Objective
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are one of the most exciting fields of research which explores materials with novel properties and develops new technologies that promise to meet the needs of our society. As such, they are a recognized long-term priority in the European strategy for future technologies. 2D materials are attracting great interest because crystals behave differently once thinned down to a few atomic layers. With the further possibility of stacking them into heterostructures, they allow creating novel devices with new functionalities. This proposal will focus on the fabrication of novel 2D solid/liquid heterostructures in which molecular fluids are confined between 2D crystals, and on their study by means of scanning probe approaches. The final objective is the experimental characterization of the dielectric properties of 2D nanoconfined molecules, which are inherently related to the molecular structuring and dynamics, with strong impact on a variety of phenomena ranging from physics and materials science to chemistry and biology. These properties have remained unknown so far because dielectric measurement on such a small scale is a challenge. This is because of technical difficulties in engineering the confining systems and the lack of techniques with high enough sensitivity to probe them. Here we will overcome these two challenges by confining the liquids into 2D nanocavities and directly measuring their properties using a novel scanning dielectric microscopy approach that will allow for the first time in situ dielectric characterization. To this end, the project will include engineering novel 2D nanochannels with controlled size/geometry/layout suited to dielectric microscopy as well as the development of a novel, fully-customized scanning dielectric platform to probe 2D liquids, their reactions and phase transitions under controlled environmental conditions.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
M13 9PL Manchester
United Kingdom