Paola N. Alboni
Address: PO Box 998
Central, SC 29630
Phone: 864-207-1127
Email: palboni@clemson.edu
Curriculum Vitae Summary:
Education
Clemson University Clemson, SC
Ph.D. Physics: (expected) August 2008, Ph.D. Advisor: Dr. Terry M. Tritt
M.S. Physics: December 2005
B.S. Physics: May 2001*
* Taught high school after BS and returned to Clemson for graduate study in Fall 2003
Research Experience
2003-present Graduate Research Assistant Complex and Advanced Materials Lab,
Clemson University, Clemson, SC
 Investigated thermoelectric properties (electrical and thermal) of various skutterudite systems
in an attempt to improve properties primarily through implementation of nanoparticles/layers
into bulk materials
2007
Visiting Researcher ELLETRA Synchrotron, Trieste, Italy, Summer of 2007
1998-2001
Undergraduate Research Assistant Complex and Advanced Materials Lab,
Clemson University, Clemson, SC
 Senior Thesis: Thermal Conductivity in AlCuFe Quasicrystals
Teaching Experience
2002-2007
2001-2002
Graduate Teaching Assistant Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Clemson University, Clemson, SC
High School Teacher Beaufort High School, Beaufort, SC
Professional Accomplishments
Publications : 13
Presentations : 17
Paola N. Alboni
PO Box 998, Central, SC 29630864-207-1127palboni@clemson.edu
Education
Clemson University Clemson, SC
 Advisor – Dr. Terry M. Tritt
Ph.D. Physics: (expected) August 2008
 Project motivation is to take proven and promising skutterudite compounds and try to enhance their TE properties by
introducing a layer of nanoparticles at the grain boundaries. Moving to lower dimensions could improve the electronic
properties via quantum effects, notably the Seebeck coefficient, while introducing nanoparticles should lower the lattice
thermal conductivity by effectively reducing the phonon mean free path through interface scattering.
M.S. Physics: December 2005
 Effect of Si-doping on the Thermoelectric Properties in Type I Ba8Ga16Ge30 Clathrates
 The electronic and thermal properties for the Ba8Ga16Ge30 and Ba8Ga16SixGe30-x systems were measured from 10
to 300 K with respect to their potential as thermoelectric materials. The Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity,
thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and Hall effect were studied to characterize the improvements in
thermoelectric potential from silicon doping.
 Worked in collaboration with Novel Materials Lab at USF
B.S. Physics: May 2001
 Graduated with Calhoun (general) honors, Departmental Honors, Cum Laude
 Concentration in Engineering, Minor in English
 Undergraduate research assistant May 98 – May 01
Research Experience
Graduate Research Assistant Complex and Advanced Materials Lab, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 2003-08

Investigated thermoelectric properties (electrical and thermal) of various skutterudite systems in an attempt to improve
properties primarily through implementation of nanoparticles/layers into bulk materials
 Responsible for rebuilding and/or maintaining several different measurement systems: low temperature R/S system,
Netzsch 457 Microflash, Netzsch 404C Pegasus DSC
 Proficiency in automated systems at low and high temperature: thermal and electrical properties, X-ray, SEM
 Custom designed resistivity and Seebeck coefficient (R/S) measurement system using 4-probe and differential
method respectively from 10-300K
 Custom designed thermal conductivity measurement system using steady-state method from 10-300K
 Low Temperature heat capacity and Hall measurements – Quantum Design PPMS
 High temperature R/S – Ulvac ZEM-2 R/S System
 High temperature thermal diffusivity – Netzsch 457 Microflash
 High temperature heat capacity – Netzsch 404C Pegasus DSC
 Solid-state synthesis technique using box and tube furnaces up to 1100°C
 Mentored undergraduates
 Guided student through senior thesis assisting in project development, planning, and experimentation. Served
as graduate advisor assisting in their acquirement of experimental skills and in their understanding of the
fundamental science and importance of their project. Assisted student with thesis writing and presentation.
 Created project for student and helped student develop project goals and experimental plan; facilitated the
experimental and data analysis process
 Oversaw and assisted students through general long-term research
 Trained beginning undergraduate and graduate students in thermoelectric research skills and data analysis
Visiting Researcher ELLETRA Synchrotron Trieste, Italy Summer 2007
 Gained familiarity with surface techniques: XPS, UPS, EELS
 Worked on beamline: BL 8.2 Beamline for Advanced DiCHroism (BACH)
Undergraduate Research Assistant Complex and Advanced Materials Lab, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 98-01
 Worked under mentorship of a graduate student and learned thermoelectric research skills and data analysis

