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1102 Natural Sciences 2 University of California, Irvine, California, 92697-2025 :: phone (949) 824-4097 :: fax (949) 824-8571

Reginald M. Penner

Professor, Chemistry
School of Physical Sciences

Director, Center for Solar Energy
School of Physical Sciences

Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 1987

B.A. 1983, Gustavus Adolphus College

Phone: (949) 824-8572
Fax: (949) 824-8125
Email: rmpenner@uci.edu

University of California
2137 Natural Sciences Unit 2
Mail Code: 2025
Irvine, CA 92697



Research Interests	Analytical Chemistry

URL	chem.ps.uci.edu/~rmpenner/PennerGroup.html

Academic Distinctions	1986 Distinguished Graduate Student Research Award, Texas A+M University. 1985 Dow Fellow, Texas A+M University. 1991 Procter & Gamble, University Exploratory Research Program Award. 1992 National Science Foundation, NSF Young Investigator Award. 1993 Office of Naval Research, ONR Young Investigator Award. 1993 Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Beckman Young Investigator Award. 1995 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. 1995 UCI School of Physical Sciences Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. 1995 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. 2000 Hellmuth Fischer Medal, 8th International Fischer Symposium, Karlsruhe, Germany. 2004 National Science Foundation Award for Special Creativity. 2007 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 2009 The Faraday Medal, presented by the Electrochemistry Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry of the UK. complete CV in PDF format

Appointments	California Institute of Technology 1988-90. Stanford University 1987-88.

Research Abstract	Our research focuses on the development of new synthetic methods for preparing nanomaterials that have unique and useful properties for chemical sensing, and for other applications. The emphasis is on electronic materials including metals, metal oxides, semiconductors, thermoelectric materials, and electronically conductive polymers. We are, first and foremost, electrochemists and electrodeposition is the starting point for all the synthetic methods we develop. This means that nanostructure "synthesis" begins on a conductive electrode surface (composed of graphite or silicon) from precursors (metal ions, organic monomers, etc.) present in a contacting liquid phase. Additional processing steps that do not involve electrochemistry are also sometimes employed to obtain compounds of interest. we have termed this "Electrochemical/Chemical" synthesis. The rigorous structural characterization of the nanomaterials we prepare consumes a large fraction of our day-to-day research effort and routinely involves six methods (TEM, SAED, SEM, EDX, XPS, and powder XRD). Many projects in the group proceed sequentially through three phases: Phase 1: synthesis and structural characterization of a nanomaterial, Phase 2: measurement of one or more "functional" fundamental, properties that may be optical, electronic, thermal, magnetic, etc., and, Phase 3: evaluation of performance in a prototype device that exploits the properties probed in Phase 2. While breakthroughs can happen in Phases 1 and 2, we believe that the most important discoveries in chemical sensing and in other applications will involve proceeding all the way to Phase 3. The reason is that the behavior of a particular nanomaterial in a particular application or device can not be predicted based on its structure, morphology, and chemical composition. Consequently, we target nanomaterials that are likely to exhibit useful behavior, and we stay alert for surprises! We are interested in how the composition and structure of a nanomaterial produces the properties that make it useful, and we are willing to devote time and effort to the elucidation of this structure-property relationship. Our central premise is that nanomaterials with unique attributes, and over which we have direct synthetic control, will lead to breakthroughs in chemical sensing and other applications. The six objectives of our research program are the following: Identify and understand the processes that lead to size dispersion in the electrochemical growth of nanostructures such as nanoparticles and nanowires. Devise electrochemical methods for circumventing these processes; methods that enable the electrodeposition of "size monodisperse" nanometer-scale structures. Synthesize nanostructures composed of compounds possessing desirable and technologically useful electronic properties. The family of methods we are developing for this purpose are called "Electrochemical/Chemical Methods". Materials of current interest include semiconductors (e.g., MoS₂, CdS), thermoelectrics (Bi₂Te₃), and electronically conductive polymers (e.g. polythiophene). Discover new strategies for enforcing a two-dimensional organization on the electrodeposition of nanostructures on flat electrode surfaces. Measure and understand the size-dependant physical and chemical properties of nanostructures including the conductivity, electro- and photoluminescence, thermoelectricity, magnetoresistance, and chemical reactivity. Exploit the unique properties of these nanostructures in chemical sensors and other types of devices in new and interesting ways. Figure. Nanowires electrodeposited onto glass surfaces using the Lithographically Patterned Nanowire Electrodeposition (LPNE) Method. Students in the group receive an especially broad exposure to the tools of modern materials and surface chemistry including electron microscopy and electron diffraction, scanning probe microscopy, laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy, state-of-the-art computational methods, and of course electrochemistry.

