The Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory is an internationally recognized, user-oriented research facility.  Its dual mission is to serve as an open facility for the nanoscience and nanotechnology research communities and to advance the science and technology of nanomaterials that address the nation’s energy challenges.

External Academic and Government Users of the CFN have investigated diverse research topics, such as efficient catalysts, fuel cell chemistries and architectures, and photovoltaic (solar cell) components.  These Users can take advantage of the wealth of capabilities and facilities that CFN has to offer, such as:  

• Thin film nanofabrication and processing capabilities within a 5,000 sq. ft. Class 100/1000 cleanroom facility
• Time resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy
• Atomic resolution imaging with scanning transmission (STEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy
• Theory and diverse software packages for quantum chemistry and materials property calculations

CFN scientists are experts in the advanced techniques and equipment at the CFN.  Collaborating with these in-house experts is a resource available to users for the benefit of their research; however, collaboration is not a requirement for access to the CFN facilities.

Internal Research programs at the CFN focus on five experimental and theoretical thrusts:

Interface Science and Catalysis: CFN scientists syn­thesize model nanocatalysts and use advanced in-situ microscopy, spectroscopy, and theo­retical calculations to investigate how these nanoparticles behave under realistic reaction conditions, the results of which will help de­termine their potential as future catalysts.

Soft & Biological Nanomaterials: CFN scientists are exploring novel techniques to assemble inorganic, organic, and biological components in nanomaterials with tailored functionalities.  In particular, biomolecules, like DNA, are used to construct two-dimensional and three-dimensional ar­rays of organized nanomaterials.  These studies can reveal how cooperative effects among the components of the array can be exploited in a variety of energy-related applications.

Electronic Nanomaterials: CFN scientists are exploiting the electronic properties of nanomaterials to achieve new insights into the production of more efficient photovoltaic devices, such as organic solar cells, and for other energy-related applications, like high-density energy storage systems and efficient photocatalysts.

Electronic Microscopy: CFN scientists have scientific interests that focus on understanding the microscopic origin of the physical and chemical behavior of materials, with specific emphasis on in-situ studies of materials in native, functional environments.  Our facility promotes this research through four top-of-the line transmission electron microscopes, two of which are highly specialized instruments capable of extreme levels of resolution, achieved through spherical aberration correction.

Theory & Computation: CFN scientists have diverse research expertise in areas that include nanoscale structure formation and assembly processes, bonding and atomic-scale structure, electron transport, optical and electronic excitations in nanomaterials, and homogeneous and inhomogeneous catalysis.