Degrees
Research Description Select Publications
Select Presentations
Patents 

Associate Professor of Nanoengineering

Research areas: Chemical & all-optical sensors, quantum dots, Kelvin probe microanalysis, near field scanning optical microscopy

Watch Professor Carpenter's "Inside CNSE" video interview on applying surface topography analysis to the development of sensors used in emissions monitoring

Degrees

• Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, University of Rochester, NY (1996)
• M.S., Physical Chemistry, University of Rochester, NY (1993)
• B.S., Chemistry, State University of New York at Geneseo (1991)

Research Description

Harsh Environment Chemical Sensors
Chemical sensors which are compatible with harsh environments (temperatures above 500°C in the presence of either oxidative or reductive atmospheres), are currently a barrier towards the development of control feedback and safety systems for combustion related applications that include: automotive, aerospace, gas turbines and solid oxide fuel cells. These sensing roadblocks are due to the degradation of the sensing system due to material incompatibilities and instabilities within the sensing environment. Carpenter's group is developing all-optical sensing techniques where the sensing component is exposed to the harsh environment and the optical characteristics of the material are interrogated remotely using standard optical techniques. The sensing elements are based on metal, bi-metallic, and metal-oxide nanoparticle doped metal-oxide nanocomposites. Currently, Carpenter's group has prototype materials that are able to reliably sense hydrogen for over 200 cycles at 650°C in an ambient air background carrier gas. Future work is aimed at developing a suite of tailored nanomaterials to sense methane, CO, NOx  and SOx.

All-Optical Hydrogen Sensor
The development of harsh environment compatible chemical sensors with sufficient reliability, sensitivity and selectivity requires the tailored design of the composition and  microstructure of the active sensing layer. Carpenter's research group has utilized this approach in the development of tailored chemical sensors for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. These efforts have led to the development of an intrinsically safe all-optical hydrogen sensor based on monitoring the optical properties of thin palladium alloy films. The tailored design process of the palladium alloy film including the alloying element and its composition will be detailed and correlated with the sensing properties. These tailor designed materials that were deposited in December 2002 continue to operate within 5% of their corresponding calibration curves and have response characteristics that are comparable or better than industrially available electronic based hydrogen sensors.

Semiconductor Quantum Dots: Hydrocarbon Sensors
Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) such as CdSe are ideal candidates for sensing applications due to their extremely high surface/volume ratio and sensitivity of their optical properties to the changes in their chemical environment. Carpenter's group focuses on exploring surface modification of CdSe nanocrystals by appropriate molecule anchoring. This approach will test the ability of donor-substituted aromatic ligands to form pi-complexes with electrophilic functionalities of molecules grafted to the surface of NCs by chemisorption or self-assembly. Due to their intrinsic sensitivity to their surrounding environment, modification of the surface environment of NCs significantly affects their photophysical and photochemical properties, which will be exploited for the development of sensing technologies. Experiments are underway to determine sensitivity of optical properties of the surface modified NCs toward the presence of various aromatic hydrocarbons.

Materials Characterization
Carpenter uses a wide range of analytical tools such as XRD, XPS, SEM-EDS, Auger spectroscopy, ellipsometry, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, fluorescence, near field scanning optical microscopy, AFM, and SEPM to characterize, ex-situ, the material, optical and electrical properties of the tailored nanomaterials under development for sensor applications.

Chemical Sensor Test Stations
In-situ measurements of the sensing properties of the material under development at conditions that mimic the targeted environmental monitoring conditions are performed on several separate sensor test stations. Currently, Carpenter's group has two optical absorption sensor test stations that can operate up to 1000°C and up to 100°C with gas concentrations varied between ppb and % levels. A Kelvin probe sensor test station was installed in 2004 which will allow measurements of changes in work function as a function of changes in the operating temperature and the gas environment. Optical fluorescence based sensor test stations for single and up to 8 films was also installed in 2004.

Tailored Design
These measurements, while required to determine calibration tables outlining the sensitivity, reliability and response times of the sensor, are also used by Carpenter to determine the fundamental kinetics, thermodynamics and dynamics which provides a detailed understanding of the sensing mechanism. The sensing mechanism is then correlated with the material properties which through a material optimization process leads to the development of tailor-designed nanomaterials for chemical sensors.

