Kiran Bal
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) and magnetic halides inside SWCNTs. The synthesis and confinement of these materials produce novel crystal structures which differ from the bulk form of the filling material and can result in unique properties and applications.
My research is based around Electron Microscopy and also incorporates other techniques such as modelling & simulations, ED, DSC/TGA, XRD to study these materials. Additional characterisation techniques used for thin film measurements of filled samples include Raman spectroscopy and Terahertz time domain spectroscopy THz-TDS.
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 produced 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