Kevin Gococo Ng, an undergraduate student in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, received a Best Symposium Presentation Award at the 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) symposium held in late July.

Kevin Gococo Ng with interim dean Mark Lundstrom

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides an action-oriented research experience for undergraduate students to stimulate their interest in advanced education and research careers. Selected students are engaged in research where they are matched with a faculty member and graduate student mentor who introduce them to the research tools used on the cutting edges of science, engineering, and technology.

Ng’s research project, Polyselenide Chemistry for Photovoltaic Applications, involved a new and facile route to directly produce soluble metal polyselenides and the application of these complexes as solution-phase precursors for metal selenide synthesis. 

Under the mentorship of graduate students Jonathan W. Turnley and Robert M. Spilker, and Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Ng crystallized the metal polyselenides and utilized X-Ray Diffraction to determine the exact structure of the complexes. Additionally, he utilized these precursors to make metal selenide thin films for application in solar cells.