Senior Lecturer
Queensland University of Technology
Physical Chemistry
PhD - Flinders University of South Australia
Eric Waclawik has co-authored over 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals with high impact factors in nanotechnology, chemical physics and physical chemistry, including eighteen (18) publications on the spectroscopy of inter- and intra-molecular charge transfer.
Eric Waclawik graduated from Flinders University of South Australia (1997) where he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics and Spectroscopy for work on ultra-cold gas-phase collisions between benzene and small atoms and molecules under the supervision of Prof. Warren D. Lawrance. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto he studied the reorientation dynamics of liquid crystals at the gas-liquid interface using laser spectroscopy in the laboratories of Prof. D. James Donaldson. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Exeter University he collaborated with Prof. Anthony C. Legon, FRS., using Fourier Transform Microwave Spectroscopy to probe structures and charge-transfer of pre-reactive molecular complexes.
In 2000, Eric was Lecturer of Nanotechnology at Flinders University and since 2003, Eric has been a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer (2007-) in the School of Physical & Chemical Sciences at the Queensland University of Technology, where he leads a research program studying a range of nanomaterials systems for photovoltaics, photonics and sensing applications.
Carbon Nanotube - based Organic Photovoltaics: that employ conductive polymers, hybrid semiconductor-polymers and dye-sensitised semiconductors to achieve solar power to electricity conversion. My students are examining ways to tailor carbon nanotube chemistry to increase their inclusion into conductive polymer materials for this application in addition to CVD synthetic strategies that produce arrays of carbon nanotube structures for use in electronic applications.
ZnO Quantum Dot Photonics: my students are investigating Langmuir-Blodgett deposition and other strategies to produce tunable photonic stuctures that operate in the UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum. To this end, optical couplers are being machined out of ZnO quantum dots using our FIB.
Electronic Transport in Organic Electronic Devices: based upon conductive polymers and carbon nanotube platforms – the physical basis of their operation is being investigated. For one such device, carbon nanotube network field-effect transistors (CNNFETs), we have demonstrated control over device polarity (p-type, n-type, ambipolar) by chemical modification of the transistor channel.
Titania Nanotubes: Titanium dioxide is a promising photocatalyst which could be used to break-down organic pollutants. We are investigating hydrothermal methods to synthesise nanotubes of titania. The structural changes that occur following hydrothermal treatment have been followed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Changes in Phase, structure and binding have been followed using powder x-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy.
Focussed Ion Beam: Controlled assembly of nanostructures without resist or wet chemical etching using a beam of Ga+ ions to modify self-assembled molecular and nanoparticle monolayers on metal and silicon surfaces with nanometer-scale precision.
M. Giulianini, E. R. Waclawik, J. M. Bell and N. Motta, Current-Voltage characteristics of Poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) diodes at room temperature, Appl. Phys. Lett., 94 083302-1 - 083302-3 (2009).
R. G. S. Goh, J. M. Bell, N. Motta, P. K. –H. Ho and E. R. Waclawik, p-Channel, n-Channel and Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors Based on Functionalized Carbon Nanotube Networks, Superlattices and Microstructures, Publication Accepted 20/12/08. doi:10.1016/j.spmi.2008.12.027.
D. L. Morgan, H-Y. Zhu, R. L. Frost and E. R. Waclawik, Determination of a Morphological Phase Diagram of Titania/Titanate Nanostructures from Alkaline Hydrothermal Treatment of Degussa P25, Chem. Mater., 20 (12) 3800 - 3802 (2008).
A. W. Musumeci, G. G. Silva, J.-W. Liu, W. N. Martens and E. R. Waclawik, Structure and conductivity of multi-walled carbon nanotube / poly(3-hexylthiophene) composite films, Polymer, 48 (6) 1667 - 1678 (2007).
R. G. S. Goh, N. Motta, J. M. Bell and E. R. Waclawik, Effects of substrate curvature on the absorption of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) on Single Walled Carbon nanotubes, Appl. Phys. Lett., 88 053101-1 – 053101-3 (2006).