Proposal Defense – Christian Wentzell

About the event

Speaker: Christian Wentzell

Group: Dr. Kevin Kittilstved

Title: The Interplay of Dopant Incorporation with the Formation of Cadmium Sulfide Magic Size Clusters

Abstract: As the demand for nanoscale semiconductors continues to increase, it becomes ever more necessary to gain control over the properties of the nanomaterials being produced. Since the properties of nanomaterials are primarily governed by the size and chemical composition of the particle, gaining control over both of these factors is considered paramount. The research outlined in this proposal will investigate not only the formation and growth of CdS Magic Size Clusters (MSCs) but also the incorporation of dopants and how the two phenomena interact with each other. To study these phenomena, we will develop in-situ techniques to simultaneously observe both the growth and dopant incorporation in CdS MSCs. Since the size of particles is well connected to the particles’ absorption in the UV-Vis region, this will allow for the in-situ determination of the particle size. To investigate the surface structure during growth we will perform cation exchange reactions to dope the particle with divalent cobalt which will serve as a sensitive probe of its coordination environment through variations in the ligand field transitions.