PREM: Collaborative Research and Education in Energy Materials (CREEM)

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。北卡罗来纳农业技术州立大学是一所大型公立HBCU，在授予非裔美国人的本科生、硕士和博士工程学学位数量方面处于全国领先地位。该大学也是培养具有学士学位的非裔美国女工程师的领头羊。NCAT与康奈尔大学材料研究和工程中心(CCMR)之间的NSF材料研究和教育伙伴关系(PREM)的目的是扩大代表不足的少数族裔(URM)学生和教职员工对可再生能源研究的参与，并为NCAT和康奈尔大学材料研究的研究生课程创造机会。提供清洁和可再生能源是21世纪最严峻的挑战之一。克服能源挑战需要新的转换技术来满足日益增长的全球能源需求。这一PREM包括创新的概念，以增加URM学生在材料研究方面的参与，如学生和教师的互惠交流，开发能源领域的新课程，为K-16学生/教师创造研究机会，以及让公众了解材料研究和技术的进展。NCAT-CCMR PREM种子团队制定了一项研究计划，以开发能够支持能量转换反应的低维(LD)氮氧化钛(Tiino)材料。该项目还将发展对材料在不同长度尺度上的物理和化学性质的基本理解。与更广泛研究的过渡金属氧化物相比，Tiino的吸引力源于氮与氧的极化率、电负性和阴离子电荷，这导致生成的化合物的物理和化学性质发生了巨大变化。激光二极管材料的研究从基本的薄膜合成开始，发展到更复杂的零维和一维结构的氮氧化钛的合成。通过改变氧氮化钛的氧含量以及控制其几何形状和尺寸来实现对其电子结构的可控修改，将可以生产出具有可调导电性和能隙的材料。这项拟议的研究将建立基于薄膜的方法在外延2D、1D和0D几何形状的Tiino材料合成中的有效性。在生长过程中，只需改变氧压就可以方便地制备Tiino多层膜，其中每一层的氧含量不同，因此带隙也不同，这可能被证明是制造不含任何有机层的可见光捕获应用的Tiino薄膜器件的一种途径。PREM SEED项目的研究和教育成果的传播将涉及开放获取和传统期刊、会议和强大的社交媒体存在。该奖项反映了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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a large public HBCU and leads the nation in numbers of undergraduate, masters, and doctoral engineering degrees awarded to African Americans. The University is also the leading producer of African American female engineers at the baccalaureate level. The aim of the NSF Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) between NCAT and the Cornell Center of Materials Research (CCMR), an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Cornell University is to broaden the participation of underrepresented minority (URM) students and faculty members in renewable energy research and to create opportunities for graduate studies in materials research at NCAT and Cornell. Providing clean and renewable energy is among the most critical challenges of the 21st century. Overcoming the energy challenge requires new conversion technologies that can meet the growing global energy demand. This PREM includes innovative concepts to increase the participation of URM students in materials research such as reciprocal exchange of students and faculty members, development of new courses in the field of energy, creation of research opportunities for K-16 students/teachers, and keeping the public informed about the advances in materials research and technology.The NCAT-CCMR PREM seed team has formulated a research plan to develop low-dimensional (LD) titanium oxynitride (TiNO)-based materials capable of supporting energy conversion reactions. The project will also develop a fundamental understanding of materials’ physical and chemical properties across different length scales. The attraction of TiNO over more widely studied transition metal oxides is rooted in the polarizability, electronegativity, and anion charge of nitrogen versus that of oxygen, which induces an enormous change in the physical and chemical properties of the resulting compounds. The LD material research begins with a baseline thin-film synthesis, advancing to the more complicated synthesis of zero-and one-dimensional structures of titanium oxynitrides. Controlled modification in the electronic structure of the titanium oxynitride realized by changing the oxygen content as well as by manipulating its geometry and size will allow the production of materials with tunable conductivity and energy gap. The proposed research will establish the effectiveness of thin film-based methods for the synthesis of TiNO materials in epitaxial 2D, 1D, and 0D geometries. The convenience of making TiNO multilayers by merely changing the oxygen pressure during the growth, with each layer differing in the oxygen content and consequently bandgap, may prove to be a gateway capability in the fabrication of TiNO thin-film devices free from any organic layers for visible-light-harvesting applications. Dissemination of both research and education findings of the PREM seed project will involve open-access and traditional journals, conferences and a strong social media presence.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.