Grant: Special Research Opportunity Program - Inter-American Collaboration in Materials Research

The proposed research to be supported by the Inter-American Collaboration in Materials Research program capitalizes on synergistic strengths in materials research in four laboratories, namely: expertise in thermal properties of materials (Mary Anne White, Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Canada); expertise in synthesis and characterization of negative thermal expansion materials (Bojan Marinkovic, Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais e Metalurgia, Pontif´cia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); expertise in use of synchrotrons for diffraction studies (F¦bio Ferreira Furlan, Laboratório Nacional de Luz S´ncrotron, Brazil); expertise in microstructural stability (Fernando Rizzo Assunç?£o, Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais e Metalurgia, Pontif´cia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Together, this team will be able to significantly advance understanding of thermal properties (thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and thermal stability) of inorganic oxide materials. These studies will have far-reaching implications in areas such as thermal stress reduction, and higher-efficiency thermoelectric materials.