Research yields material made of single-atom layers that snap together like Legos

EPSCoR research discovery yields new synergistic materials

Exciting scientific breakthroughs are milestones that Kansas NSF EPSCoR strives for in its mission to tackle global challenges like climate change and solar-based renewable energy. EPSCoR supported physicists at the University of Kansas have achieved such a milestone by creating a new substance from two different atomic sheets that interlock much like Lego toy bricks. According to the researchers, the objective of this investigation was to design new synergistic materials by combining two single-atom thick sheets.  Prior to this discovery, building artificial materials with synergistic functionality was challenging because most materials had different atomic arrangements at the interface and could not connect.

Top Row:  Tungsten Disulfide
Bottom Row:  Graphene

Hsin-Ying Chiu, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at KU benefited from receiving a KNE First Award in 2013, spurring her research program that contributed to this discovery. Chiu and her team, experimented with an innovative and versatile “layer-by-layer,” bottom-up nanofabrication technique to connect an atomic sheet of graphene to an atomic sheet of tungsten disulfide to form a new synergistic material designed to improve solar cell proficiency. The new material utilized the best components of the individual atomic sheets and showed promise in the development of more efficient solar cells and flexible electronics.

Chiu worked with Hui Zhao, associate professor of physics and astronomy at KU using ultrafast laser spectroscopy in KU’s Ultrafast Laser Lab to analyze the movement of electrons between the two materials. Their research along with the use of the facility also contributes directly to another NSF EPSCoR funded project called Imaging and Controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanostructures. It is a collaboration between Nebraska and Kansas studying how light interacts with matter that involves 30 researchers including Zhao.

The research groups led by Chiu and Zhao are further testing this Lego approach to fabricate more synergistic materials.  By combining atomic sheets that absorb light of different colors, they can potentially produce a large number of new synergistic substances that react to the solar spectrum and convert energy between electricity and radiation.

For more information please visit the full story at:  http://goo.gl/spfVXF

The KU story was also featured as research news on the NSF web page: http://goo.gl/jd75Wb

To access the published article go to:  http://goo.gl/d1vGkL

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation of USA (DMR-0954486, IIA-1430493), Kansas NSF EPSCoR First Award (EPS-0903806) and start-up funding by the University of Kansas. The National Basic Research Program 973 of China (2011CB932700, 2011CB932703), Chinese Natural Science Fund Project (61335006, 61378073), Beijing Natural Science Fund Project (4132031).

KU, K-State field stations key sites in 30-year NSF project

The University of Kansas and Kansas State University will soon be active participants in the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON, one of the most extensive long-term initiatives in the history of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF NEON project establishes sustainable efforts for gathering data related to the causes and consequences of climate change.

This has been a long-time goal of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR major initiative Forecasting Ecological Change in the Central Plains (2006 to 2010). This project led by Dr. Leonard Krishtalka (KU) and Walter Dodds (K-State). The objective was to mature the state’s niche strength in ecological forecasting into a competitive, centers-level capability.

More than 40 scientists and engineers and 70 students representing more than a dozen disciplines conducted research using the Kansas grasslands as the model ecosystem to assess the ecological and societal impacts of global change on coupled human-natural systems. One of the grand challenges of the 21st century as articulated by the National Research Council, the International Program on Climate Change, the National Science Foundation and other national agencies is evaluating and predicting the biological and ecological consequences of accelerating global changes in the environment and human society.

The NSF NEON Sites across the U.S.

Forecasting Ecological Change in the Central Plains was conceptualized and operated as a regional-scale model of the national NEON effort now being realized. In Kansas, it improved and incorporated sensing technologies, informatics, telecommunications, cyberinfrastructure, and large-scale modeling to enable acquisition and analysis of data, and forecasting of environmental phenomena.

As part of the future NEON initiative, two biological stations out of the 106 domains identified in the 30 year NSF funded endeavor are located in Kansas: The University of Kansas Field Station located at KU; and The Konza Prairie Biological Station located at K-State. Together, the Kansas sites are known as the Prairie Peninsula domain and form the only multi-state eco-climatic region designated in the project.

For more information on this story please visit: http://goo.gl/dcJ6Pu

For more information on NSF NEON please visit: http://www.neoninc.org/

Soliciting Proposals: RII Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) FY 2015 Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-2 Focus EPSCoR Collaborations (RII Track-2 FEC) solicitation has been released as NSF 15-517. The deadline for proposals is 20 February 2015.

The solicitation is posted at: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505148.

