Materials Research Lecture

Materials for nano-devices need to have extremely smooth and defect-free surface which can be patterned at the nanometer length scale. On the other hand, materials for catalysis and energy conversion need high density of surface defects and suitable surface chemistry to facilitate the reaction kinetics. Metallic glasses are multi-component metallic alloys that can be formed in fully amorphous, near-net shapes with nano-scale precision. I have recently shown that the surface of metallic glasses can be electrochemically tuned to different morphologies (see figure below). Motivated by these characteristics, I have explored the use of metallic glasses for nano-fabrication and electro-catalysis in direct alcohol fuel cells.

In this seminar, Dr. Mukherjee will talk about the forming ability of metallic glasses across multiple length-scales. The influence of crystallization behavior, thermodynamics, and kinetics on glass formation will be discussed. For catalytic applications, he will show that the activity and durability of metallic-glass nanostructures are superior compared to benchmark catalysts. The activity is further enhanced by de-alloying mediated surface engineering. New strategies to develop large surface area nanostructures by accelerated de-alloying will be discussed.