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Corey Efaw

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Department of Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering

Corey Efaw

Corey is a senior mechanical engineering major at Boise State, with a minor in biomedical engineering.  Although he transferred from Colorado School of Mines following his freshman year, he was raised in Boise and comes from a family of Boise State Broncos.  Corey is a student research assistant in the Surface Science Lab (SSL) working with Dr. Paul Davis to help NMDG members and other researchers advance their research using atomic force microscopy (AFM), associated surface probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).  He is an expert user of all the Surface Science Lab AFMs.  His duties include training new students, assisting existing users, and carrying out independent projects to further the research programs of SSL collaborators.

During his time in the SSL, Corey has been involved a variety of projects. In particular, he has taken the lead on several projects with Boise State Materials Science & Engineering Professor Mike Hurley investigating corrosion and corrosion prevention. This has led to co-authorship of an invited review article in collaboration with researchers at Monash University in Australia on microconstituent phases and surface potential differences in novel lightweight, high strength, corrosion-resistant magnesium alloys of interest to the transportation industry that recently appeared in the journal Corrosion, as well as a second paper currently in preparation on copper-silver and indium-copper-silver braze materials that serve as alternatives to welding for joining structural materials. Additionally, Corey is working on a publication investigating the nanomechanical properties of NiMnGa, a magnetic shape memory alloy on which Boise State Materials Science & Engineering Chair Peter Müllner is one of the world’s leading experts.

Instruments and Techniques

  • Atomic Force and Surface Probe Microscopy (AFM/SPM)
    • Topography and Surface Roughness Analysis
      • Contact
      • Noncontact
      • PeakForce
      • Tapping
    • Electrical Characterization
      • Conductive and Tunneling AFM (CAFM/TUNA)
      • Electric and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (EFM/KPFM)
    • Fluid Imaging
    • Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM)
    • Nanomechanical Properties Measurement
      • Nanoindentation
      • Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping (QNM)
  • Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

  • O. O. Maryon, C. M. Efaw, F. W. DelRio, E. Graugnard, M. F. Hurley, and P. H. Davis, “Co-localizing Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy with Other Microscopies and Spectroscopies: Selected Applications in Corrosion Characterization of Alloys” JoVE 184: e64102 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3791/64102
  • H. Zhu, J. A. Russell, Z. Fang, P. Barnes, L. Li, C. Efaw, A. Muenzer, J. May, K. Hamal, I. F. Cheng, P. H. Davis, E. Dufek, and H. Xiong, “A Comparison of Solid Electrolyte Interphase Formation and Evolution on Highly Oriented Pyrolytic and Disordered Graphite Negative Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries” Small 17: 2105292 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202105292
  • A. Kvryan, C. M. Efaw, K. A. Higginbotham, O. O. Maryon, P. H. Davis, E. Graugnard, H. K. Trivedi, and M. F. Hurley, “Corrosion Initiation and Propagation on Carburized Martensitic Stainless Steel Surfaces Studied via Advanced Scanning Probe Microscopy” Materials 12: 940 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12060940
  • C. M. Efaw, T. da Silva, P. H. Davis, L. Li, E. Graugnard, and M. F. Hurley, “Toward Improving Ambient Volta Potential Measurements with SKPFM for Corrosion Studies” J. Electrochem. Soc. 166: C3018-C3027 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0041911jes
  • C. Efaw, T. da Silva, P. Davis, L. Li, E. Graugnard, and M. Hurley. “Improving the Relative Calculations of Volta Potential Differences Acquired from Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (SKPFM) from Comparing an Inert Material to First-Principle Calculations” in ECS Trans.  85: 701-713 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1149/08513.0701ecst
  • P. H. Davis, C. M. Efaw, L. K. Patten, C. Hollar, C. S. Watson, W. B. Knowlton, and P. Müllner, “Localized deformation in Ni-Mn-Ga single crystals” J. Appl. Phys. 123: 215102 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5026572
  • A. Kvryan, K. Livingston, C. M. Efaw, K. Knori, B. J. Jaques, P. H. Davis, D. P. Butt, and M. F. Hurley, “Microgalvanic corrosion behavior of Cu-Ag active braze alloys investigated with SKPFM” Metals 6: 91-107 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3390/met6040091
  • M. F. Hurley, C. M. Efaw, P. H. Davis, J. R. Croteau, E. Graugnard, and N. Birbilis, “Volta Potentials Measured by Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy as Relevant to Corrosion of Magnesium Alloys” Corrosion 71: 160-170 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5006/1432