In FY 2015, proposals aligned with themes consistent with NSF priorities, including such areas as cognitive science and neuroscience, clean energy, and food security, are encouraged.

Please continue to contact Kelvin Chu (kchu@nsf.gov, 703.292.7860) with questions.

KU to host Big 12 universities water workshop

Water use – and abuse – has emerged in recent years as a major challenge in Kansas, affecting all aspects of life in the state. It is a focus for multidisciplinary research at the University of Kansas and is the subject of a statewide policy initiative, the 50-Year Vision for the Future of Water in Kansas.

Water is also a concern beyond the borders of the state. A distinguished group of researchers from all Big 12 universities will meet Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Lawrence to share their findings and discuss opportunities for future intercampus collaborations concerning water.

For details about the event please visit http://news.ku.edu/ku-host-big-12-universities-water-workshop.

Konza Prairie research program receives $6.76 million NSF grant renewal

Long-term ecological research at Kansas State University's Konza Prairie Biological Station will continue for another six years with a $6.76 million grant renewal from the National Science Foundation.

Konza Prairie, an 8,600-acre native tallgrass prairie research station, is jointly owned by Kansas State University and The Nature Conservancy and managed by the university's Division of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The "Konza" is a delightfully unique asset in Kansas that has played a critical role in KNE research the last 12 years from ecological genomics and ecological forecasting to the current climate change studies taking place.

Kansas NSF EPSCoR congratulates the program's director John Blair, university distinguished professor of biology and K-State, and the co-principal investigators for their success in continuing this important research facility.

For more information on this story please visit http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/nov14/lterrenewal11614.html.

Climate and Energy Museum Exhibit Travels

Kansas NSF EPSCoR, with the help of Flint Hills Design (Newton), developed the first temporary museum exhibit for the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan. The Climate and Energy exhibit helped kick off the grand opening for the Discovery Center in 2012 and remained there until summer 2014. The unique exhibit was designed to easily travel to other spaces throughout the state when it's stay in Manhattan was complete.

It's next stop is the Kauffman Museum at Bethel College in Newton where it will occupy their temporary exhibit space. A plan is being developed to find several sites giving many audiences an opportunity to learn about the kinds of science being done in Kansas and its impact. Here are some pictures of the display in its new home.

Please stop into the Kauffman Museum if you are in the neighborhood and visit the exhibit before it travels onward. This blog will provide updates on future sites and its availability. If you are a facility interested in being a host, please contact nsfepscor@ku.edu.

Kansas Researchers Talk About Water and What It Means for the State

There is no mistaking that water is important to Kansas farmers. Where it comes from, how it is used and regulated are on the minds of many, especially in the western, more agricultural part of the state. How farmers respond to the quality and availability of water and how it affects their crop and irrigation decisions was the focus of a unique symposium sponsored jointly by the Biofuels and Climate Change: Farmers' Land Use Decisions research team and the Kansas Natural Resource Council, which took place at the University of Kansas on September 26. The goal of the symposium was to disseminate the project's research findings to key stakeholders and policy-makers in the state.

Gene West farm, Kiowa County, Kansas (Photo by Larry Schwarm)

The symposium titled Kansas Waters: Research and Communication - From Data to News, drew an audience of about 50 stakeholders, mainly from the Kansas Water Office and other policy-making agencies, along with University of Kansas and Kansas State researchers.  The morning began with research presentations on water use including what motivates or impedes underlying irrigation decisions as well as cultural aspects with regard to farmers' attitudes and perspectives on water usage. Other topics included the role of water rights on conservation and how other restrictions affect usage. The research results demonstrate that Minimum Desirable Streamflow restrictions effectively reduce agricultural water use within the Lower Republic River basin.  More broadly, research results reveal that water rights constrain, but not fully, agricultural water use when considering the entire state of Kansas.  In the early afternoon, presentations focused on water quality: the impact of agricultural activities on surface water quality and how farmers perceive water quality.
The latter part of the afternoon included a workshop on how to communicate science and policy to different audiences such as the general public, the legislature, institutions and the media. A variety of stakeholders from these audiences spoke about their perspectives on the best ways to communicate the findings from the morning session.

The afternoon discussion drew a clear conclusion.  Legal restrictions on irrigation exist yet farmers in the Central Plains are quickly depleting groundwater aquifers and draining surface water.  Thus, a richer understanding of policy effectiveness is important.

Update: See a related story from September 27, 2014 in the Lawrence Journal World at http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/sep/27/ogallala-water-continues-pore-farm-fields-despite-/ .