November 2016: Saurahb Chauhan

Saurabh Chauhan, 4th-year PhD student in Prof. Watson's group

• First-author publication: Chauhan, Saurabh; Watson, David; “Photoinduced Electron Transfer from Quantum Dots to TiO₂:Elucidating the Involvement of Excitonic and Surface States”, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2016, 18, 20466-20475.
• Second-author publication: Rivera-Gonzalez Natalia; Chauhan, Saurabh; Watson, David; “Aminoalkanoic acid as Alternatives to Mercaptoalkanoic Acids for Linker- Assisted Attachment of Quantum Dots to TiO₂”, Langmuir 2016, 9206–9215.
• Silbert Fellowship, Fall 2016

"I study photo-induced electron transfer in covalently linked quantum dots donor – metal oxide acceptor assemblies relevant to solar energy conversion by using steady state and time resolved emission spectroscopy. The published work explains the role of excitonic and surface states of core-only CdSe quantum dots and better performance by core/shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in electron transfer to TiO₂ nanoparticles. Additionally, we showed that aminoalkanoic acids can be used as an alternative to mercaptalkanoic acids to tether QDs to metal-oxide nanoparticles and efficiently extract the charge carriers from QDs.

I enjoy being a graduate student as it provides me with ample opportunities to learn new techniques. The faculty is very friendly and supportive. I also appreciate my advisor, Dr. David Watson for his constant support and for letting me pursue my own ideas.

I am an avid Roger Federer fan and I like to play tennis during the summer. I enjoy playing chess in my free time in the lab. I also enjoy traveling and camping."