João Mendes
Beneficiary of the Short-term Research Internships at the University of Texas at Austin 2023
| Role | Research Fellow |
| Affiliation Institution | CENIMAT/I3N, Nova University |
| Host Institution | McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering |
| Program Area | Nanotechnologies |
Short Bio
João Afonso Mendes completed his BSc in Micro and Nanotechnology Engineering Sciences (2021) and his MSc in Micro and Nanotechnology Engineering (2023) at the NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal. He is currently a Research Fellow working on the SMART-E (2022.04012.PTDC) research project, which aims to develop multi-sensing smart battery electrodes for in-situ operation monitoring. His work is focused on the development of nanostructured materials (nanoparticles and nanowires) for conversion and storage systems, building on his Master dissertation work which already yielded promising results in this regard. He was previously a research fellow on the project FlexSolar (PTDC/CTM-REF/1008/2020), where he worked on depositing silicon thin films by PECVD to create flexible solar cells in a tandem perovskite-epitaxial silicon solar cell concept.
Work description
I will be hosted at Dr. Brian Korgel’s Research Group at the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, who will support me in working on the formation and study of silicon nanoparticle (Si-NP) superlattices, to be applied in thin-film transistors. I will both produce the Si-NPs and manipulate them to the desired outcomes. This will build upon already established collaborations between Dr. Korgel and my co-adviser Dr. Rui N. Pereira.
Expectactions about the Short-term Research Internship
The internship will be an adventure full of learning and growth. I hope to work alongside an international research team and build up my knowledge mainly on nanostructure deposition techniques and their application on devices, as well as in other fields and themes. I trust the connections I’ll make in this internship will allow me to learn immensely and pave the way for future collaborations in both my work and other people’s projects.
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Brian Korgel
Director
UT Austin's Energy Institute
UT Austin's Energy Institute
