MAE Professor Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award

Amin Reihani, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has received a five-year, $550,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for his project aiming to uncover precisely how metal nanoparticles use light to promote chemical reactions. 

The NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) supports early-career faculty who exhibit potential as academic role models and leaders in research and education in their departments and institutions. 

"This award is a major personal and professional milestone that supports both my long-term research vision and my commitment to education," says Reihani. 

Recognizing the substantial commitment of time and resources to careful experimental research, Reihani expresses excitement that his grant is providing essential long-term research support. 

"This is wonderful, well-earned recognition of Amin's commitment and excellence," says Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Chair and Professor Assimina Pelegri. "I'm delighted to see his work receive this acknowledgment and look forward to all he will accomplish next."

Let the Sunshine In

Metal nanoparticles are widely used as catalysts in chemical manufacturing driven by light. Reihani's CAREER project will draw on his expertise in micro- and nano-scale transport phenomena in energy systems and electronics to develop advanced nano-scale thermal measurement tools that reveal the mechanisms by which metal nano-particles harness sunlight to accelerate chemical reactions. 

"We'll use a new two-temperature scanning thermal microscopy (2T-STM) technique that can simultaneously map electron and phonon temperatures on individual nanoparticles with ~2 nm resolution," he explains. "This is enabled by custom scanning thermal probes fabricated in-house at the SoE Nanofabrication Core Facility."

"The results," Reihani predicts in his CAREER project abstract, "will improve catalysts that can use sunlight to drive chemical reactions with greater efficiency and better control over the final products. This, in turn, will enable the design of more efficient energy conversion techniques."

According to Reihani, plasmonic photocatalysis, where metal nanoparticles convert light into chemical energy for reactions such as hydrogen production, ammonia synthesis, and solar fuel generation, is one energy conversion technology that he believes will become more efficient as a result. 

The future benefits from Reihani's research are clear. "Technologically, this work will enable more efficient solar-driven processes and improve the design of next-generation microelectronics, particularly high-frequency and high-power density devices," he explains. "Scientifically, it will provide a deeper understanding of how energy flows at the nano-scale."

Shining a Light on Education

An educational component is central to any CAREER grant. In addition to developing a new hands-on course in nanofabrication and nano-scale metrology, Reihani's project will ultimately contribute to building a potential workforce of students trained in advanced nanotechnology and measurement techniques, and by engaging undergraduate, as well as high school students, in his research.