2-D Materials for Photocatalysis

We have been awarded a UNH Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Innovation (CAMMI) Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration seed funding grant which will be carried out in collaboration with Prof. Shawna Hollen (Physics, UNH). We are investigating 2D materials for use in photocatalytic systems. We are primarily interested in evaluating synthetic approaches to form spherical nanoparticles from these materials and in investgating their stability in aqueous systems, as water is often considered as the ultimate electron source for solar driven chemical transformations.

We will take advantage of Prof. Hollen's expertise in imaging these materials using the UHV AFM/STM (UltraHigh Vacuum Atomic Force/Scanning Tunneling Microscope) in her lab. We will also be investigating the effect of material thickness on the bandgap of these materials and applying them in photocatalytic schemes.