“UTRGV-UMN Partnership for Fostering Innovation by Bridging Excellence in Research and Student Success” DMR 1523577 Karen Lozano, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley [A] Developed a scalable method to produce graphene-fiber hybrid structures with seamless connections between graphene and fibers. These are produced in situ from aqueous polymer solutions. The surface area and pore diameter of the hybrid structures were measured to be 520 m2g–1 and 10 nm, respectively. The resulting structure shows high electrical conductivity, 550 S/m, and promising shielding of electromagnetic interference, making it an attractive system for a broad range of electronic applications. [B] Ternary nanofibers permit cell proliferation even in the presence of TNF-a. When grown with 10% serum supplementation, 3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts show robust growth on ternary composite nanofibers, even in the presence of cytokine TNF-a. This suggests that nanofibers may act to sequester inflammatory cytokines, thus promoting wound healing in diabetics (Project directed by Robert Gilkerson). A B A untreated + polylysine B [A] SEM micrograph of the graphene-fiber hybrid structure developed from polymer solutions. [B] Cells were visualized with DAPI (blue) and MitoTracker (red). B. 3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts show robust growth even in the presence of TNF-alpha. *PCT/US16/53106 & 15/273,113 Scalable method to produce graphene and carbon nanorods and development of hollow cube carbon structures

“UTRGV-UMN Partnership for Fostering Innovation by Bridging Excellence in Research and Student Success” DMR 1523577 The UTRGV-UMN team has provided the opportunity to participate in research projects to: 57 UG students (98% URM, 38% women) 20 MS students (95% URM, 15% women) 4 PhD students (50% URM, 50% women) 7 H.S. through the High Scholars program 7 UMN REU 2 UTRGV REU >2,000 k-12 have benefited from UTRGV faculty outreach Activities Faculty and Students have published: >35 Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles >70 Proceedings and Conference/poster presentations Karen Lozano, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley UTRGV PREM Team