CAREER: Manufacturing Semiconducting Nanoparticles at the Aerosol/Vapor-Phase Interface

Clark University, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

Robust energy storage is critical for our nation’s future. Manufacturing semiconductor nanomaterials for energy storage possessing high electronic conductivity and high energy storage capacity could translate into batteries possessing larger “fuel tanks” and is critical to the US economy. The current state-of-the-art in manufacturing of organic nanoparticles for energy storage applications produces particles of low electronic conductivity resulting in poor energy storage performance. Among nanomaterials, organic semiconducting nanoparticles are especially attractive for batteries due to solution processing properties that enable cost-effective implementation of these particles. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award supports fundamental research seeking to enable scalable production of organic nanoparticles using an aerosol process through investigation of the interplay of aerosol formation and vapor phase chemistry. This research will determine the combined transport and chemical kinetics needed to control the synthetic pathways for the manufacturing of highly conductive particles in aerosol-based synthesis with controlled composition and size. The successful development of these new synthetic pathways would impact energy storage technologies by lowering costs for energy storage in devices and enabling development of light-weight batteries for transportation applications. The integrated educational program will contribute to the training of underrepresented high school, undergraduate and graduate students for careers in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology by leading project-based workshops that study aerosol science. Manufacturing the next generation of active materials for batteries will require developing synthetic technologies competitive in an economy of scale. There is a lack of knowledge regarding molecular variables and experimental conditions that promote reactivity between aerosols of water droplets and vapors of organic molecules undergoing oxidative radical polymerization. This research aims to discover molecular correlations that enable control of polymerization kinetics and reaction mechanisms by investigating production and desiccation of water droplet aerosols with concomitant vapor-based polymerization within a flow reactor. Data produced by this research will inform manufacturing protocols that lead to kilogram-per-day production of organic semiconducting nanoparticles. This project will investigate organic-inorganic nanoparticle composites using Fe2O3, V2O5, Nb2O5, and MnO2 to produce particles characterized by intimate electronic contact between organic and inorganic components. This research aims to: 1) achieve mechanistic understanding at the aerosol water droplet/vapor interface to pinpoint steady-state polymerization kinetics responsible for high electronic conductivity, 2) investigate residence time of suspended aerosols of water droplets under reaction conditions to design nanoparticles possessing long conjugation length and high crystallinity, and 3) probe synthetic conditions that tailor mass transport of reactant vapors to trigger rapid polymerization and high throughput batch processing. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.