US-Germany Cooperative Research: Reverse Micelle Mediated Synthesis of Anisotropic Complex Oxide Particles

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

0234302 Shantz This award supports the PI, graduate, and undergraduate students from Texas A&M University in a collaboration with Stefan Kaskel of the Max Planck Institute for Carbon Research in Muelheim, Germany. Together, the US and German groups will develop novel methods for synthesizing one- and two-dimensional particles of structurally complex oxides. While numerous approaches have been developed for synthesizing discretely shaped nanoparticles of simple metal oxides, the ability to synthesize one- and two-dimensional particles of zeolites and oxides with more complex structures has not been demonstrated. The ability to synthesize anisotropically shaped zeolites particles would open up new applications for zeolites where it is crucial for the zeolites pore system to have a defined orientation with respect to a substrate. Such applications include sensors, microelectronics components, templates for fabricating other nanophases, and low-temperature catalysts in microreactors. The project also has an educational objective. The project will allow the graduate and undergraduate students involves to benefit from performing research in another country. They will develop a heightened appreciation of the world around them while also learning important new technical skills.