Binghamton University Research News
  • News
  • Features
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Subscribe

Atomic-level view affords engineer new insights

By Rachel Coker • Jun 9, 2011 • Faculty•   

Mechanical engineer Guangwen Zhou studies surface structure and chemistry at the atomic level. His work on oxidation and reduction reactions could one day lead to more durable gadgets as well as “greener” electronics-manufacturing processes.

Zhou, who joined Binghamton’s faculty in 2007, recently received a five-year grant of more than $400,000 from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program to support his research.

Zhou plans to create reaction models for the reduction of metal oxides — such as copper oxides — at the atomic scale and then link them to the models for larger-scale reactions. (Time out for a brief chemistry lesson: Oxidation is the loss of electrons. Reduction is the gain of electrons. These processes govern phenomena ranging from fire to rust.)

Zhou’s work takes advantage of new high-tech in situ microscopy techniques that allow him to observe reactions at the atomic level as they’re happening. “Seeing is believing, right?” he says, explaining the benefits of observing chemical reactions in this way. Zhou uses transmission electron microscopes and scanning electron microscopes at Binghamton’s Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory. He also collaborates with researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh.

The research could enable electronic devices to be manufactured at lower temperatures. It has practical applications for materials processing related to thin films, fuel reactions, heterogeneous catalysis and gas sensing, too. Zhou also intends to develop a virtual transmission electron microscope as part of the project.

“This is a very old field, but we have very little knowledge of these processes at the atomic scale,” he says. “It will push our fundamental understanding forward.”

0
A fresh take on Africa
Cultural exchange takes center stage

You Might Also Like

  • New grant to advance solar energy

  • NSF funds research into superconductivity

  • NSF grant to fund human skin research

  • Scientist probes addiction at cellular level

No Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

     

    Popular Searches

    Research in the news

    • Artifacts reveal history of family planning

    • ‘Fundamentalist U’

    • Scientists find fossil from oldest modern human out of Africa

    • ‘The Weeping Time’ auction destroyed families

    • Bio-battery could be powered by your sweaty gym socks

    Recent Comments

    • Russ Toell on Sophomore helps develop method to detect landmines
    • Brent Jones on Undergrad stretches possibilities of flexible electronics
    • health clinic San Antonio on Nurse studies delirium in older patients
    • Brian O'Connor on Sophomore helps develop method to detect landmines
    • Brian Gray on Historian revises estimate of Civil War dead

    Subscribe

    • Subscribe to newsletter
    Binghamton University Binghamton University

    © 2018 Binghamton University State University of New York
    Images used throughout this site are copyright protected. For permission and terms of use, visit the about us page