Gordon Duddy, a second-year graduate student working in the laboratory of Professor Jon Camden, has been selected for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program. This program provides funding for students to conduct a portion of their thesis research at a host DOE laboratory and in collaboration with a DOE scientist. It also gives the student access to tools and instrumentation at the National Labs. Eighty-six students were selected from across the country to participate in the program.
Gordon will be working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with Dr. Jordan Hachtel in the Center for Nanophase Materials Science. His research focuses on studying infrared plasmonic nanostructures to utilize low grade waste heat, or that which is at temperatures of less than 100oC. Waste heat is heat generated by a process or machine as a byproduct of doing work. Because classical heat pumps require relatively large temperature gradients, low grade waste heat is more difficult to recapture and utilize. Nanostructures that support localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in the infrared region of light can be used to confine thermal blackbody radiation and ultimately direct it out of the system for capture and use. By working with ORNL, Gordon will be able to use their monochromated Electron Energy Loss Spectroscope (EELS) to image nanostructures during in situ heating to probe the process of heat exchange between plasmons and photons in the materials. With the information collected from this study, better materials can be designed to efficiently capture and transfer waste heat.