graphene and Graphitic Carbon:

  This research topic focuses on fabrication of graphitic structures in carbon black soot using high energy ball milling which is used to make various metal-carbon and polymer carbon mixtures by induction and spark plasma sintering methods to improve electrical, mechanical etc properties. The graphitic carbon has been used to nucleate bilayer graphene on transition metal surfaces in solid state.

Amruta Raghatate

• Bachelor’s Degree: B.Eng Power Engineering, National Power Training Institute, India, 2016
• Current Degree: MS in Engineering Technology, College of Technology, University of Houston
• Potential Thesis Title: Applications and Properties of Sustainable and Biodegradable Chitosan Composite Reinforced with Morphed Graphene
• About Research: My research aims at extraction of Fungal Chitosan obtained from edible mushrooms and studying mechanical properties such as hardness, compressive strength of Chitosan-Morphed Graphene composite. The study also includes investigating biodegradability and biocompatibility of the composite. The end goal of our study is to develop chitosan composite for battery electrodes, and for producing 3D architectures. 

Scott Brown

• Current Degree: BS in Biotechnology, College of Technology, University of Houston
• About Research: Novel applications of biopolymers such as Chitosan and Nanocellulose

Jose Alfredo Morales Torres

• Bachelor’s Degree: B.Sc in Metallurgical Engineering, UNIVERSITY LIBRE OF COLOMBIA, Bogotá
• Current Degree: PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBIA.
• Potential Thesis Title: The Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum–Bronze Coatings as a Function of Gas Pressure Used in the Thermal Spraying
• Research Interest: 

1. Metallurgical Processes: Heat Treatment & Surfaces
2. Metallurgical Testing and Evaluation: Mechanical, Nondestructive, and Corrosion Testing
3. Coating and Microstructural Evaluation
4. Working with Ferrous (steels) and Non-Ferrous (e.g. aluminum, copper, etc) alloys