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Date: 2010-04-15 Time: 13:15 - 14:30 Place: Lecture hall B, Physics department, Sölvegatan, Lund, Sweden. Abstract: There is tremendous interest in the synthesis and characterization of nanometer scale materials because they are predicted to exhibit physical and chemical properties that are dramatically different from ordinary matter. A direct consequence of the small number of atoms that make up each particle and the unique morphology or architecture that results (e.g. arrays of nanometer sized channels or cylindrical pores) is that nanomaterials exhibit a high surface-to-volume ratio. These systems are intriguing because they can confine molecules in one (1D-channels) or two (2D-surfaces) dimensions that are predicted to exhibit novel physical properties. While neutron scattering is not typically considered a surface sensitive probe, I will illustrate how we have used neutron scattering techniques to probe the microscopic structure and dynamics of molecules adsorbed on the surfaces or entrained within the pores of several highly uniform nanomaterials. The characterization also includes microscopy, thermodynamics and modeling to probe the nature of this novel behavior. Finally, I will discuss how current and future plans to construct high power neutron sources and novel instrumentation will spawn a new generation of discovery based surface investigations that will dramatically impact the world’s energy and technological future. Contact person, ESS seminars:
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Speaker: John Larese, Professor and Joint ORNL Faculty, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA