AMADEus Seminar - Prof. Yongfeng Lu - Friday 29 November 2013, 11:00 am - Amphi ICMCB

Abstract

For centuries, carbon has been used for energy generation and energy storage. Over the last decade, fundamental scientific studies and engineering ingenuity at atomic scales have rapidly transferred functions of carbon from fire woods into highly functional materials supporting many aspects of modern energy technologies. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce his research activities in processing structured carbons in various forms, including diamond, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanoonions, and graphene. Laser-matter interactions can be spatially and spectrally controlled and optimized to produce carbon with desired structures. This talk will discuss a number of approaches to producing nanocarbon materials with desired properties for various applications. Nanocarbon materials have been used for energy storage (supercapacitors) and friction reduction (super lubricants). Direct formation of graphene layers on dielectric surfaces opens up a new arena for providing carbon-based transparent electrodes. Diamond films deposited using laser-assisted combustion in open air can be used for thermal management in devices. In pursuing the fundamental energy science, the speaker will also introduce his recent work that vibrational modes of precursor molecules play important roles in combustion and material synthesis, leading to an assumption that temperature may not be the unique parameter governing thermally driven chemical processes.