Dr. Bhoj Gautam

Assistant Professor

Dr. Bhoj Gautam is an assistant professor of Physical Science in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science at Fayetteville State University (FSU). His research interests include solid state physics, material science, and polymer chemistry, with special focus on understanding and controlling optoelectronic properties in conjugated polymers, hybrid perovskite materials and two dimensional MXenes for optoelectronic and spintronic applications. He is very active in professional organizations, community outreach, grant writing and mentoring undergraduate students. He has a strong desire to explore pedagogical practices that work especially for students from under-represented groups.

Education

B.S. Tribhuvan University, Nepal
M.S. Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Ph. D. University of Utah, USA

Research Interest

Steady and time resolved photoluminescence on polymer and perovskite materials
Raman spectroscopy of two dimensional MXenes and polymer nanoparticles
Ultrafast pump probe spectroscopy on light harvesting materials
Structure property relationship in conjugated polymers and organic small molecules
Magnetic properties of two dimensional MXenes
Optical and chemical sensors based on conjugated polymers
Semitransparent solar cells and greenhouse effect
Nanoparticle and quantum dot synthesis for biomedical and forensic applications

Publications & Scholarly Activities

48. Morphology of Perylene Dimide based Polymer Non-Fullerene Solar Cells: Effect of Thermal Annealing, T. Wright, W. Ware, J. Barkley, S. Han, and B. R. Gautam, Microscopy and Microanalysis/Cambridge University Press, 22 (Suppl 1) (2021).

47. Microscopic Characterization of Eco-friendly Lokta Paper. Microscopy and Microanalysis/Cambridge University Press, 27 (Suppl 1), G. M. Aryal, W. Ware, S. Han, G. George, Z. Luo, B. P. Kandel, B. R. Gautam, and B. Neupane (2021).

46. Impact of Dimensionality on Optoelectronic Properties of Hybrid Perovskites, W. R. Ware, T. Wright, A. Devita, E. O. Danilov, B. R. Gautam, Int. J. Photoenergy, 8822703, 7 (2021).

45. Tuning the Magnetic Properties of Two-Dimensional MXenes by Chemical Etching, K.E. Allen-Perry, W. Straka, D. Keith, S. Han, L. Reynolds, B. Gautam, D.E. Autrey, Materials, 14(3), 694 (2021).

44. Aggregation Controlled Charge Generation in Fullerene Based Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells: Effect of Additive, W. Ware, T. Wright, Y. Mao, S. Han, J. Guffie, E. O. Danilov, J. Rech, W. You, Z. Luo, B. R. Gautam, Polymers, 13, 115 (2020).

43. Effects of polymer crystallinity on non-fullerene acceptor based organic solar cell photostability, X. Yi, C. H. Ho, B. Gautam, L. Lei, A. H. Chowdhuri, B. Bahrami, Q. Qiao and F. So, J. Mater. Chem. C, 8, 16092-16099 (2020).

42. Morphological Characterization of Polymer Blends: Impact of Side Chain Modification, W. Ware, A. Devita, T. Wright, S. Han, and B. R. Gautam, Microscopy and Microanalysis/Cambridge University Press, 26 (Suppl 2) (2020).

41. Efficient and Air-Stable Aqueous-Processed Organic Solar Cells and Transistors: Impact of Water Addition on Processability and Thin-Film Morphologies of Electroactive Materials, C. Lee, H. R. Lee, J. Choi, Y. Kim, T. L. Nguyen, W. Lee, B. Gautam, X. Liu, K. Zhang, F. Huang, J. H. Oh, H. Y. Woo, B. J. Kim, Adv. Energy Mater. 8, 1802674 (2018).

40. Aqueous Soluble Fullerene Acceptors for Efficient Eco-Friendly Polymer Solar Cells Processed from Benign Ethanol/Water Mixtures, Y. Kim, J. Choi, C. Lee, Y. Kim, C. Kim, T. L. Nguyen, B. R. Gautam, K. Gundogdu, H. Y. Woo, and B. J. Kim, Chem. Mater. 30, 16, 5663-5672 (2018)

39. Luminescence characteristics of rare-earth-doped barium hexafluorogermanate BaGeF 6 nanowires: fast subnanosecond decay time and high sensitivity in H 2 O 2 detection, G. George, M. D. Simpson, B. R. Gautam, D. Fang, J. Peng, J. Wen, J. E. Davis, D. Ila, and Z. Luo, RSC Advances, 8(69), 39296-39306 (2018).

