The VMEC Summer Interns will work at the Off-Campus ODU-Applied Research Center located within the campus of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia 23606
Project 1: Fabrication of nanoscaled Thermoelectric thin Films with Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Technology and Seebeck Measurements
Thermoelectrics is a green renewable energy technology which can significantly contribute to power generation due to its potential in generating electricity out of waste heat. The main challenge for the development of thermoelectrics is its lowconversion efficiency. One key strategy to improve conversion efficiency is reducing the thermal conductivity of thermoelectric materials. In this project Nanostructuring of Thermoelectric films is used trying to beat the alloy limit. In principle all low dimensional nano-structures, including two-dimensional quantum wells or superlattices, one-dimensional nano-wires or nano-tubes, and zero-dimensional quantum dots, confine the motion of electrons in one or more dimensions, which decouples the dependence between the Seebeck coefficient S, the electrical conductivity σ and thermal conductivity κ, and make it possible to enhance the power factor product of S2lzlz.
Project 2: Synthesis of novel 12CaO7Al2O3 Electride Material for Electron Emission
In this project the 12CaO·7Al2O3 electride, a sub-nanoporous compound having a work function of 2.4 eV, will be synthesized asa candidate cathode material in fluorescent lamps among other applications. The 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7) electride is a new electronic oxide compound with a work function as low as 2.4 eV, which is close to those of alkaline metals. Its crystal structure can be regarded as a stack of cage-like
subunits that share their faces, and this arrangement differs from that of zeolite-based compounds. For this project we shall try to synthesize this electride from ALD CaII amidinate precursor: Bis( N,N-di-i propylformamidinato) Calcium(II) – Ca(pr-fmd)2 and react it with either oxygen or DI H2O. This project requires successful synthesis of a multicomponent thin film nanolaminate composed of alternating layers of Al2O3 and CaO which need to be alloyed by subsequent high temperature annealing to attainthe required Cage structure of the C12A7 electride.
Project 3: Novel Design of multiple Nested Coaxial ZnO Nanotube Solid-State MOS Gas Sensors Synthesized in Porous Templates
In these projects ZnO nanotubes are to be grown and synthesized by hydrothermal solution methods on porous templates. ZnO nanotube nanostructures will be employed for gas sensing of ethanol vapor concentrations, which is aided by their highelectrochemical stability, nontoxicity, and, especially, high surface- to-volume ratio. The sensing performance of ZnO nanotube gas sensors to ethanol vapor will be investigated with a gas sensor testing system equipped with a sealed reaction chamber and control system with stable temperature control and accurate concentration control.
Mentor: Dr. Helmut Baumgart, VMEC Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA and ODU-Applied Research Center at Jefferson Labs, Newport News, Virginia 23606, e-mail: hbaumgar@odu.edu
