I am interested in synthesizing nanomaterials through scalable, solution-based processes for energy conversion and storage applications. By integrating attractive photonic materials like compound II-VI and III-V semiconductors with traditional group IV materials, such as silicon, new technologies could potentially be enabled. Core/shell nanowires are a promising class of materials for energy conversion because of their coaxial nature, the large amount of heterojunction interface available, and the ability to tune the thicknesses of both the core and the shell. Three months ago, for the first time, it was demonstrated that crystalline CdS and InP shells could be grown onto silicon nanowires using a vacuum process. Although this is a very exciting development, the vacuum-based growth methods used to fabricate these structures are not easily scalable. I intend to develop this chemistry via scalable solution-based and supercritical fluid-based growth processes, which I hope will facilitate a viable pathway for fabricating energy conversion devices with these new hybrid materials.
Advisor: Vince Holmberg