38. Increased exciton delocalization of polymer upon blending with fullerene, B. Gautam, E. Klump, X. Yi, I. Constantinou, N. Shewmon, A. Salehi, C. K. Lo, Z. Zheng, J-L. Brédas, K. Gundogdu, J. R. Reynolds, and F. So, Adv. Mater., 2018, DOI: 10.1002/adma.201801392

37. Every atom counts: Elucidating the fundamental impact of structural change in conjugated polymers for organic photovoltaics, C. K. Lo, B. R. Gautam, P. Selter, Z. Zheng, S. D. Oosterhout, I. Constantinou, R. Knitsch, R. M.W.Wolfe, X. Yi, J-L. Brédas, F. So, M. F. Toney, V. Coropceanu, M. R. Hansen, K. Gundogdu, J. R. Reynolds, Chem. Mater., 30, 2995-3009 (2018).

36. The role of FRET in non-fullerene organic solar cells: Implications for molecular design, B. R. Gautam, R. Younts, J. Carpenter, H. Ade, and K. Gundogdu, J. Phys. Chem. A, 15, 3764-3771 (2018).

35. Charge generation dynamics in polymer nonfullerene solar cells with low energy loss, R. Younts, E. Danilov, K. Gundogdu, and B. Gautam, J. Photon. Energy, 8, 032209 (2018).

34. Impact of nonfullerene molecular architecture on charge generation, transport, and morphology in PTB7-Th-based organic solar cells, X. Yi, B. Gautam, I. Constantinou, Y. Cheng, Z. Peng, E. Klump, X. Ba, C. Hoi, Y. Ho, C. Dong, S. R. Marder, J. R. Reynolds, S. Tsang, H. Ade, and F. So, Adv. Funct. Mater. 1802702 (2018), DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201802702

33. Fast luminescence from rare-earth-codoped BaSiF6 nanowires with high aspect ratios, G. George, S. L. Jackson, Z. R. Mobley, B. R. Gautam, D. Fang, J. Peng, D. Luo, J. Wen, J. E. Davis, D. Ila, and Z. Luo, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C8TC01651H

32. Polymer non-fullerene solar cells of vastly different efficiencies for minor side-chain modification: Impact of charge transfer, carrier lifetime, morphology and mobility, O. M. Awartani, B. Gautam, W. Zhao, R. Younts, J. Hou, K. Gundogdu, and H. Ade, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C7TA01746D

31. Impact of highly crystalline, isoindigo-based small-molecular additives for enhancing the performance of all-polymer solar cells, H. Cho, G. Han, R. Younts, W. Lee, B. R. Gautam, S. Lee, C. Lee, T. Kim, F. S. Kim, K. Gundogdu, and B. J. Kim, J. Mater. Chem. A, 5, 21291 (2017).

30. Strong variation of molecular weight‒dependent interaction parameter: impact on morphology formation and performance in DPP3T:fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells, J.-H. Kim, A. Gadisa, C. Schaefer, H. Yao, B. R. Gautam, N. Balar, M. Ghasemi, B. T. O'Connor, K. Gundogdu, J. Hou, and H. Ade, J. Mater. Chem. A, 5, 13176-13188 (2017).

29. Single component organic solar cells based on oligothiophene-fullerene conjugate, T. L. Nguyen, T. H. Lee, B. Gautam, S. Y, Park, K. Gundogdu, J. Y. Kim, and H. Y. Woo, Adv. Funct. Mater. 27, 1702474 (2017).

28. The impact of sequential fluorination of π-conjugated polymers on charge generation in all-polymer solar cells, K. Kranthiraja, S. Kim, K. Gunasekar, C. Lee, B. Gautam, K. Gundogdu, S-H. Jin, and B. J. Kim, Adv. Funct. Mater.

27, 1701256 (2017). 27. Ultraviolet-ozone surface modification for non-wetting hole transport materials based inverted planar perovskite solar cells with efficiency exceeding 18%, X. Xu, C. Ma, Y. Cheng, Y.-M. Xie, X. Yi, B. Gautam, S. Chen, H-W Li, C-S. Lee, F. So, and S.-W. Tsang, J. Power Sources, 360, 157e165 (2017).

26. Near-infrared non-fullerene organic solar cells with high efficient charge separation at a small driving force, Y. Li*,L. Zhong*,B. Gautam*,J.-D Lin,F.-P. Wu, Z.-Q. Jiang, Z.-G. Zhang, Z. Zhang, K. Gundogdu,Y. Li, and L.-S. Liao, Energy Environ. Sci., 10, 1610-1620 (2017). * contributed equally.

25. Efficient generation of long-lived triplet excitons in 2D hybrid perovskite, R. Younts*, H.-S. Duan*, B. Gautam*, B. Saparov, J. Liu, C. Mongin, F. N. Castellano, D. B. Mitzi, and K. Gundogdu, Adv. Mater. (2017). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604278 * contributed equally.

