Assoc. Prof. in Chemistry
Education
B.S. Chemistry, University of Regina (Sask., Canada 1996)
Ph.D. Inorganic Chemistry, Rice University (2000)
Contact Information
357 Dow Hall
Phone: (989) 774-1195
Fax: (989)-774-3883
e-mail: fahlm1b@ cmich.edu
http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/fahlm1b/index.html
Research Fields
Mild synthetic routes toward novel nanostructural growth
3D Chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition of high-k dielectric thin films
Chemical education: Investigating the links between personality traits and critical thinking
Current Research Projects
The overall objective of the Fahlman research group is to design new and improved routes to interesting and industrially useful nanostructural materials and thin films. Interdisciplinary projects involve the following areas of concentration:
1. Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry - synthetic techniques utilizing inert atmosphere manifolds (Schlenk lines) and glovebox are necessary to obtain contaminant-free precursor compounds, suitable for use in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of thin films.
2. Materials Chemistry - both traditional horizontal hot-wall CVD (see schematic below) and supercritical fluid CVD methods are used to deposit a variety of thin films. Characterization techniques such as ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tunneling electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are utilized to assess the nature of the resultant film.
3. Physical Inorganic Chemistry - extensive empirical (mass spectrometry, surface IR spectroscopy, XPS), and theoretical investigations (using DFT methods) are carried out to identify likely surface species, and the mechanism responsible for nucleation and growth of the thin films.
The following projects are of current ongoing interest to the group:
1. Design of materials for low-temperature degradation of chemical warfare agents and pesticides. 2. Supercritical fluid facilitated growth of thin films and novel nanostructural materials. 3.Chemical vapor deposition/characterization of Group 13 nitride and oxynitride thin films, including the development of novel single-source, liquid precursors. 4. Nanotube-template chemical vapor deposition of novel nanostructures.
Selected Publications
Fahlman, B. D. "Materials Chemistry", Springer: New York, 2007. Available in print and as an e-book on July 4, 2007: http://www.springer.com/978-1-4020-6119-6
Juttukonda, V.; Paddock, R. L.; Raymond, J. E.; Denomme, D.; Richardson, A. E.; Slusher, L. E.; Fahlman, B. D. "Facile Synthesis of Tin Oxide Nanoparticles Stabilized by Dendritic Polymers" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 420.
Fahlman, B. D. "Recent Advances in Chemical Vapor Deposition" Curr. Org. Chem. 2006, 10, 1021.
Richards, V. N.; Vohs, J. K.; Williams, G. L.; Fahlman, B. D. "Chemical Vapor Deposition of Aluminosilicate Thin Films" J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 2005, 88, 1973.
Williams, G. L.; Vohs, J. K.; Brege, J. J.; Fahlman, B. D. "Supercritical Fluid Facilitated Growth of Copper and Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticles" J. Chem. Ed. 2005, 82, 771.
Jensen, A. W.; Maru, B. S.; Zhang, X.; Mohanty, D. K.; Fahlman, B. D.; Swanson, D. R.; Tomalia, D. A. "Preparation of Fullerene-Shell Dendrimer-Core Nanoconjugates" Nano Lett. 2005, 5, 1171.
Vohs, J. K.; Raymond, J. E.; Brege, J. J.; Williams, G. L.; LeCaptain, D. L.; Roseveld, S.; Fahlman, B. D. Room-Temperature Growth of Carbon Nanofibers from Iron-Encapsulated Dendritic Catalysts" Polymer News 2005, 30, 330.
Vohs, J. K.; Miller, D. O.; Denomme, D. R.; Ziller, J. W.; Fahlman, B. D. "Chloro[N, N'-ethylenediiminobis(acetylacetonato)]gallium(III)" Acta Cryst. C 2005, C61, 287.
Figure below: FESEM and HRTEM images of carbon nanofibers grown at room temperature. Scale bars: 5 microns and 5 nm, respectively.
