Brief Bio:

Dr. Ongun Ozcelik has received his Ph.D. form the National Nanotechnology Research Center in Bilkent University in 2015. After obtaining his Ph.D., he moved to Princeton University to work as a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Engineering and Applied Science between 2015 and 2019. He then joined University of California to work on computational modeling of ultrafast electron transfer at organic semiconductor / metal interfaces. His research involves design of novel materials with an emphasis on sustainable technologies for applications in electronics, sustainable energy and environment, explored by theoretical and computational methods in collaboration with experimental scientists. He has authored and co-authored more than 35 peer-reviewed publications and has given talks and tutorials at related conferences and universities. Previously, Ongun earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and master’s degree in Physics in Istanbul Technical University. He has received the TUBITAK scholarship award for his graduate studies and American Physical Society Division of Materials Science award for his postdoctoral research at Princeton.

Abstract:

Problems pertaining to environmental issues of existing energy sources have recently become a focus of scientific research. There are two main avenues of solutions to these problems: (i) finding ways of harvesting clean energy and (ii) mitigating the negative environmental impact (such as carbon footprint) of current energy production technologies. Computational material design and having an in-depth understanding of these materials’ properties are critically important for solving both of these challenges. In this talk, I will concentrate on quantum computational modeling of confined layered structures as a means of designing sustainable energy materials. I will show how wavefunctions of these systems can be engineered at the nanoscale and the effects of charge localization on the macroscopic properties of materials. I will use a graphene based layered dielectric capacitor model as an example to show how quantum size effects dominate at the nanoscale in comparison to classical systems. In these capacitor models, stored energy, charge separation, and the electric potential difference between layers can be calculated from first-principles quantum mechanical calculations where the predicted high-capacitance values exhibit characteristics of supercapacitors. Then, I will show how these ideas can be extended to modeling organic/inorganic hybrid material systems which can be used in photovoltaic applications. In the last part of the talk I will show how charge localization can be tailored to increase materials’ gas capture properties.