This award supports the PI, Michael McNallan, the co-PI, Yuri Gogotsi, and several graduate students from the University of Illinois - Chicago in a collaboration with Klaus Nickel of the Department of Applied Mineralogy at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. The research focus is on the discovery of new methods for synthesis of carbon coatings on the surface of silicon-carbide. The collaboration will allow the comparison of two different techniques for the extraction of metals from carbides--one using halogens at Chicago and one using supercritical water at Tuebingen. The comparison will then make it possible to increase our understanding of carbon growth mechanisms. The coatings developed as a result of this research will find uses in new protective coatings for sensors and tools, intermediate thin films for further chemical vapor deposition of diamond, molecular membranes for sensors, et al. U.S. students will have the opportunity to participate in research in one of the leading European laboratories in this scientific area.
