CAREER: CAS: Chemical Pathways for the Synthesis of Dilute Metal Alloy and Multimetallic Complex Solid Solution Nanocrystals

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，印第安纳大学布鲁明顿大学的叶星晨博士将开发制造纳米级金属合金的新方法。除了可能表现出独特的化学和物理特性外，这些纳米颗粒还含有丰富的地球上丰富的非贵重元素，使它们比通常使用的贵金属纳米颗粒更便宜，更可持续。这些纳米粒子具有在清洁能源、光子学、制药工业应用等领域实现新技术的潜力。该项目的更广泛影响包括旨在提高K-12学生对科学的兴趣和改善本科生在STEM领域进行研究生学习的准备的教育和推广举措。具体地说，叶博士将开发一个名为“胶体-显微-数据”的课堂教学模块，让高中生接触到胶体化学和显微成像的现代方面。此外，还将设立一个为期8周的暑期项目，以吸引本科生，特别是那些来自代表性不足群体的本科生，参与材料化学研究。叶诗文研究小组的目标是为合成形状和成分明确的稀有金属合金和复杂的多金属纳米晶建立化学途径。在目标1中，将合成和表征稀金属合金纳米晶库，重点是非贵金属但在化学上更具挑战性的贱金属系统。这些纳米晶体的催化和等离子体性质将被评估，以了解结构与性质的关系。在目标2中，将研究一种新的催化生长机制，它可以提供使用现有合成方法尚未获得的各种金属纳米晶的途径。最后，在目标3中，将研究由五种或五种以上元素组成的多金属纳米晶的形成机制和途径。这项研究的一个重要目标是更好地从根本上了解控制这些类别纳米粒子的结构和组成的因素。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Xingchen Ye of Indiana University Bloomington will develop new ways of making nanoscale metal alloys. In addition to potentially exhibiting unique chemical and physical properties, these nanoparticles contain earth-abundant, non-precious elements making them less expensive and more sustainable than the commonly used noble metal nanoparticles. These nanoparticles have the potential to enable new technologies in clean energy, photonics, pharmaceutical industry applications and more. The broader impacts of this project include educational and outreach initiatives that aim to increase interest in science among K-12 students and to improve undergraduate students’ readiness for graduate study in STEM fields. Specifically, Dr. Ye will develop a classroom teaching module called “Colloids-Microscopy-Data” to expose high school students to modern aspects of colloidal chemistry and microscopy imaging. In addition, an 8-week summer program will be created to engage undergraduate students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in materials chemistry research. The Ye research group aims to establish chemical pathways for the synthesis of dilute metal alloy and complex multimetallic nanocrystals with well-defined shape and composition. In Aim 1, a library of dilute metal alloy nanocrystals will be synthesized and characterized, with the emphasis on non-precious yet chemically more challenging base metal systems. The catalytic and plasmonic properties of these nanocrystals will be evaluated to understand structure-property relationships. In Aim 2, a novel catalytic growth mechanism will be studied, which could provide access to diverse metal nanocrystals not yet available using existing synthetic methods. Finally, in Aim 3, the mechanisms and pathways for the formation of multimetallic nanocrystals consisting of five or more elements will be examined. An important goal of this research is to gain a better fundamental understanding of the factors that control the structures and compositions of these classes of nanoparticles.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.