Department of Chemistry News

March 2, 2016

Brandi Cossairt Wins NSF CAREER Award

Brandi CossairtAssistant Professor Brandi Cossairt has received a CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) Award from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER Program is a Foundation-wide program that “offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.” Professor Cossairt received the award for her research proposal, “CAREER: New Models for Controlling InP Nucleation, Growth, and Luminescence using Magic-Sized Clusters and Targeted Surface Chemistry”. Research conducted under this CAREER award aims to address the fundamental challenges in controlling the composition and interfaces of nanomaterials with atom-level precision. Experimental approaches include:

1) testing new models of InP nucleation using isolable, structurally characterized and atomically precise magic-sized cluster intermediates;

2) understanding how surface chemistry impacts the structure and function of InP magic-sized clusters to gain access to general strategies for anisotropic shape control and doping; and

3) discovering new post-synthetic surface chemistry to turn-on and color-tune the luminescence of InP and related QDs using Lewis acid coordination chemistry.

Additionally, the project aims to advance educational goals, including creating an undergraduate specialization in Chemistry for Energy at the University of Washington (UW), developing hands-on demonstration materials and workshops on the topic of colloidal nanoscience targeted to middle and high school students in collaboration with the UW Phi Lambda Upsilon (National Chemistry Honor Society) chapter, and broadening participation in chemistry at the undergraduate, graduate and professional level through work with several organizations.

For more information about this NSF CAREER Award, please visit the award website.

For more information about Brandi Cossairt and her research program, please visit her faculty page and research group site.