Date of Award

Spring 2019

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Morgan Stefik

Abstract

The controlled fabrication of nanometer scale devices is of fundamental concern for numerous technologies, from separations to electronics and catalysis. The complexity of device architectures calls for the development of synthetic methods that independently control each feature: pore dimensions, wall thickness, and any subsequent functional nanomaterial layers (e.g. photoactive electrocatalysts). Precision control over these orthogonal methods can be used to integrate 3D and 1D nanostructures.

This dissertation presents the development of techniques useful in fabricating highly controlled nanoscale devices. The growth of single-phase bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is demonstrated for the first time, allowing for the conformal growth of ultrathin BiVO4 on arbitrary substrates. A new tin oxide underlayer (SnO2) was developed to act as a hole-blocking underlayer concomitantly with ultrathin BiVO4 is to fabricate space-efficient photoanodes on a high-aspect ratio 3D substrate, combining the advantages gained by reducing BiVO4 thickness and preserving optical thickness. The heterojunction SnO2/BiVO4 space-efficient photoanode achieved the highest reported applied-bias photon-to-charge efficiency for any photoanode material synthesized via ALD. Lastly, the first demonstration of persistent micelle templates (PMT) with carbonaceous materials is reported, demonstrating independent control over important feature sizes, such as wall thickness and pore size, to adjust the capacity and charge/discharge rates of carbon-based supercapacitors.

Rights

© 2019, Benjamin W Lamm

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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