The energy crisis has spurred intensive research activities in energy conversion materials. For example, recent improvements in thermoelectric conversion efficiency have made thermoelectric materials attractive to the automotive industry for waste heat recovery applications, as well as in the environmental arena for reliable solid-state refrigeration. Specific research activities include (1) structure and property (Seeback coefficient, electrical resistivity, and thermal conductivity) measurements of novel thermoelectric materials, (2) development of a novel method for high-temperature Seebeck coefficient measurements, (3) deposition of combinatorial thin film libraries using a state-of-the-art sputtering-pulsed laser tool, and (4) utilization of NIST first-in-world high throughput techniques for mapping Seebeck coefficient and electricity resistivity. The thermoelectric materials may be quantum dots, thin films, single crystals, or bulk metals, alloys or oxides. Opportunities exist to investigate other materials and devices and develop additional high-throughput methods for batteries, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, super-capacitors, and sustainable energy.

 

Keywords:

Batteries; Combinatorial methods; Energy conversion materials; Photocatalysis; Photovoltaics; Super-capacitors; Sustainable energy; Thermoelectric materials; Thin films and multilayer structures;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants