Understanding the Synthesis and Photophysics of Plasmonic Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Nanomaterials, Chemistry, Nanotechnology

Research Mentor: Dr. Geoffrey Strouse , He/His
Department, College, Affiliation: Chemistry and Biochemistry , Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: strouse@chem.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Catherine Fabiano She/Her
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: cjf21@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 4
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: 09/05 - 12pm

09/06 - 12pm

09/07 - 12pm

Project Description

The Strouse group runs a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary team of scientists including: inorganic, materials, analytical, physical, physics, engineering and biochemistry students. Utilizing the tools of spectroscopy (time-resolved optical, vibrational, structural (XRD, XAS), NMR, magnetism) and microscopy (optical and electron), the Strouse group is able to selectively synthesize, interrogate, and manipulate materials at the nanoscale to ask questions that address a wide range of physical and biological phenomenon.

Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) are interfacial phenomena that arise when free carriers (e- or h+) oscillate at a resonant frequency of light. This results in an extremely strong optical absorption feature whose frequency depends on the concentration of free carriers and their effective mass. Semiconductors offer numerous advantages over traditional metallic systems including tunable carrier density, near to mid-infrared LSPRs, and a larger number of plasmonic systems. Research in the Strouse group focuses on studying the structure-property relationships that govern LSPRs in semiconductor nanocrystals. We utilize a full suite of spectroscopic techniques (steady-state/transient absorption, solid-state NMR, magnetic circular dichroism) to investigate these nanomaterials in order to probe structural and electronic properties such as dopant deactivation, carrier effective mass, and free carrier pinning.


Students who participate in this project will focus on the synthesis and characterization of plasmonic metal oxide nanoparticles.

Research Tasks: literature review
data collection
data analysis
nanoparticle synthesis
magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: recommended that Chemistry I and II laboratory has been taken