Academics Faculty. Email: b-winters bethel. Winters' research is currently focused on the chemistry of carbon. Carbon has more known allotropes than any other material with a new one having been discovered as recently as While many of these allotropes have existed naturally for thousands of years, it was not until that one particularly fascinating one, graphene, was discovered and characterized. This form of carbon is the first 2D material ever discovered and is made up of a single atomic-thin layer of carbons bonded together in rings of six.
This structure gives graphene some remarkable properties including very low electrical resistance and fast electron transport near the speed of light , incredible flexibility, and great puncture resistance. While it has been very difficult and expensive to produce graphene films, there are other similar materials that have the potential to demonstrate reduced, but still impressive properties, including partially oxidized graphene: graphene oxide.
While the oxygen included in the structure of graphene oxide does change its properties relative to pure graphene, it is much easier and cheaper to make. Winters has focused his research on designing and fabricating a deposition chamber capable of growing graphene oxide thin-films under controlled conditions with the hopes of optimizing production of these materials and others for desired film characteristics.
Ultimately the materials made in the Winters lab could be used for novel electronic devices and novel manufacturing methods, but the full extent of these applications remains to be seen. Current work is focussed on optimization of growth parameters and characterization of new films and their properties.
In addition to independent work on carbon materials, Dr Winters has been involved as an independent consultant to several companies seeking help understanding the complex properties and behaviors of chemical sorbent materials including activated carbon.
