Design Your Own Nano-Polymer Smartphone Case
Students work through the engineering design process to design and create their own nano-polymer smartphone or tablet case. Students choose their design, mix their nano-polymer (based in silicone) with starch and add coloring of their choice. While thinking critically about their design, students embed strings in the nano-polymer to optimize both case strength and flexibility. Students may apply strings in a variety of ways in order to maximize their individual design’s potential. Determining the best mixing ratio is also key for success in this challenge.
A near-finished example of a student’s nano-polymer smartphone case.Copyright 2018 Fatih Gozuacik, Rice University RET
- silicone (construction silicone will work)
- silicone gun
- silicone pigmenting (liquid coloring works well)
- corn starch or potato starch
- gloves
- braided fishing string, or a similar type of robust string
- scissors
- scalpel
- table cover
- plastic wrap
- aluminum foil
- construction paper (for embossing; the thicker, the better)
- sandpaper (used for smoothing the cases)
- several objects that are the approximate size of a smartphone for students who do not want to model their cases off their actual phones (optional)
Contributors
Fatih Gozuacik
Supporting Program
Nanotechnology RET, Department of Earth Science, School Science and Technology, Rice University
Acknowledgements
This material was developed in collaboration with the Rice University Office of STEM Engagement, based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant no. EEC 1406885—the Nanotechnology Research Experience for Teachers at the Rice University School Science and Technology in Houston, TX. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or Rice University.
Copyright
2019 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2018 Rice University