Select Publications

G. Sirinakis, R. Siddique, P. H. Rogers, I. Manning, M. A. Carpenter
Development and Characterization of Au-YSZ Surface Plasmon Resonance Based Sensing Materials: High Temperature Detection of CO
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 110, 13508 (2006)

Z. Zhao, M. A. Carpenter, D. Welch, H. Xia
All-Optical Hydrogen Sensor Based on a High Alloy Content Palladium Thin Film
Sensors and Actuators B, 113, 532 (2006)

George Sirinakis, Rezina Siddique, Kathleen A. Dunn, Harry Efstathiadis, Michael A. Carpenter, and Alain E. Kaloyeros
Spectro-ellipsometric Characterization of Au-Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ Nanocomposite Films
Journal of Materials Research, 20, 3320 (2005)

George Sirinakis, Rezina Siddique, Christos Monokroussos, Michael A. Carpenter, and Alain E. Kaloyeros
Microstructure and optical properties of Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂-Au nanocomposite films
Journal of Materials Research, 20, 2516 (2005)

Z. Zhao, M. A. Carpenter
Annealing Enhanced Hydrogen Absorption in Nanocrystalline Pd/Au Sensing Films
Journal of Applied Physics, 97, 124301 (2005)

Z. Zhao, Y. Sevryugina, M. A. Carpenter, D. Welch, H. Xia
All-Optical Hydrogen Sensing Materials Based on Tailored Palladium Alloy Thin Films
Analytical Chemistry, 76, 6321 (2004)

M. A. Carpenter, E. Lifshin, R. Gauvin
SEM-EDS Quantitative Analysis of Aerosols = 80nm: Impacts on Atmospheric Aerosol Characterization Campaigns
Microscopy and Microanalysis 8 (Suppl. 2) (2002)

S. T. Lee, E. R. O' Grady, M. A. Carpenter, J. M. Farrar
Dynamics of the Reaction of O^- with D₂ at Low Collision Energies: Reagent Rotational Energy Effects
Invited Paper, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2, 679 (2000)

R.S. Disselkamp, M.A. Carpenter, J.P. Cowin, C.M. Berkowitz, E.G. Chapman, R.A. Zaveri, N.S. Laulainen
Ozone Loss in Soot Aerosols
J. Geophy. Res. D 105(D8), 9767 (2000)

R. S. Disselkamp, M. A. Carpenter, J. P. Cowin
A Chamber Investigation of Nitric Acid-Soot Aerosol Chemistry at 298K
J. Atm. Chem., 37, 113 (2000)

M. A. Carpenter, J. M. Farrar
Vibrational State-Resolved Study of the O^- + D₂ Reaction: High Energy Dynamics from 0.47 eV to 1.2 eV
J. Phys. Chem., 101, 6870 (1997)

M. A. Carpenter, J. M. Farrar
Vibrational State-Resolved Study of the O^- + D₂ Reaction: Low Energy Dynamics from 0.25 eV to 0.37 eV
J. Phys. Chem., 101, 6475 (1997)

M. A. Carpenter, J. M. Farrar
Dynamics of Hydrogen Atom Abstraction in the O^- + CH₄ Reaction: Product Energy Disposal and Angular Distributions
J. Chem. Phys. 106, 5951 (1997)

Select Presentations

Vassiltsova, Oxana; Jayez, David; Zhao, Zhouying; Carpenter, Michael; Petrukhina, Marina A.
Surface-functionalized CdSe nanoparticles in polylaurylmethacrylate as a material for hydrocarbon sensing
Abstracts of Papers, 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, United States, March 26-30, 2006 (2006)

Schaefer, Ian C.; Hagerman, Michael E.; Carpenter, Michael; Zhao, Zhouying
NSOM studies of chromophore aggregation within Laponite nanocomposite films
Abstracts of Papers, 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, United States, March 26-30, 2006 (2006)

G. Sirinakis, R. Siddique, P. H. Rogers, I. Manning, M. A. Carpenter
All-optical Detection of CO and NO2 at High Temperatures by Au-YSZ Nanocomposites
Materials Research Society Meeting, Spring 2006

