Assembly of Lamellar Materials from Nanoscale and Molecular Building Blocks

This award to Pennsylvania State University is a renewal of an earlier one, and is supported by the Advanced Materials and Processing Program in the Chemistry Division and the Solid State Chemistry Program in the Materials Research Division. In this project, Thomas Mallouk will study a solution-based formation of bonded perovskite thin films and nanocrystalline tubes by layer-by-layer growth and exfoliation at different reaction conditions. Topochemical dehydration and reduction reactions of the lamellar solids will be used to prepare three-dimensional bonded perovskites with three-dimensional epitaxial ordering. These supermolecular assemblies from transition metal oxides will be evaluated for ionic, electronic, colossal magnetoresistance and ferroelectric properties. The research program will also provide education and training opportunity in materials chemistry to students.

Under the award, three-dimensional thins films and nanotubes with defined size, shape and composition will be prepared from metal oxides for potential applications in molecular electronics, nanoscale machines and related applications. Synthesis of these supermolecular assemblies using wet chemistry methods, once fully developed, may provide alternate cost-effective methods to the traditional procedures such as chemical vapor deposition and laser ablation. In addition, the research program will provide education and training opportunity in materials chemistry to students.