CANCELLED: College of Science Distinguished Speaker: Functionalized 2D Materials for a Sustainable Future

Functionalized 2D Materials for a Sustainable Future

Dr. Talat Rahman
Pegasus Professor
Distinguished Professor of Physics
University of Central Florida

Abstract:
In the pursuit of a sustainable future, the last decade has seen a concerted effort in accelerating the discovery of materials for energy needs, thanks to a large extent to the Obama Administration’s Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). After some reflections on how this initiative has led to a paradigm shift in our research methodology, and how progress on this front has naturally embraced the intertwining of theoretical and experimental research, and now data analytics, I will focus on a few materials which have captured the imagination of scientists worldwide. As with graphene, which consists of a single sheet of carbon atoms exfoliated from graphite, another common lubricant, molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), has shown remarkable optical properties when peeled off as single sheet consisting of a layer of molybdenum atoms sandwiched between two layers of sulfur atoms.  With an eye on optoelectronic applications that could rival silicon, a host of single-layer, bilayer, and hetero-structures of transition metal dichalcogenides, and other van der Waals materials have been investigated. Perhaps even more appealing is a layer of boron and nitrogen atoms on a hexagonal lattice (h-BN), emanating from another old rugged material, that could serve as a single photon emitter (for possible applications in quantum computing) or as a catalyst for sequestration and conversion of carbon dioxide to value added products such as methanol and formic acid, with efficacy comparable to that of the expensive transition metal, platinum. I will present some results from our work that provides a framework for manipulating the functionality of these interesting two-dimensional materials for industrial applications.

Speaker Bio:
Talat Rahman is a Pegasus Professor and Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of Central Florida.  She received her BS in Physics from University of Karachi, MS from Islamabad (now Quaid-e-Azam) University, and PhD in Physics from University of Rochester. After serving as a postdoctoral researcher and assistant research physicist at University of California, Irvine, she went through the professorial ranks at Kansas State University (1983-2006). She was appointed University Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University in 2001. She joined the University of Central Florida in 2006 as a distinguished professor of Physics and served as the chair of Physics (2006-2015).  She was instrumental in establishing a faculty cluster in Catalysis Science at UCF in 2015 which she continues to lead. Her research interests are in computational design of functional nanomaterials through microscopic understanding of their physical and chemical properties.  A related interest is in multiscale modeling of chemical reactions and thin film growth processes. While density functional theory (DFT) based methods are the standard workhorse, her group also develops techniques that go beyond DFT and are suitable for examining phenomena that are far from equilibrium, as well as, those displaying interesting features at femto and atto second time scales (ultrafast processes).  Her research is funded through grants from the US Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.  She is a fellow of the American Physical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and the American Vacuum Society. She is the recipient of several professional awards including the Research Incentive and Excellence Awards from UCF, Visiting Miller Professorship from University of California-Berkeley, Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize, Higuchi Research Award from the University of Kansas, and the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award, Kansas State University. She has published over 285 articles, mentored a large number of PhD students, and engaged in promoting scientific collaborations in several countries.  She continues to help promote research initiatives in Pakistan, particularly through organization of regular workshops. She has been involved in efforts to promote the participation of women and minorities (through the Bridge Program of American Physical Society and establishment of Women in Physics group at UCF).  She is committed to bringing pedagogical reforms in the teaching of physics and in the training of students for careers in teaching whose seeds were sown through the APS PhysTEC program.  She is chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the American Vacuum Society and serves on the Executive Editorial Board of Journal of Physics Condensed Matter.
https://physics.ucf.edu/~talat/index.php

Intended Audience:
No background knowledge required. All are welcome.