M. Arrandale, Z. Zhao, O. Vassiltsova, M. A. Petrukhina, M. A. Carpenter
Selective and Sensitive Hydrocarbon Detection Based on Tailored CdSe Quantum/Dot Polymer Systems
Materials Research Society Meeting, Spring 2006

Z. Zhao, O. Vassiltsova, M. A. Petrukhina, M. A. Carpenter
Surface-tailored CdSe Quantum Dots/Polymer Composite Films for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Hydrocarbons
Materials Research Society Meeting, Fall 2005

O. Vassiltsova, Z. Zhao, M. A. Petrukhina, M. A. Carpenter
Tailor Designed CdSe Quantum Dot Based Chemical Sensors for Hydrocarbon Detection
Abstracts 230th National American Chemical Society Meeting, Washington D.C. Aug 29-Sept 2, 2005

Hagerman, Michael E.; Carpenter, Michael
Optical nanomaterials based on self-assembled Laponite architectures.
Abstracts of Papers, 229th ACS National Meeting, San Diego, CA, United States, March 13-17, 2005

Rezina Siddique, George Sirinakis, Michael. A. Carpenter,
Low Temperature Synthesis of Silicon Oxide Nanowires
Mat. Res. Soc. Proc., V879E, Spring 2005

Sirinakis, George, Siddique, Rezina, Zhao, Zhouying, Carpenter, Michael A.
All-Optical Chemical Gas Sensors for Harsh Environments Based on Au-YSZ Nanocomposites
Materials Research Society, Spring 2005

Sirinakis, George, Sun, Lianchao, Siddique, Rezina, Efstathiadis, Carpenter, Michael, A., Kaloyeros, Alain E.
Synthesis and Spectroellipsometric Characterization of Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2-Au Nanocomposite Films for Smart Sensor Applications
Materials Research Society, Fall 2004

Z. Zhao, G. Sirinakis, M. Carpenter, O. Vassiltsova, Y. Sevryugina and M. A. Petrukhina
Environmental Sensing by Surface Modified CdSe Nanocrystals
Abstracts 228th National American Chemical Society Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, Aug 22-26, 2004

M. A. Carpenter
Design of Chemical Sensors for Harsh Environments: Tailored Nanomaterials
Hudson-Mohawk ASME meeting, Spring 2004

Z. Zhao, G. Sirinakis, M. A. Carpenter, O. Vassiltsova, M. Petrukhina
Surface Functionalization of Nanoparticles for Environmental Sensing
Hudson-Mohawk ASME meeting, Spring 2004

Zhao, Zhouying; Sirinakis, George; Sevryugina, Yulia; Carpenter, Michael; Petrukhina, Marina A.
Surface functionalization of CdSe quantum dots for environmental sensing
Abstracts of Papers, 226th ACS National Meeting, New York, NY, United States, September 7-11, 2003 (2003)

Sevryugina, Yulia; Zhao, Zhouying; Carpenter, Michael
Nanoscale Pd0.9Ag0.1 alloy films and their hydrogen interaction characteristics: Annealing dependence
Abstracts of Papers, 226th ACS National Meeting, New York, NY, United States, September 7-11, 2003 (2003)

Sevryugina, Yulia; Zhao, Zhouying; Carpenter, Mike A.
Nanoscale palladium-silver alloy films and their hydrogen interaction characteristics: Annealing dependence
Abstracts, 31st Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Saratoga Springs, NY, United States, June 15-18, 2003

Sirinakis, George; Zhao, Z.; Sevryugina, Y.; Petrukhina, M.; Carpenter, Michael A.; Tayi, A.
Tailored nanomaterials: Highly selective & sensitive chemical sensors for hydrocarbon analysis
Abstracts, 31st Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Saratoga Springs, NY, United States, June 15-18 (2003)

Z. Zhao, G. Sirinakis, A. Tayi and M. A. Carpenter
Photoactivated Luminescence of Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots
Abstract, 31st Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Saratoga Springs, NY, United States, June 15-18 (2003)

Patents

Zhouying Zhao, Michael A. Carpenter
Methods for Forming Palladium Alloy Thin Films and Optical Hydrogen Sensors Employing Palladium Alloy Thin Films
Serial Number: 11/049,833, Filed: February 3, 2005