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Clark Atlanta University - Georgia Institute of Technology MRSEC PREM

The Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) between three Atlanta University Center (AUC) schools and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) integrates research, education, and student-mentoring in order to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing graduate degrees and to increase their overall participation in the field of materials science and engineering. The three AUC schools are Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Morehouse College (MC), and Spelman College (SC). The partner MRSEC is "The Georgia Tech Laboratory for New Electronic Materials" in which fundamental materials properties and synthesis of epitaxial graphene are being investigated.

Key features of the Partnership

The key features of the PREM involve (1) establishing research collaboration between AUC and GT faculty, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students; (2) strengthening the research and education infrastructure of AUC; (3) providing research opportunities for AUC undergraduates during the academic year; (4) providing summer research experiences for AUC students at GT through the collaborative research program; and (5) developing and hosting summer research institutes for high school teachers. Research Graphane is a two-dimensional system consisting of a single planar layer of fully saturated carbon atoms, which has recently been realized experimentally through hydrogenation of graphene membranes. We have studied the stability of chair, boat, and twist-boat graphane structures using first-principles density functional calculations. Our results indicate that locally stable twist-boat membranes significantly contribute to the experimentally observed lattice contraction. The band gaps of graphane nanoribbons decrease monotonically with the increase of the ribbon width and are insensitive to the edge structure. The implications of these results for future hydrogenated graphene applications are discussed.

Chair and Twist-Boat Membranes in Hydrogenated Graphene

Publication: cited by ACS as major research news

Duminda K. Samarakoon and Xiao-Qian Wang* Department of Physics and Center for Functional Nanoscale Materials, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia 30314 ACS Nano, 2009, 3 (12), pp 4017–4022 DOI: 10.1021/nn901317d Publication Date (Web): November 30, 2009 Copyright © 2009 American Chemical Society

The proposed research consists of experimental characterizations of epitaxially gown graphene. This involves spectral characterization, study of magnetic properties, and the b interaction with biosmart materials. Theoretical simulation studies are proposed based on multiscale modeling approach that includes first-principles density-functional theory, molecular dynamics, and the focus is on the electronic structures of graphene-related nanodevices.

Nanocarbon interactions with polymers

Broader Impact

The broader impact of the PREM amounts to (1) a significant enhancement of the infrastructure of AUC for materials research, education, and technology transfer; (2) long-term, sustainable, synergistic impact on the GT diversity programs in science and engineering. In addition, the high school teachers program is designed to better-prepare and motivate high school students from metro Atlanta to major in science or engineering upon entering college. Since the student population of AUC is predominantly African American, the undergraduate student activities will establish a pipeline of well-prepared and motivated undergraduate African American students who will pursue graduate studies in materials science and engineering at GT or other research universities.

Summer Program Activities

The Summer Program activities include (1) quantitative assessment; (2) guided inquiry labs; (3) personal & professional development; and (4) field trips.

 

Selected Publications

  1. Duminda K. Samarakoon and Xiao-Qian Wang, "Chair and twisted-boat membranes in hydrogenated graphene", ACS Nano 3, 4017-4022 (2009).
  2. O. O. Ogunro and Xiao-Qian Wang, “Quantum Electronic Stability in Selective Enrichment of Carbon Nanotubes”, Nano Lett. 9, 1034 (2009).
  3. A. Nduwimana and X.-Q. Wang, “Energy Gaps in Supramolecular Functionalized Graphene Nanoribbons”, ACS Nano 3, 1995 (2009).
Principal Investigator : 
Xiao-Qian Wang