Meet & Greet: 10:30am - 10:50am
Seminar Presentation: 11:00am – Noon
Non-equilibrium plasma processing of materials
Lorenzo Mangolini
Mechanical Engineering Department, Materials Science and Engineering Program
UC Riverside
Abstract:
Non-thermal plasmas (i.e. low-pressure partially ionized gasses) already find common utilization in the semiconductor industry for etching and thin film deposition. While the nucleation of nanoparticles in the gas-phase is detrimental in these processes, recently several researchers have proposed newly designed reactors which are deliberately optimized for the generation of free-standing nanoparticles. In my lab we use the non-thermal plasma approach for the synthesis of silicon nanoparticles with diameters that can be controllably adjusted between 20 nm and 3 nm. I will describe the principles of generation of nanoparticles in plasmas. While their chemical nucleation and growth has already been extensively investigated, the mechanism controlling the particle structure (amorphous vs. crystalline) remains poorly understood. I will also present results on the integration of small silicon nanoparticles into either anodes for lithium ion batteries or bulk nanostructured materials, focusing on how to leverage the unique properties of plasma-produced nanomaterials to achieve promising device performance
Biosketch:
Lorenzo Mangolini received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 2002 and 2007 respectively. He joined the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota as a post-doc. After this experience he moved to industry, working as a Senior Researcher for Cima Nanotech Inc., a start-up developing nanoparticle-based transparent conductive coating for indium tin oxide (ITO) replacement. He joined the Mechanical Engineering Dept. and the Materials Science and Engineering Program at UC Riverside in 2010. He is the recipient of the 3M Non-tenured faculty award, of the NSF BRIGE award (broadening participation research initiation grants in engineering) and of the NSF CAREER award.