New Materials from Dusty Plasmas
Abstract
Dusty plasmas are ionized gases containing particles that are either externally introduced or generated within the plasma through chemical nucleation. The ability of dusty plasmas to self-assemble particles into Òdust crystalsÓ Ð often mono-layer arrangements of negatively charged particles with in-plane long-range order Ð has motivated proposals to leverage this order to the synthesis of new materials. At the same time, dusty plasma-enabled synthesis of nanoparticles has emerged as an innovative method for the creation of materials with often completely new properties. However, there have been limited efforts to consolidate these novel nanoscale building blocks into macroscopic materials having new functionalities. The goal of the proposed MURI team is to investigate the foundational scientific questions whose understanding will enable the rational synthesis and consolidation of new materials using dusty plasmas at low pressures. The research will be conducted at four highly interconnected levels: synthesis of particle building blocks, consolidation of these building blocks into macroscopic materials, materials design and characterization, and overarching theory and simulation. At the synthetic level, research will focus on advancing the state of the art from the current level of producing particles with homogeneous chemical composition of well-known phases to particle materials with nonequilibrium phases and composed of heterostructures. At the plasma consolidation level, the team will focus on controlling agglomeration to assemble macroscopic materials and elucidating the new physical mechanisms that will be encountered when incorporating dust crystals into free-standing macroscopic materials. Materials characterization will focus on establishing processing-structure-property relationships and on demonstrating new material design paradigms on testbed photonic materials. Theory and simulation will be incorporated into all levels and will inform experimental efforts. The proposed MURI team is comprised of six investigators from five universities with complementary and internationally recognized expertise in dusty plasma physics (Goree, University of Iowa), dusty plasma materials synthesis (Kortshagen, University of Minnesota) and consolidation (Thimsen, Washington University in St. Louis), materials science (Atwater, Caltech), plasma computations (Kushner, University of Michigan), and atomistic materials simulation (Violi, University of Michigan). The MURI team will be led by Professor Uwe Kortshagen of the University of Minnesota. Expected key innovative outcomes: 1) Fundamental understanding of the physical processes which govern dusty plasma synthesis and materials consolidation; 2) dusty plasma syntheses of new ÒenablingÓ nanoparticle materials; 3) novel dusty plasma consolidation schemes to produce disordered and long-range ordered macroscopic materials; 4) processing-structure-property relationships for dusty-plasma produced materials; 5) demonstration of new materials design paradigms using photonic material testbeds; and 6) theoretical and computational methods for dusty plasma models and materials design. The impact of this proposed project will be profound, contributing to the DoDÕs capability to produce new materials on demand using dusty-plasma-enabled materials synthesis. The DoD will gain unique access to an emerging paradigm of materials synthesis and consolidation, enabling controlled combinatorial design of materials with virtually any chemical composition, designed porosity, and long-range order.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 14, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1810240
Entities
People
- Uwe Kortshagen
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Minnesota