RICHARDSON, Texas (April 3, 2003) – Nanotechnology
scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) have won two federal research grants totaling
more than $500,000, the university announced today.
The largest of the awards is a three-year, $460,000
grant from the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research to three members of the UTD
faculty to produce prototypes of photocells from polymer nanofibers and carbon nanotubes. The co-principal
investigators on the grant are Dr. Anvar A. Zakhidov, professor of physics and associate director
of the UTD NanoTech Institute, Dr. John P. Ferraris, professor of chemistry and head of the Department
of Chemistry, and Dr. Kenneth J. Balkus, Jr., professor of chemistry.
The goal of the research is the creation of low-cost,
ultra-lightweight, deployable solar cell arrays that could be used to generate electric power for
spacecraft, among other applications.
The UTD researchers hope to create new photocells
composed of polymer nanofibers and carbon nanotubes and engineered to maximize the transformation
of light into electricity. The research team will employ the pioneering concept of dual-fiber electrospinning
in its work. Electrospinning is a process that utilizes both electrostatic and mechanical forces
to produce polymer fibers in the nanometer diameter range.
The other grant, valued at $70,000, is an extension
of an existing contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for research
begun by Zakhidov three years ago, while he was employed by Honeywell International in New Jersey.
Zakhidov will continue the research – which involves growing single wall carbon nanotubes in a micro-gravity
climate – as a subcontractor to Honeywell.
Zakhidov’s work for NASA involves utilizing a near-zero-gravity
environment to build longer and stronger carbon nanotubes – nanostructures with unique electronic
and mechanical properties. The research, now being conducted in laboratories in the U.S. and Japan,
could be transferred to the International Space Station in the future.
A native of the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan,
Zakhidov holds a Ph.D. degree in physics (optics) from the Institute of Spectroscopy of the U.S.S.R.
Academy of Sciences in Moscow and a master’s degree in physics from Tashkent Technical University.
Ferraris earned a Ph.D. degree and an M.A. degree in organic chemistry from The Johns Hopkins University
and a B.A. degree in chemistry from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. Balkus holds a Ph.D. in inorganic
chemistry from the University of Florida and a B.S. degree in chemistry from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute in Massachusetts.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart
of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor,
enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront
of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment
of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please
visit the university’s Web site at http://www.utdallas.edu/.