Dr. Luis Echegoyen
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Project Title: Redox-Based Methods to Prepare Macroscopic Quantities of New Endohedral Fullerenes and their Derivatives for Photovoltaics(PV)
Project Leaders: L. Echegoyen, F. Wudl
Collaborators: M. Chabinyc, C.J Hawker, M. Irwin, R. Seshadri
Research Goals:
A redox-based protocol is proposed to efficiently separate M3N@C80 (D5h) isomers from their icosahedral counterparts, avoiding the use of HPLC procedures. In 2005 we reported that the first electrochemical oxidation processes of the Sc3N@C80 Ih and D5h isomers are pronouncedly different, by 270 mV, with the D5h isomer being much easier to oxidize, see Figure 1. While all the physical and chemical properties of these isomers are essentially identical, see structures in Figure 2, making their separation virtually impossible by chromatographic means (except for HPLC), the 270 mV difference in the first oxidation potential is a significant and useful handle todevelop an efficient and convenient macroscopic separation method, one that would afford both isomers in pure form and in reasonable quantities.
Dr. Chintalapalle Ramana
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Project Title: Investigation of Indium Free Transparent Conducting Oxides for Application in Photovoltaics
Project Leaders: C. V. Ramana, R. Seshadri
Collaborators: K. Delaney, M.Irwin
Research Goals:
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate novel, indium (In) free transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) through fabrication, testing, property measurement and evaluation for their potential application in organic photovoltaic devices. The challenging goal of the project is to obtain a fundamental scientific understanding and to realize the new TCOs based on titanium-doped tungsten oxides.
Dr. Tunna Baruah
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Project Title: Simulation of Charge and Energy Transfer in Organic Photovoltaics
Project Leaders: T. Baruah, K.Delaney
Collaborators: G. Fredrickson
Research Goals:
The goal of the computer simulation is to complement the experimental work on organic active material by providing understanding of the charge and excitation energy transfer processes. The calculations will be done using density functional theory. One of the goals is to understand the effects of using endohedral fullerenes as acceptor. Another is to understand the effects of solvents on the charge transfer energy of such complexes. This work is to be carried out by T. Baruah (UTEP) and K. Delaney (UCSB).
Dr. Juan Noverón
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Project Title: Self-assembly of Supramolecular Fullerenes
Project Leaders: J. Noverón, C.J.Hawker
Collaborators: L. Echegoyen, M. Irwin, J. Read de Alaniz, R. Seshadri, F. Wudl
Research Goals:
The focus of our research efforts is the development of strategies to make supramolecular fullerene nanostructures and establish structure-function relationships of heterojuctions in organic solar cells. The supramolecular organization of fullerenes has the potential to impact their physical properties such as electrochemical capacitance, photoluminescence, superconductivity, and charge transfer potential; thus, we explore the use of molecular self-assembly to discover functional nanostructures that support and promote directional photoelectron transfer and pave the way to a new generation of photovoltaic materials.
Dr. Skye Fortier
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Project Title: Synthesis of Molecular Titanium Nitrides as Well-Defined Precursors for Titanium Nitride Semiconducting Thin Films
Research Goals:
Owing to their low production costs, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are a tantalizing alternative to silicon-based solar cells. However, a notable downside to DSCs is that they usually include a counter electrode made from platinum, which increases cost and makes large-scale production more complicated.
Dr. Yirong Lin
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Research Goals:
Dr. Lin's research interests fall in design, fabrication and characterization of advanced nano/material systems for energy harvesting and storage, structural health monitoring and harsh environment application. His research encompasses micromechanics modeling, materials synthesis, structural characterization and device evaluation. The goal of this research is to develop advance structural materials for the next generation ground, aerial and space vehicles.
Dr. Chunqiang Li
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Research Goals:
My research interest focuses on optical microscopy and spectroscopy with applications in biophysics. One area is developing advanced optical microscopy for molecular and cellular imaging in medical research. Nonlinear optical microscopes such as two-photon fluorescence, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and second harmonic generation are developed to image immune and cancer cells both in virto and in vivo. I also have interest in using laser spectroscopy to study ultrafast dynamics in molecular systems, e.g. proteins and nanoparticles.
Dr. Deidra Hodges
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Research Goals:
The fundamental scientific and engineering research in the design and realization of new electronic materials for thin film photovoltaics on flexible substrates is being investigated. A significant portion of this effort is devoted to developing, analyzing, and using special optical materials. Recently, the quaternary semiconductor Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has attracted a lot of attention as a possible absorber material for thin film solar cells due to its direct bandgap energy and high optical absorption coefficient.