CAREER: Lanthanide Chalcogenide Based Nanoparticles

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This CAREER award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professor Sarah Stoll at Georgetown University to explore the effect of quantum confinement on physical properties linked to the energy gap between valence f and d bands in semiconducting lanthanide nanoparticles. This project will seek methodology to produce a series of LnE ligand capped nanoparticles where Ln is a lanthanide metal and E is a chalcogen. Students will investigate size dependent magnetic properties over a range of intermediate lanthanide oxidation states between 2+ and 3+. Cell constants will be determined from X-ray powder measurements to probe the lanthanide oxidation state. A more research oriented undergraduate laboratory course will be developed at Georgetown, a cohesive framework for summer undergraduate research participants will be constructed, and efforts to expose high school students in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area to laboratory experiences through ACS Project SEED will be pursued.This project will expand the nanotechnology scientific base. Mixed valence lanthanide nanoparticles with capping chalcogen ligands offer opportunities to probe the linkage between particle size and solid state properties such as magnetic order and valency.