24. Efficient charge transfer and fine-tuned energy level alignment in a THF-processed fullerene-free organic solar cell that yields 11.3% efficiency, Z. Zheng*, O. M. Awartani*, B. Gautam*, D. Liu, Y. Qin, W. Li, A. Bataller, K. Gundogdu, H. Ade, and J. Hou, Adv. Mater. (2016). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604241 * contributed equally.

23. Design and synthesis of BODIPY sensitizers with long alkyl chains tethered to N-carbazole and their application for dye sensitized solar cells, H. Cheemaa, R. Younts, B. Gautam, K. Gundogdu and A. El-Shafei, Mater. Chem and Phys, 184, 57-63 (2016).

22. Controlling energy levels and blend morphology for all-polymer solar cells via fluorination of a naphthalene diimide-based copolymer acceptor, M. A. Uddin, Y. Kim, R. Younts, W. Lee, B. Gautam, J. Choi, C. Wang, K. Gundogdu, B. J. Kim, and H. Y. Woo, Macromolecules (2016). DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01414.

21. Effects of Cd diffusion and doping in high-performance perovskite solar cells using CdS as electron transport layer, W. A. Dunlap-Shohl, R. Younts, B. Gautam, K. Gundogdu, and D. B. Mitzi, J. Phys. Chem.C, 120 (30)16437-16445 (2016).

20. Fast charge separation in a non-fullerene organic solar cell with a small driving force, J. Liu, S. Chen, D. Qian, B. Gautam, G. Yang, J. Zhao, J. Bergqvist, F. Zhang, W. Ma, H. Ade, O. Inganäs, K. Gundogdu, F. Gao and H. Yan, Nature Energy 1, 16089 (2016).

19. Charge generation dynamics in efficient all-polymer solar cells: Influence of polymer packing and morphology, B. R. Gautam, C. Lee, R. Younts,W. Lee, E. Danilov,B. J. Kim, and K. Gundogdu, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 7, 27586(2015).

18. Charge photogeneration in organic photovoltaics: Role of hot versus cold charge transfer excitons, B. R. Gautam, R. Younts, W. Li, L. Yan, E. Danilov, E. Klump, I. Constantinou, F. So, W. You, H. Ade, and K Gundogdu, Adv. Energy Mater. 1501032 (2015). Front cover of Journal

17. Direct optical observation of stimulated emission from hot charge transfer excitons in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells, B. R. Gautam, A. Barrette, C. Mai, L. Yan, Q. Zhang, E. Danilov,W. You, H. Ade, and Kenan Gundogdu, J. Phys. Chem. C, 119, 19697-19702 (2015).

16. A PCBM electron transport layer containing small amounts of dual polymer additives that enables enhanced perovskite solar cell performance, Z. Zhu, Q. Xue, H. He, K. Jiang, Z. Hu, Y. Bai, T. Zhang, S. Xiao, K. Gundogdu, B. R. Gautam, H. Ade, F. Huang, K. S. Wong, H. Yip, S. Yang, and H. Yan, Adv. Sci., 1500353 (2015).

15. A Femtosecond study of the anomaly in electron injection for dye-sensitized solar cells: the influence of isomerization employing Ru(II) sensitizers with anthracene and phenanthrene ancillary ligands, H. Cheema, R. Younts, L. Ogbose, B. Gautam, K. Gundogdu, and A. El-Shafei, Phys. Chem. Chem, Phys 17 (4), 2750-2756 (2015).

14. The effect of light-induced metastable defects on the magneto-conductance of poly (phenylene-vinylene) diodes, B. R. Gautam, D. Sun, T.D. Nguyen, and Z. V. Vardeny, SPIN, 4, (02), 1440012(2014).

13. Short-lived charge-transfer excitons in organic photovoltaic cells studied by high-field magneto-photocurrent, A.H. Devir-Wolfman*, B. Khachatryan*, B. R. Gautam*, L. Tzabary, A. Keren, N. Tessler, Z. V. Vardeny, and E. Ehrenfreund, Nat. Commun., 5, 4529 (2014). * contributed equally.

12. Observation of the energy transfer sequence in an organic host-guest system of a luminescent polymer and a phosphorescent molecule,T. Basel, D. Sun, B. Gautam, and V. Vardeny, J. Lumin. 155, 89-94(2014).

11. Giant magneto-electroluminescence from hybrid spin-organic light emitting diodes, D. Sun, T. P. Basel, B. R. Gautam, W. Han, X. Jiang, S. S. P. Parkin and Z. V. Vardeny, SPIN 4(01), 1450002(2014).

