Ternary Alkaline Earth Pnictide Nanocrystals: Functional Semiconductor Building Blocks from Energy Storage to Quantum Devices

Professor Javier Vela of Iowa State University is studying the synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals based on cheap and abundant alkaline earths. Solution phase and seeded routes starting from hydride precursors will enable the preparation of nitride and phosphide semiconductor nanocrystals with desirable properties for energy storage and quantum information systems. This project will advance training in synthetic nanochemistry by upgrading the undergraduate chemistry curriculum with contemporary research tools, a capstone fellowship development project, and chemical safety with a focus on nanoscience. Middle and high school students will also benefit from learning opportunities regardless of their future career choice. Professor Javier Vela of Iowa State University is studying the synthesis and intercalation of alkaline earth-based ternary nitride and phosphide semiconductor nanocrystals. This work will push beyond thin films and bulk crystals into the nanoscale, which offers unique advantages such as quantum confinement, fast interfacial kinetics, surface quantum properties, and solution-processability for device fabrication from colloidal inks. Hydride precursors, solution-liquid-solid, and redox-cycling routes will achieve molecular control over the nanocrystal's phase, size, and shape. Computational screening and chemical intercalation will result in 2D vs. 3D building blocks with enhanced ion transport for batteries and tunable topological insulators for spintronics and quantum computing. Because alkaline earths adopt large coordination numbers, this work will expand beyond the four- and six-coordinate atomic sites that are ubiquitous in tetrahedral and rock-salt semiconductors, exponentially widening available nanostructures beyond perovskites while at the same time using more abundant and biocompatible elements. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.