Highlights

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs), have shown a remarkable increase in photoconversion efficiency (PCE), from 3.8%  in 2009, to 22.1% in 2016. The good electron transporting and solution processable properties of most fullerene derivatives make them the most popular electron transporting mater

How? Synthesizing and isolation of ultra-small gold nanoparticles with a specific shape or structure. We have developed a facile approach for shape-controlled synthesis of gold nanoparticles using KBr and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) as the reducing agent. 

How? We use optical microscopy to determine the dynamics of photo-generated charges in individual semiconductor nanowire hetero-structures.

Transparent conducting oxide play a key role in photovoltaic (PV) devices. There has been much recent interest in finding alternative indium (In) free TCOs and even better performing alternative candidates to substitute for standard ITO.  The driving factors are: scarcity, unintended inter

We have separated Sc3N@D5h-C80 from Sc3N@C68 based on their chemical reactivity differences using the p-toluenesulfonyl tosyl hydrazone of phenyl butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). We also performed for the first time the synthesis and characterization of five PCBM methano

In March-April 2015, approximately 50 PREM students, faculty and other volunteers visited six rural schools in the towns of Yabucoa and San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. The activities included short talks and hands-on demonstrations from the Nanodays (NISENet) kits and others developed by our pro

The aim of this project if to detect and characterize nucleation sites when a local cavity starts to form, in particular to detect cavitation sites in molecular dynamics simulations of liquid chloroform with and without carbon nanotubes.

MoS2 single crystals were transferred onto the edge of a p-Si/SiO2 wafer, forming an abrupt heterogeneous junction diode at the MoS2/p-Si interface. When electrically characterized as a field effect transistor, MoS2 exhibits an n-type response and can be doped in the presence of ultraviole

In a recent publication resulting from a collaboration between the IRG2 of the Wisconsin MRSEC and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez through the NSF-sponsored Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program, Prof. Hernandez-Maldonado and coworkers investigated the

Fungal infections such as candidiasis represent an important human health concern worldwide due to high mortality rates, of more than 50%, specifically in those people who are immunocompromised.  In particular risk are those patients undergoing chemotherapy, that suffer from AIDS and thos