Research Symposium

BIO

Cody Basquill is a freshman from Tampa, Florida pursuing a Biochemistry major and a Spanish/French co-major. Cody has many research interests including nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, photophysics, photovoltaics, and organic-inorganic interfaces. When he isn't pursuing research and attending class, Cody is an avid reader, cellist, and lifeguard.

Investigation of the Photophysics of Gadolinium Doped Defect Tungsten Oxide

Abstract

Defect tungsten oxide is a type of nanoparticle. Tungsten oxide, like all photoactive nanoparticles, has a plasmonic frequency at which the electrons of the compound are displaced by light waves. This makes tungsten oxide an extremely valuable resource in a wide variety of fields that can benefit from photoactive compounds, in everything from construction to medicine. Through microwave pulse synthesis, we were able to create defect tungsten oxide with a dopant that alters this property. By doping with different amounts of gadolinium, we were able to shift the plasmonic frequency of the tungsten oxide, changing the photophysics of the particle and opening it up to a wider variety of practical applications.

Keywords: chemistry, nanoparticles, photochemistry, photophysics, synthesis