Background

I graduated from the University of Warwick in 2019 with a BSc MPhys in Physics. I am now working on my PhD in Material Sciences and Microscopy, under the supervision of Dr Jeremy Sloan and Dr James LLoyd-Hughes.

Research Interests

The filling of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with inorganic materials results in the encapsulation of ‘extreme nanowires’. I primarily study the encapsulation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) inside SWCNTs. The synthesis and nanostructuring of these materials regulate their structure and can also provide a prediction of their properties and how these differ from the bulk form of the filling material.

My research is based around Electron Microscopy and also incorporates other techniques such as modelling & simulations, ED, DSC/TGA, XRD to study these materials.

Example

 

Electron diffraction behaviour during in situ heating of filled Sb₂Te₃ sample. Images are marked with time stamps, exposure times and temperatures. The arrows indicate the direction of heating (top) and then cooling (bottom). Data was obtained using a JEM-ARM200C with low beam dose (<0.8pA/cm²) at an energy of 80kV in order to minimise phase transformation and damage to the SWCNTs by the beam. Heating holder was by Protochips with additional data (not shown) acquired with DENS Wildfire holder.

Kiran Bal

Department of Physics
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL

Office: MAS1.06

Email: K.Bal.1@warwick.ac.uk