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Peter Palomaki

Postdoctoral Researcher

Photo of Peter Palomaki
Phone: 
(303) 384-7674
Email: 
peter.palomaki@nrel.gov
At NREL Since: 
2012

Dr. Palomaki received a B.S. in Chemistry from Muhlenberg College where he was a member of the varsity soccer team and captain of the club ice hockey team. Research under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Keane introduced him to inorganic synthesis and glove box techniques while honing his scientific writing skills. In graduate school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, under the guidance of Dr. Peter Dinolfo he developed a facile deposition method to create covalently linked multiporphyrin arrays with applications in dye-sensitized solar cells as well as other PV technologies. It was during this time that Dr. Palomaki became passionate about developing renewable energy technologies (specifically next-generation solar) that will change the way our world uses energy. He also expanded his expertise by working with fuel cells during an industrial internship at GE Global Research, working on membrane electrode assembly fabrication and testing with liquid hydrocarbon fuels.

Dr. Palomaki joined NREL in the summer of 2012 as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Nathan Neale, working on semiconducting nanocrystal (NC) synthesis and surface functionalization. A deeper understanding of the NC surface chemistry and how it affects photophysical properties could lead to improvements in next-generation PV devices that utilize semiconducting NC.

Research Interests 

  • Nanomaterials for renewable energy applications
  • Semiconducting Nanocrystals: synthesis and surface chemistry
  • Light harvesting and charge transport systems
  • Manipulating photophysical properties of materials, surfaces, and interfaces
  • Next-generation photovoltaic technologies

Education 

  • 2007-2012 Ph.D., Chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY

  • 2003-2007 B.S Chemistry (High Honors), Muhlenberg College; Allentown, PA

Selected Publications 

  1. Palomaki, P. K. B.; Dinolfo, P. H. (2012). "Photocurrent enhancement by multilayered porphyrin sensitizers in a photoelectrochemical cell." Submitted
  2. Palomaki, P. K. B.; Dinolfo, P. H. (2011). "Structural analysis of porphyrin multilayer films on ITO assembled using copper(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition by ATR IR." ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (3:12); pp. 4703-4713.
  3. Palomaki, P. K. B.; Krawicz, A.; Dinolfo, P. H. (2011). "Thickness, surface morphology, and optical properties of porphyrin multilayer thin films assembled on Si(100) using copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition." Langmuir (27:8); pp. 4613-4622.
  4. Palomaki, P. K. B.; Dinolfo, P. H. (2010). "A versatile molecular layer-by-layer thin film fabrication technique utilizing copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition." Langmuir (26:12); pp. 9677-9685.
  5. Palomaki, P. K. B.; Soloveichik, G. L. (2010). "Preliminary testing of liquid hydrocarbons in fuel cells." General Electric internal report, 2010GRC936.
  6. Saunders, J. E.; Ley, A. N.; Palomaki, P. K. B. (2009). "Synthesis and characterization of fac-dicarbonylnitrosyltris(1-methylimidazole) molybdenum(0) hexaflurophosphate." Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research (8:3); pp. 98-101.
  7. Dilsky, S.; Palomaki, P. K. B.; Rubin, J. A.; Saunders, J. E.; Pike, R. D.; Sabat, M.; Keane, J. M.; Ha, Y. (2007). "Synthesis and reactivity of cationic bipyridine tungsten(0) and molybdenum(0) nitrosyl complexes." Inorganica Chimica Acta (360:7); pp. 2387-2396.