RUI: Materials Design and Wavefunction Engineering in Lead Sulfide Based Nanocrystals

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Professor Paul G. Van Patten of Middle Tennessee State University is supported by this award from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program in the Division of Chemistry to study the reactions between lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) and a variety of salts containing main group metals, first-row transition metals, or lanthanide cations. These reactions will result in partial or complete cation exchange within the QDs to produce a variety of novel, metal sulfide QDs that have not been prepared or studied before. Varying the distribution of metal cations within the QDs will permit tuning of electronic energy levels and carrier wavefunctions, thus imparting novel reactivity and/or optical properties to these materials. The project will include structural, optical, and even magnetic characterization of these new materials with an eye toward understanding structure/property relationships and toward identifying materials with strong potential for technological application.The exploration of new materials is essential to the development of future technologies and has always been a central goal of the chemical sciences. This project will investigate several new materials derived from PbS quantum dots, which have themselves garnered significant attention for their solar energy conversion potential. The new materials developed here are expected to cover a wide spectrum of chemical and optical properties to further improve on the already-promising characteristics of PbS QDs. This research project will also provide valuable education and research experience for several junior scientists, including master's students, undergraduates, and even high school summer interns from the American Chemical Society's Project SEED program.