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Francisco Robles Hernandez

Francisco Robles Hernandez

Faculty Title
Professor
Engineering Technology
Office Location
College of Technology Building, Room 342
Phone
Research Interest
A major emphasis of Dr. Robles's research is given to nano-structured ceramic and metal matrix composites re-inforced with various types of carbon nanostructures. The intention of this research is to synthesize in-situ carbon nanostructures in the solid state. As a result it has been found a significant increase in properties including: hardness, electrical conductivity, fracture toughness among others.

Dr. Robles is conducting research in the area of sonochemistry for the synthesis of nanostructured titanium dioxide used for photocatalytic applications. The assisted synthesis of nanostructured titanium dioxide by means of sonochemistry has shown to be an ideal process to produce highly pure and nanostructured anatase and rutile that can be doped with various elements to have a direct effect on band-gap manipulation and hence photocatalytic efficiency. The recently developed methodology to produced titanium dioxide has proven to be effective to manipulate the band-gap in the range of 2-4 eV making this an ideal material for solar cell, sensors, and other photocatalytic uses.

Dr. Robles through his career has been working with Ferrous (steels) and Non-Ferrous (e.g. aluminum) alloys and some of his areas of expertise and interest include alloy design, processing and post-processing, mechanical properties, etc. The main applications of structural materials include aluminum and steels for automotive and railroad applications."