REU Site: Multifunctional Nanomaterials

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Undergraduate student participants (10 per year) in this REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) site are integrated into scientific investigations in order to train the next generation of U.S. scientists and engineers. This Site primarily supports participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons from economically depressed areas (e.g., Appalachia). Involvement will improve the likelihood that participants will enroll in graduate-level science and engineering education programs, thereby improving the scientific workforce of the U.S. Participants are provided with a comprehensive program that rapidly moves them toward research independence. This preparation includes day-to-day research work on nanomaterials-related projects intermingled with training in: research process and cutting-edge scientific instrumentation; laboratory safety and scientific ethics; and communication, collaboration, and technical writing. Projects are geared to the eventual development of devices for a new generation of biometric, healthcare, and energy applications, including environmental monitoring, early disease detection, and solar cell technologies.This project focuses on solving fundamental engineering and scientific problems related to the fabrication of complex devices for use in environmental monitoring, early disease detection, proteomic/genomic identification, and energy efficiency. The approach includes: use of scanning probe acceleration microscopy to study nanoscale mechanical responses of biologically relevant surfaces; use of ab initio DFT computational modeling to design metal organic framework nano-architectures for CO2 trapping/conversion; fabrication and characterization of a) multiferroic thin films for integration into memory devices, b) non-mechanical valves for point-of-care testing, c) microfluidic polydimethylsiloxane tissue bioreactors for culture of breast cells, normal and cancerous, and d) quantum dot-gold nanoparticle optical assays for heavy metal detection in water; development and performance measurements of nanopatterned Schottky diodes for thin film solar cell technologies; modeling of liver functions using P450 enzymes attached to self-assembled monolayers with subsequent surface characterization; study of ion transport through nano-capillary microfluidic devices using COMSOL-Multiphysics software; synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with subsequent surfactant modification, and characterization; growth of organic and hybrid light emitting diodes (LED) and characterization (optical/electrical) of surface nanostructures for improved understanding of LED efficiency and reliability. Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) participants carry out their research in collaboration with faculty and graduate students and are trained on modern scientific equipment (AFM, X-ray reflectivity and diffraction, capillary electrophoresis, photolithography, SEM, etc.) and/or in the use of computer modeling software (ab initio DFT, COMSOL-Multiphysics). The project includes training that is important to the development of future scientific leaders, e.g. scientific ethics, laboratory safety, communication, collaboration and technical writing skills.This REU Site is co-funded by the NSF Divisions of Materials Research (DMR) and Chemistry (CHE).