Six Drexel Materials PhD students have been selected to receive College of Engineering Fellowships.
Amber Choquette (advisor: Steven May)
Koerner Family Award ($5,000)
Amber’s research focuses on identifying changes in electronic properties that arising from subtle structural changes in semiconducting perovskites (ABO3). This system has BO6 octahedra that rotate, which effects functional properties such as hall mobility and optical absorption. Ultimately, this work will provide guidelines for tailoring properties in perovskites through octahedral manipulation.
Alex Krick (advisor: Steven May)
Koerner Family Award ($5,000)
Alex’s research is focused on investigating thin-film complex oxides for use in electronic devices, specifically different routes to controlling electronic phase transitions in iron-based perovskites.
Maria Lukatskaya (advisor: Yury Gogotsi)
George Hill, Jr. Endowed Fellowship ($5,000)
Maria’s research interests lie in new nanomaterials and electrochemical system design for energy storage applications. Her current research focuses on the investigation of MXenes (2D transition metal carbides) for electrochemical capacitors and understanding the mechanisms of energy storage in them.
Hao Qi (advisor: Christopher Li)
George Hill, Jr. Endowed Fellowship ($5,000)
Hao’s research uses polymer single crystal as a model to study confined polymer crystallization at a liquid-liquid interface.
Derrick Smith (advisor: Christopher Li)
Leroy Resser Endowed Fellowship Fund ($1,500)
Derrick has been prototyping solid state polymer electrolyte membranes for lithium ion batteries by introducing a top-down manufacturing technique to the battery field called holographic polymerization. This allows for synthesis of robust nano-ion channels imbedded in robust scaffolding with long range order with the aim of directly connecting cathode and anode in lithium batteries, and tuning separately the mechanical and ion transport properties of the membranes.
Darin Tallman (advisor: Michel Barsoum)
Joseph and Shirley Carleone Endowed Fellowship Fund ($1,000 – 1,500)
Darin has been exploring, for the first time in, the effect of neutron irradiation on a family of ceramic materials known as the MAX phases. This work has provided the foundation for future studies in this area of nuclear materials, with the intention of improving the safety and efficiency of next generation nuclear reactors.