<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
</div>
<div id="Signature">
<div>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">***** Seminar *****</span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Materials Engineering Program</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Center for Integrated Bio and Nano Systems</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> Friday, January 24, 2020</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">10:30am, Room: AH108 (Agnes Arnold Hall)</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt"></span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; text-align:center">
<b><span style="font-size:18.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">2D Ferroelectrets in Ultra-Thin Molybdenum Dioxide (MoO</span></b><b><sub><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">2</span></sub></b><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">)
and Emergent Piezoelectricity</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<span style="font-size:18.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Anand B. Puthirath</span></p>
<p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center">
<span style="font-size:16.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University</span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Abstract: </span>
</b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Since graphene, a variety of two-dimensional (2D) materials have been fabricated in a quest for a tantalizing combination of properties and desired physio-chemical behavior. Two-dimensional materials
that are piezoelectric, i.e. that allow for a facile conversion of electrical energy into mechanical and vice-versa, offer applications as sensors, actuators, energy harvesting, stretchable and flexible electronics, energy storage among others. Unfortunately,
materials must satisfy stringent symmetry requirements to be classified as piezoelectric. Here we fabricate 2D ultra-thin single crystal molybdenum oxide (MoO</span><sub><span style="font-size:6.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">)
flakes that exhibit unexpected piezoelectric-like response as MoO</span><sub><span style="font-size:6.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> is centrosymmetric and
should not exhibit intrinsic piezoelectricity. However, our group demonstrates that the apparent piezoelectricity in 2D MoO</span><sub><span style="font-size:6.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">2</span></sub><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">
emerges from an electret-like behavior induced by the trapping and stabilization of charges around defects in the material. Arguably, our material represents the first 2D electret material and suggests a route to artificially engineer piezoelectricity in 2D
crystals. Specifically, we find that the maximum out-of-plane piezoresponse to be 0.56 pm/V which is as strong as that observed in conventional 2D piezoelectric materials. The charges are found to be highly stable at room temperature with a trapping energy
barrier of ~2 eV.</span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
<b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Bio:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> Dr. Anand B. Puthirath received his PhD in physics from Cochin University of Science Technology (CUSAT), India, where
he studied the roles of surface plasmons and conducting polymers in optoelectronics and energy storage. Dr. Puthirath completed his master’s degree in physics from the same school,
<b>where</b> he specialized in modern optics, advanced mathematical methods for physicists and quantum field theory. After receiving his PhD, he joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), India, as a postdoctoral fellow, where, with the help
of impedance spectroscopy, he investigated various types of relaxation phenomena in super-cooled glassy liquids near their glass transition temperatures (Tg). At TIFR, he also researched the potential material compositions for flexible solid electrolytes.
In 2017, he received the national postdoctoral fellowship to pursue postdoctoral research at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Dr. Puthirath joined Prof. Ajayan’s research group at Rice University as a SERB-Indo-US postdoctoral fellow in January
2018. His research at Rice has focused on magnetism and piezoelectricity in 2D materials. Other research interests include 2D materials-based sensors, mechanical properties of 2D and 3D structures, dielectrics, optoelectronics and low energy water splitting.
Furthermore, research in the field of energy storage always excites him where the emphasis is on Li-S cells and supercapacitors.</span></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
</p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify">
<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">Contact Prof. Dmitri Litvinov <</span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1155CC"><a href="mailto:litvinov@uh.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC">litvinov@uh.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">>
if you would like to meet with Dr. Puthirath. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">If you no longer wish to receive the announcements from the IBNS News Listserver, please email "SIGNOFF IBNSNEWS" in the body of the message (leave subject line empty) to <</span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1155CC"><a href="mailto:listserv@listserv.uh.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC">listserv@listserv.uh.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">>.
The email needs to originate from the email address, which the Listserver sends the announcements to. You can also send an email to <</span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1155CC"><a href="mailto:nanomag@uh.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC">nanomag@uh.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">>
with the request to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the list.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>