Project Scope
My research aims to understand the thermodynamic stability and nanoscale chemistry of high entropy alloy nanoparticles produced through femtosecond laser ablation of a bulk CuCoMn1.75NiFe0.25 alloy in different liquids. Femtosecond laser pulses are used to generate uniform nanoparticles with controlled thermal effects, and their morphology and composition depend on the solvent. Ablation in liquid nitrogen yields larger, chemically uniform particles while ethanol produces smaller polycrystalline particles that show subtle compositional fluctuations and occasional manganese depletion. Transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal stacking faults, uniform elemental mixing and thin oxide or hydrocarbon shells and highlight that the observed manganese deficit in cryogenic samples arises from surface attenuation rather than true elemental loss, whereas thermodynamic calculations show that liquid nitrogen processing retains mixing parameters close to the bulk alloy while ethanol processing drives the enthalpy of mixing into a regime that promotes local ordering. My previous research shows that high purity multi component nanoparticles can be fabricated with high fidelity to the parent composition and promising electrocatalytic properties for oxygen reduction in aluminum air batteries. The further work will focus on the optimization of manufacturing and function of high entropy alloy nanoparticles for catalysis and energy storage applications through solvent, cooling rate and pulse parameters control.