Testing a CASPiE module for students at Ball State University: Band gap tuning of zinc oxide films for solar energy conversion

CHED 370

Adam R. Campbell, arcampbell3@bsu.edu, Jackson Hui, jzhui@bsu.edu, Suzanna Savoy, smsavoy@bsu.edu, Randall Short, rtshort@bsu.edu, Nathan Evans, nwevans@bsu.edu, Temidayo Macarthy, tomacarthy@bsu.edu, Jason Dunham, and Jason W. Ribblett, jwribblett@bsu.edu. Department of Chemistry, Ball State University, 2000 University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306
The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) is a multi-institutional collaborative effort designed to address major barriers to providing research experiences to beginning undergraduate science students. As part of CASPiE, the Department of Chemistry at Ball State University is considering the use of the band-gap module in the second semester general chemistry course. This module exposes students to alternative fuels, including the production of solar cells using zinc oxides. Many factors influence the efficiency of the zinc oxide solar cell, including the thickness of the zinc oxide, the temperature at which the oxide was formed, and the metal ions used to dope the zinc oxide coating. The main purpose for this project was to work through the module to determine which combination of the three variables (thickness, temperature, metals) gave the best overall results. The module was then evaluated to determine how well it would fit within the framework of the course.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Chemical Education
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008