Novel high speed characterisation methods for metal-organic nanosheets

Nanomaterials are set to revolutionise every aspect of our lives from electronics to medicine. The remarkable properties shown by graphene have led to the development of a wide variety of other two-dimensional materials. Metal-organic nanosheets (MONs) are a cutting edge class of 2D nanomaterials with the potential for use in applications ranging from ‘smart’ materials and catalysts to solar cells, gas separation and drug delivery. However, a major obstacle to their wide application is the absence of a high throughput characterisation and defect screening methods, as current transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy based characterisation methods are far too slow.

During your PhD project you will first develop such high through-put characterisation technique aimed at MONs sorting in terms of dimensions and/or defects. In particular, you will pioneer the use secondary electron spectroscopy in combination of energy-filtered scanning electron microscopy (EFSEM) which is being developed at Sheffield in the group of Dr Cornelia Rodenburg, and which has already demonstrated the feasibility of chemical mapping with subnanometer resolution in low voltage scanning electron microscope. You will carry out your studies on MON materials made in the group of Dr Jonathan Foster. The insights gained from your studies is expected to enable the development of new catalysts, sensors and photovoltaic devices.