Publications	Chengxiang Xiang, Michael A. Thompson, Fan Yang, Erik J. Menke, Li-Mei C. Yang, Reginald M. Penner*, Lithographically Patterned Nanowire Electrodeposition, Physica Status Solidi (c), 5 (2008) 3503.

	M.E. Bourg, W.E. Van der Veer, A.G. Gell, and R.M. Penner*, Thermocouples From Electrodeposited Submicron Wires Prepared by Electrochemical Step Edge Decoration, Chemistry of Materials 20 (2008) 5456.

	C. Xiang, A.G. Gell, M.A. Brown, J.Y. Kim, J.C. Hemminger, R.M. Penner* , Coupled Electrooxidation and Electrical Conduction in a Single Gold Nanowire, Nano Letters 8 (2008) 3017.

	C. Xiang, S.C. Kung, D.K. Taggart, F. Yang, M.A. Thompson, Garcia Gell, Y. Yang, R.M. Penner* , Lithographically Patterned Nanowire Electrodeposition: A Method for Patterning Electrically Continuous Metal Nanowires on Dielectrics, ACS Nano 2 (2008) 1939.

	Hyunmin Kim, David Taggart, Chengxiang Xiang, Reginald M. Penner and Eric O. Potma*, Spatial Control of Coherent Anti-Stokes Emission with Height-Modulated Gold Zig-zag Nanowires, Nano Letters 8 (2008) 2373.

	Hyunmin Kim, Chengxiang Xiang, Aleix Garcia Gell, Reginald M. Penner and Eric O. Potma*, Tunable two photon-excited luminescence in single gold nanowires fabricated by lithographically patterned nanowire electrodeposition, J. Phys. Chem. C 112 (2008) 12721.

	Y. Yang, S.C. Kung, D.K. Taggart, C. Xiang, F. Yang, M.A. Brown, A.G. Gell, T.J. Kruse, J.C. Hemminger, R.M. Penner*, Synthesis of PbTe Nanowire Arrays using Lithographically Patterned Nanowire Electrodeposition, Nano Letters 8 (2008) 2447.

	Wei Luo, Wytze Van van der Veer, Ping Chu, D.L. Mills, R.M. Penner and John C. Hemminger*, Polarization-Dependent Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering from Silver 1D Nanoparticle Arrays, J. Phys. Chem. C 112 (2008) 11609.

	H. Hu*, S.C. Kung, L.C. Yang; M.E. Nicho, R.M. Penner, "Photovoltaic Devices Based on Electrochemical-Chemical Deposited CdS and Poly(3-Octylthiophene) Thin Films", Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 93 (2009) 51.

	L.C. Yang, J.J. Diaz, T.M. McIntire, G.A. Weiss, R.M. Penner, Direct Electrical Transduction of Antibody Binding to a Covalent Virus Layer Using Electrochemical Impedance, Analytical Chemistry 80 (2008) 5695.

	G.A. Weiss* and R.M. Penner*, The Promise of Phage Display for Analytical Chemistry: Bioaffinity Sensing of Almost Anything and Everything, Analytical Chemistry, 80 (2008) 3082.

	L.C. Yang, J.J. Diaz, T.M. McIntire, G.A. Weiss, R.M. Penner, A Covalent Virus Surface for Mass-Based Biodetection, Analytical Chemistry, 80 (2008) 933.

Professional Societies	American Chemical Society Materials Research Society Electrochemical Society

Research Centers	Institute for Surface and Interface Science

	School of Physical Sciences Center for Solar Energy

Link to this profile	http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=2040

Last updated	12/19/2008