10. Correlation between ultrafast transient modulation spectroscopy and organic photovoltaic solar cell efficiency based on RR-P3HT/PCBM blends, B. Pandit, B. R. Gautam, T. P. Basel, and Z. V. Vardeny, Org. Electron. 15(6), 1149-1154(2014).

9. More stable and more efficient alternatives of Z-907: carbazole-based amphiphilic Ru (II) sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells, H. Cheema, A. Ishlam, R. Younts, B. Gautam, I. Bedga, R. K. Gupta, L. Han, K. Gundogdu, and A. El-Shafei, Phys. Chem. Chem, Phys 16 (4), 27078-27087 (2014).

8. Influence of mono versus bis- electron-donor ancillary ligands in heteroleptic Ru (II) bipyridyl complexes on the electron injection from the first excited singlet and triplet states in dye-sensitized solar cells, H. Cheema, A. Islam, L. Han, B. Gautam, R. Younts, K. Gundogdu, and A. El-Shafei, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2, 14228(2014).

7. Room-temperature magnetically modulated electroluminescence from hybrid organic/inorganic spintronics devices, D. Sun, T. P. Basel, B. R. Gautam, W. Han, X. Jiang, S. S. P. Parkin and Z. V. Vardeny, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103(4), 042411(2013).

6. Organic bulk heterojunction solar cells enhanced by spin interaction, Y. Zhang, B. R. Gautam, T. P. Basel, D.J. Mascaro, and Z.V. Vardeny, Synt. Met. 173, 2(2013).

5. Magnetic field effect spectroscopy of C60-based films and devices which lack hyperfine interaction, B. R. Gautam, T. D. Nguyen, E. Ehrenfreund, and Z. V. Vardeny, J. Appl. Phys., 113,143102 (2013).

4. Spin-enhanced organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic solar cells, Y. Zhang, T.P. Basel, B. R. Gautam, X. Yang, D.J. Mascaro, F. Liu, Z.V. Vardeny, Nat. Commun. 3, 1043 (2012).

3. Magnetic field effect on excited state spectroscopies in organic semiconductor films, B. R Gautam, T. D. Nguyen, E. Ehrenfreund, and Z. V. Vardeny, Phys. Rev. B 85, 205207 (2012).

2. Magneto-conductance of π-conjugated polymer based unipolar and bipolar diodes, T. D. Nguyen, B. R. Gautam, E. Ehrenfreund, and Z. V. Vardeny, Synth. Met., 161, 604 (2011).

1. Magnetoconductance response in unipolar and bipolar organic diodes at ultrasmall fields, T. D. Nguyen, B. R. Gautam, E. Ehrenfreund, and Z. V. Vardeny, Phys. Rev. Lett., 105, 166804 (2010).

Honors, Awards, and Grants

Awards

Teacher of the Year (2021-2022), College of Health, Science, and Technology, Fayetteville State University.

Teacher of the Year (2021-2022), Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science, Fayetteville State University.

Faculty Researcher of the Year (2020-2021), Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science, Fayetteville State University.

Faculty Researcher of the Year (2019-2020), Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science, Fayetteville State University.

Excellence in Research, Fayetteville State University. (2018-2019).

Faculty Mentor of the Year (2018-2019), Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science, Fayetteville State University.

Faculty Mentor of the Year (2017-2018), Department of Chemistry, Physics and Materials Science, Fayetteville State University.

Funded Grants

PI: Bhoj Gautam. Research Initiation Award: Structure-Property Relationships of Non-Fullerene Acceptors for Photovoltaic Applications. National Science Foundation, HRD 1900998, 04/01/2019-03/31/2023, $298,701.00 (ongoing).

PI: Zhiping Luo; Co-PI: Bhoj Gautam, Shubo Han, Shaik Zainuddin. Targeted Infusion Project: Development of an Interdisciplinary Materials Science Graduate Certificate Program (IMS-GCP) to Strengthen STEM Education through a Bridging Approach. National Science Foundation, HRD 2106181, 09/01/2021-08/31/2024, $400,000 (ongoing).

PI: Zhiping Luo; Co-PI: Bhoj Gautam, Shubo Han. Excellence in Research: Collaborative Research on Nanosensors to Develop Research Capacities at Interdisciplinary Materials Research and Education Laboratory (IMREL). National Science Foundation, ECCS 1900837, 09/01/2019-08/31/2022, $500,000 (ongoing).

PI: Zhiping Luo; Co-PI: Bhoj Gautam, Daryush Ila, Weigang Lu, Dan Neuman. IMREL-CHRNS Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (IC-PREM) using a National Facility. National Science Foundation, DMR 1827731, 09/01/2018-08/31/2022, $600,000 (ongoing).