Renu Sharma

Dr. Renu Sharma is a Project Leader in the Nanofabrication Research Group. She received a B.S. and B.Ed. in Physics and Chemistry from Panjab University, India, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Solid State Chemistry from the University of Stockholm, Sweden, where she had a Swedish Institute Fellowship. Renu joined the CNST in 2009, coming from Arizona State University (ASU), where she began as a Faculty Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Solid State Science, and most recently served as a Senior Research Scientist in the LeRoy Eyring Center for Solid State Science and as an affiliated faculty member in the School of Materials and Department of Chemical Engineering. Renu has been a pioneer in the development of environmental scanning transmission electron microscopy (E(S)TEM), combining atomic-scale dynamic imaging with chemical analysis to probe gas-solid reactions. She has applied this powerful technique to characterize the atomic-scale mechanisms underlying the synthesis and reactivity of nanoparticles (including catalysts), nanotubes, nanowires, inorganic solids, ceramics, semiconductors, and superconductor materials. Renu has received a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) Faculty Research Fellowship, is a past President of the Arizona Imaging and Microanalysis Society, and has given over 70 invited presentations, and published 3 book chapters and over 160 research articles. At the CNST, Renu is establishing advanced E(S)TEM measurement capabilities for nanoscience research and contributing her research expertise to the operation of a new TEM facility in the NanoFab.

Selected Programs/Projects

• In Situ Characterization of Nanoscale Gas-Solid Interactions by TEM

Selected Publications

• Evaluation of the role of Au in improving catalystic activity of Ni nanoparticles for the formation of one-dimensional carbon nanostructures, R. Sharma, S. W. Chee, A. Herzing, R. Miranda and P. Rez, Nano Letters 11, 2464-2471 (2011).
• A spray drying system for synthesis of rare-earth doped cerium oxide nanoparticles, V. Sharma, K. M. Eberhardt, R. Sharma, J. B. Adams, and P. A. Crozier, Chemical Physics Letters 495, 280-286 (2010). 
• Kinetic measurements from in situ TEM observations, R. Sharma, Microscopy Research and Techniques 72, 144-152 (2009).
• Site-specific fabrication of Fe particles for carbon nanotube Growth, R. Sharma, E. Moore, P. Rez, and M. M. J. Treacy, Nano Letters 9, 689-694 (2009).
• Ledge flow controlled catalyst interface dynamics during Si nanowire growth, S. Hofmann, R. Sharma, C. T. Wirth, F. Cervantes-Sodi, C. Ducati, T. Kasama, R. Dunin-Borkowski, J. Drucker, P. Bennett, and J. Robertson, Nature Materials 7, 372-375 (2008).
• Measuring the redox activity of individual nanoparticles in cerium-based oxides, R. Wang, P. A. Crozier, R. Sharma, and J. B. Adams, Nano Letters 8, 962-967 (2008).