CAREER: Ordered Nanoporous Semiconductors and Metals Synthesized by Combining Zintl Ion Chemistry with Inorganic/Organic Self-Organization

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This Faculty Early Career Development Program award to Dr. Sarah Tolbert of the University of California is supported by the Advanced Materials and Processing Program in the Chemistry Division. The focus of the research will be the synthesis of new mesoporous intermetallic Zintl phase clusters, and controlling their assembly, order and orientation using surfactants in solvents. The ultimate goal of the program will be the synthesis of complex periodic structures that contain rigid inorganic nanostructured framework with a wide range of metallic and semiconducting phases. Potential applications of these materials will be in size-selective electrochemical sensors and photovoltaic cells. The educational plan will be to design new experiments in Materials Chemistry for upper-division undergraduates with interdepartmental activities to explore connections between materials and their properties, and to expose students to a variety of materials related approaches and solutions.Nanoclusters with controlled structure, pore size and functions will be prepared for high performance applications in catalysis, electrochemical sensors and electrooptic devices. The teaching part of the award will provide excellent training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students in different aspects of Materials Chemistry, including synthesis, characterization, study of structure-function relationships and fabrication of optical devices such as light emitting diodes.