Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavan, Dr S Edmondson
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
The use of AFM-IR for the characterisation of atomically thin materials is a recent development. AFM-IR works by measuring the thermal expansion of materials as they absorb infrared light, and is able to delivery chemical fingerprinting with nanoscale spatial resolution in a non-destructive way, and it is the only technique that is able to do so.
This project will demonstrate nanoscale mapping of chemical functional groups on 2D materials in two challenging environments – in fluid, and in inert atmosphere. The fluid imaging will focus on chemistries targeted at interface engineering for composites, while the inert environment will focus on materials and chemistries for energy storage applications.
The project will primarily rely on the newly acquired state-of-the art AFM-IR system of the Henry Royce Institute; note that the inert-atmosphere AFM-IR system is a one-of-a-kind capability in the world. The project will also involve a variety of chemical functionalizations of graphene and other 2D materials like TMDs, use of facilities like the glove-box and clean-rooms, and the characterisation of these materials with complementary techniques like Raman, STEM-EELS, nanoSIMS and XPS.
A student working on this project will be required to combine skills in materials chemistry, analytical techniques, nano-scale light-matter interactions, and analysis of large datasets.
Funding Notes
Applicants should have or expect to achieve at least a 2.1 honours degree in Materials Science, Chemistry or related subject.
This project is being considered for DTA funding. This would provide a full fee waiver and a EPSRC standard stipend. International applicants are welcome to apply but will require access to self-funding.
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