PREM Center for Ultrafast Dynamics and Catalysis in Emerging Materials (C-UDCEM)

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Non-technical summary:

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is one of the largest universities in the USA by enrollment and is also one of the largest Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) with 27,244 (38%) of Hispanic and African American students. It ranks 2nd amongst all institutions in bachelor’s degrees awarded to underrepresented minority (URM) students. The proposed PREM partnership between UCF and the University of Washington (UW) will develop a vibrant collaborative research and innovative education training program in materials, providing research and education opportunities to 15-20 URM graduate and undergraduate students.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from UCF and UW will deploy integrated theoretical and experimental approaches for the rapid discovery of advanced materials for quantum computing, low power electronics and new catalyst reactions in line with the vision set forth in the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). Students will be co-mentored and will carry out research at both academic institutions.

Exchange visits, conferences and workshops will be organized to benefit participating URM students and URM students from surrounding community colleges and universities. The PREM program will allow UCF to develop resources and infrastructure focused on accelerated emerging materials discovery while developing a long-lasting collaborative partnership with UW.

The research results under the UCF-UW partnership will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. Outreach efforts will be conducted via summer boot camp, a dedicated web portal, and social media platforms. Technical Summary

The UCF-UW partnership envisions collaborative training of under-represented minority (URM) students in cutting edge research topics to make rapid discoveries related to materials synthesis, investigation and manipulation of new physical phenomena, and theory-guided pursuit of novel quantum materials and catalysts, closely aligned to the MGI. The partnership involves two interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs).

In the first IRG, time and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy will unravel ultrafast processes in new quantum materials including two-dimensi.onal (2D) van der Waals solids and 2D magnets. The key outcomes from this effort will reveal important dynamic processes in the femtosecond time scale and map this behavior across many different 2D materials.

In the second IRG, various defects including point defects (e.g., oxygen vacancies) will be systematically introduced in catalyst materials to enable single site catalysts for low temperature CO/hydrocarbon oxidation and CO2 reduction. The key outcomes from this effort will lead to design rules for accelerated syntheses of stable, single-site heterogeneous catalyst materials.

The unique syntheses, characterization and testing capabilities at UCF and world-class facilities at UW will jointly enable the exploration of the basic science of quantum and catalyst materials and provide unique opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas, mentoring, and multidisciplinary training. The collaborative teams will hold research-focus group meetings via real-time video teleconferencing, summer internships and student exchange programs.

Ultimately, this PREM program will make fundamental and rapid advances in materials research while enabling URM students to define a confident path towards their success in future professional endeavors in materials focused disciplines

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.