Materials Discovery through Novel Nanocomposite Design

非技术描述：该项目旨在进一步了解和开发新的两相纳米复合材料，以获得增强或新颖的多功能性。 初级研究人员（本科生和研究生）和高中教师也参与了研究。 与剑桥大学的Judith Drivel博士的合作以及与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的Quanxi Jia博士的合作增强了该项目和学生的体验。这些成果可能会对薄膜固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）、薄膜太阳能电池、纳米离子学和忆阻器等领域产生积极影响。 研究结果正在整合到材料科学与工程（MSE）课程。该研究团队参与了几个专注于科学和工程包容性的外展计划。技术规格：该项目专注于一种独特的两相垂直排列纳米复合材料（货车）方法，为材料发现和设计提供了一个新的平台。与单层或多层膜相比，结合两相的性质，货车膜可以提供改进的和/或新的物理性质。该团队正在展示几种显着的功能增强以及有趣的自发有序结构（纳米棋盘）和厚膜中前所未有的应变水平。特别地，主要的初步发现是：（1）可以使重要的铁电材料在高于其正常操作温度几百度的温度下良好地工作;（2）功能的可调谐性（例如，低场磁电性能、铁电性能等）可以在精心设计的货车系统中实现;（3）具有前所未有的电化学性能的独特货车结构已经在薄膜固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）中作为阴极、电解质或两者实现。研究活动包括了解增长和排序的限制，以及由此产生的功能;使用货车方法开发新系统并演示新功能;以及使用货车结构演示设备应用。各种表征技术，如高分辨率X射线衍射（XRD），透射电子显微镜（TEM）（扫描透射电子显微镜（STEM）和电子能量损失谱（EELS）），以及物理性能测量正在利用这项研究。 具体的外联方案包括：校内方案-女工程师论坛和女导师方案（http：//outreach.science.tamu.edu/wise.php），以及新墨西哥州大学（一所西班牙裔服务机构）的暑期学校方案（http：//losalamos.unm.edu/admissions/summer-bridge.html）。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: This project is seeking to further the basic understanding and development of new 2-phase nanocomposites to obtain enhanced or novel multi-functionality. Junior researchers (undergraduate and graduate students) and high school teachers are also engaged in the research. A partnership with Dr. Judith Driscoll at the University of Cambridge and cooperation with Dr. Quanxi Jia of Los Alamos National Laboratory enhances this project and the experiences of the students. The outcomes could positively impact areas such as thin film solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), thin film solar cells, nanoionics, and memristers. Findings are being integrated into Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) courses. The research team is involved with several outreach programs focused on inclusion in science and engineering. TECHNICAL DETAILS: This project focuses on a unique 2-phase vertically-aligned nanocomposite (VAN) approach which provides a novel platform for materials discovery and design. Combining the properties of the two phases, VAN films can provide improved and/or new physical properties in comparison to single layer or multilayer films. The team is demonstrating several remarkable functional enhancements as well as interesting spontaneously ordered structures (nanocheckerboards) and unprecedented levels of strain in thick films. In particular, the major preliminary findings are that (1) an important ferroelectric material can be made to work well at several hundred degrees above its normal operational temperature; (2) tunability in functionality (e.g., low field magnetoelectric property, ferroelectric property, etc.) can be achieved in well-designed VAN systems; (3) unique VAN structures with unprecedented electrochemical properties have been implemented in thin film solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as cathodes, electrolytes or both. The research activities include understanding the limitations to the growth and ordering, as well as the resulted functionalities; growing new systems and demonstrating new functionalities using the VAN method; and demonstrating device applications using VAN structures. Various characterization techniques, such as high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)), as well as physical property measurements are being utilized in this study. The specific outreach programs included are: on-campus programs -- Woman Engineer Forum and Woman Mentor Program (http://outreach.science.tamu.edu/wise.php), and the Summer School Program (http://losalamos.unm.edu/admissions/summer-bridge.html) at the University of New Mexico (a Hispanic-Serving Institution).