What is our logo?
Our MRSEC logo shows the arrangement of atoms at the surface of a crystal. Crystals are made up of layers, or "planes" of atoms, perfectly stacked in an ordered pattern. Because this surface has been cut at a slight angle to the crystal planes, it appears "stepped" (we call this type of surface a vicinal surface). Modern scanned-probe microscopes, such as the STM, allow us to see the atoms at the surface of a crystal, producing images very similar to this one.

University of Maryland

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

2007-2009 Seed 2: Materials Research for Template-Directed Nanostructure Assembly

Scheme of one-step synthesis of MnO2/PEDOT coaxial nanowires (Top). (a) SEM image of MnO2/PEDOT coaxial nanowires (0.75 V). (b) TEM image from a single coaxial nanowire (0.75 V). (c and d) EDS maps of S and Mn from the boxed area in b. S. Lee, University of Maryland MRSEC.

Senior Investigators

• Gary Rubloff (co-leader), Materials Science & Engineering, ISR, IREAP
• Sang Bok Lee (co-leader), Chemistry & Biochemistry

Advances in electrical energy storage are needed to utilize energy from alternative sources such as solar and wind, and to realize all-electric vehicles. This Maryland MRSEC seed team is developing heterogeneous nanostructured electrodes for use in electrostatic capacitors, ionic supercapacitors, and batteries. The use of multiple materials allows different materials to serve different functionalities (ionic storage, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength), increasing overall performance compared to single-material electrodes. The Maryland MRSEC seed team is approaching the problem by using self-assembly of materials in porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates to create heterogeneous core-shell nanowires or nanotubes. Materials are deposited through electrochemistry or atomic layer deposition (ALD).

Highlights

• Electrostatic Nanocapacitors for Electrical Energy Storage
• Heterogeneous Nanowires and Nanotubes for Energy Storage
• For the complete list, see the Highlights page

Publications

• View the Seed publications list