Uchicago Argonne, LLC

The University of Chicago

William Paterson University of New Jersey

Alex B Martinson

Seth B Darling

In Soo Kim

Jonathan D Emery

Jeffrey W Elam

Anil U Mane

Adam S Hock

Matthew Scott Weimer

Peijun Guo

Stephen K Gray

David M Tiede

Ruben Waldman

Nestor J Zaluzec

Shannon C Riha

Robert McCarthy

Maria K Chan

Jonathan J Foley, Iv

Matthew D Sampson

Gihan Kwon

Nari Jeon

The sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) of group 13 indium and gallium oxides (InOand GaO) into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) thin films is demonstrated. Examples highlight the an SIS process using trimethylindium (TMIn) and trimethylgallium (TMGa), respectively, with water. In situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals that these metal alkyl precursors reversibly associate with the carbonyl groups of PMMA in analogy to trimethylaluminum (TMAl), however with significantly lower affinity. SIS with TMIn and water enables the growth of InOat 80° C., well below the onset temperature of atomic layer deposition (ALD) using these precursors.

Sequential infiltration synthesis of group 13 oxide electronic materials

The sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of metal and/or metal oxides on personal medical equipment (PPE). The deposited metal and/or metal oxides imbues antimicrobial properties to the PPE.

Antimicrobial coatings

Tailoring the emission spectra of a solar thermophotovoltaic emitter away from that of a blackbody, thereby minimizing transmission and thermalization loss in the energy receiver, is a viable approach to circumventing the Shockley-Queisser limit to single junction solar energy conversion. Embodiments allow for radically tuned selective thermal emission that leverages the interplay between two resonant phenomena in a simple planar structure&#x2014;absorption in weakly-absorbing thin films and reflection in multi-layer dielectric stacks. A virtual screening approach is employed based on Pareto optimality to identify a small number of promising structures for a selective thermal emitter from a search space of millions, several of which approach the ideal values of a step-function selective thermal emitter.

High temperature selective emitters via critical coupling of weak absorbers

Lead halide perovskites have proven to be a versatile class of visible light absorbers that allow rapid access to the long minority carrier lifetimes and diffusion lengths desirable for traditional single-junction photovoltaics. Computational screening identified both Fe- and Co-substituted MAPbBras promising intermediate band candidate materials, and the later films were synthesized via conventional solution-based processing techniques. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations support the existence of intermediate bands upon Co incorporation and enhanced sub-gap absorption, which are confirmed by UV-visible-NIR absorption spectroscopy. The simple tenability combined with steady state and time-resolved PL studies that reveal no sign of self-quenching suggest this class of materials to be promising for intermediate band photovoltaics.

Substituted lead halide perovskite intermediate band absorbers

An electrochemical cell that allows for in-situ structural characterization of amorphous thin film materials during the course of electrolysis using high-energy X-ray scattering (&#x3e;keV). The compact and versatile cell employs a three-electrode configuration and minimizes X-ray scattering contributions from the cell, reference and counter electrodes, as well as the working electrode support. A large surface area working electrode has a physically robust support and is largely transparent to X-rays. This design, which utilizes a three-dimensional working electrode, also greatly improves the intensity and quality of the scattered signal compared to a two-dimensional working electrode. The in-situ cell can be used not only to investigate structural evolution during electrolysis using X-ray scattering (e.g. pair distribution function), but also to perform electrochemical potential-dependent structural analysis by extended X-ray absorption fine structure.

Porous electrodes for spectroelectrochemistry and x-ray structure analyses

A method of protecting a perovskite halide film from moisture and temperature includes positioning the perovskite halide film in a chamber. The chamber is maintained at a temperature of less than 200 degrees Celsius. An organo-metal compound is inserted into the chamber. A non-hydrolytic oxygen source is subsequently inserted into the chamber. The inserting of the organo-metal compound and subsequent inserting of the non-hydrolytic oxygen source into the chamber is repeated for a predetermined number of cycles. The non-hydrolytic oxygen source and the organo-metal compound interact in the chamber to deposit a non-hydrolytic metal oxide film on perovskite halide film. The non-hydrolytic metal oxide film protects the perovskite halide film from relative humidity of greater than 35% and a temperature of greater than 150 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Non-hydrolytic metal oxide films for perovskite halide overcoating and stabilization

A method to provide an article of manufacture of iron oxide on indium tin oxide for solar energy conversion. An atomic layer epitaxy method is used to deposit an uncommon bixbytite-phase iron (III) oxide (&#x3b2;-FeO) which is deposited at low temperatures to provide 99% phase pure &#x3b2;-FeOthin films on indium tin oxide. Subsequent annealing produces pure &#x3b1;-FeOwith well-defined epitaxy via a topotactic transition. These highly crystalline films in the ultra thin film limit enable high efficiency photoelectrochemical chemical water splitting.

Atomic layer epitaxy of hematite on indium tin oxide for application in solar energy conversion

A method for synthesizing an In(III) N,N'-diisopropylacetamidinate precursor including cooling a mixture comprised of diisopropylcarbodiimide and diethyl ether to approximately &#x2212;30&#xb0; C., adding methyllithium drop-wise into the mixture, allowing the mixture to warm to room temperature, adding indium(III) chloride as a solid to the mixture to produce a white solid, dissolving the white solid in pentane to form a clear and colorless solution, filtering the mixture over a celite plug, and evaporating the solution under reduced pressure to obtain a solid In(III) N,N&#x2032;-diisopropylacetamidinate precursor. This precursor has been further used to develop a novel atomic layer deposition technique for indium sulfide by dosing a reactor with the precursor, purging with nitrogen, dosing with dilute hydrogen sulfide, purging again with nitrogen, and repeating these steps to increase growth.

Growing community of inventors

Naperville, IL, United States of America

Alex B Martinson