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Presenter: Raju Sapkota
Supervisor: Dr. Chris Papadopoulos

Date: Fri, October 6, 2017
Time: 13:00:00 - 14:00:00
Place: EOW 230

ABSTRACT

Multi-functional thin films were fabricated using the nanoscale grinding technique. Nanogrinding involves the reduction or milling of a micron-scale powder to dimensions as small as a few nm without requiring complex chemical or physical processes.  The resulting thin films can display novel functionality depending on the particular combination of starting material, grinding solvent and resulting nanoparticle geometries/dimensions.

Here, nanostructured thin films based on grinding high-purity powders (Si and TiSi2) and characterization via electron microscopy, scanning probe methods, electronic transport and contact angle measurements are analyzed. Grinding speeds and times varied between approximately 300-1000 rpm and 10-250 minutes, respectively. After milling, the resulting colloidal dispersions are optionally filtered and deposited on a substrate for further analysis. Both electrical conductance (metallic to insulating) and contact angle (hydrophilic to hydrophobic) could be tuned over a wide range depending on grinding conditions thereby creating unique multi-functional nanostructured materials and films.