Senior Thesis: Thermal Conductivity in AlCuFe Quasicrystals
Project introduced synthesis of quasicrystals by arc-melting, as well as continued TE measurements and data analysis.
Results presented at The Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS).
Teaching Experience
Graduate Teaching Assistant Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 2002-07

Developed new grading criteria and methods as well as revised guidelines for class structure. Initiated the
classroom renovation and focused the facilities toward the development of the students’ experimentation skills.
 Instituted formal report writing and poster presentation with a final presentation to be made at a poster session
where students presented their experimental results to other students and faculty in order to prepare students with
presentation skills.
 Established new projects, maintained standard projects, and refurbished lost or damaged projects. Responsible for
being familiar with and overseeing approximately 50 modern physics experiments.
 Taught approximately 150 students over tenure of being a TA
High School Teacher Beaufort High School, Beaufort, SC 2001-2002
 Taught approximately 100 students
 International Baccalaureate (IB) Committee/ Training
 Taught Honors/IB Biology, Honors/IB Chemistry, and Physical Science
 Coached 2nd place Chemistry Academic Team
 Coached Junior Varsity Soccer
Honors/Awards
College of Engineering and Science Outstanding Junior
Department of Physics Outstanding Sophomore
Scholarships: ~$15,000/yr (1997-2001)
Interests/Skills
Language Proficiency
 English (fluent)
 Spanish (fluent)
 Italian (proficient)
Software experience with Microsoft Office Suite, CANVAS, Lab VIEW, IgorPro
Founding member of College of Engineering and Science Departmental tours 1998-2001
 Developed layout, tour format, and script for the Physics Department aimed toward interests of potential Clemson
students and their parents
Student representative for departmental hiring committee 2000-2008 (Dept chair, office staff, DOE appointments, Lab
coordinator)
Active member of St. Andrews Catholic Church
 Graduate Catholic Student Association – Coordinator (Spring 2004)
 Lector
Avid participant in Yoga and Pilates
Liquid Nitrogen Demo tours for school groups
Publications
Thermoelectric Properties of Co0.99Ni0.01Sb3-CoSb3 Nanocomposites
P.N. Alboni, X.Ji, J. He, N. Gothard and Terry M. Tritt
(in progress -- 2008)
Thermoelectric Properties of La0.9CoFe3Sb12-CoSb3 Skutterudite Nanocomposites
P.N. Alboni, X.Ji, J. He, N. Gothard and Terry M. Tritt
Jour. Appl. Phys., (in progress -- 2008)
Thermoelectric properties of p-type half-Heusler alloys Zr1-xTixCoSnySb1-y < x > 0.5; y = 0.15 and 0.3)
V. Ponnambalam, Paola N. Alboni, J. Edwards and Terry M. Tritt, Slade R. Culp and S. Joseph Poon
Jour Appl. Phys. In press, XX, XXX (2008)
The Application of a Nano Surface Coating Technique in the Fabrication of Bulk Size Thermoelectric Nanocomposites.
Bo Zhang, Xiaohua Ji, Paola Alboni, Zhe Su, Huqin Zhang, Jian He and Terry M. Tritt
Proceedings of 2007 International Conference on Thermoelectrics,
2007 ITS Meeting, Jeju Island, Korea (June 3-7th, 2007) in press
Thermal and electrical transport properties of nano-particles added half-Heusler alloys
V. Ponnambalam, Sloan Lindsey, Paola N. Alboni, Brad Edwards and Terry M. Tritt
Proceedings of Symposium U, in press
2007 Fall MRS Meeting, Boston, MA (Nov. 26-30th, 2007)
The study of solvothermal synthesis of Nano-engineered CoSb3 Skutterudite thermoelectric materials
X. Ji, J. He, P.N. Alboni, T.M. Tritt, and J Kolis
Proceedings of Symposium U, in press
2007 Fall MRS Meeting, Boston, MA (Nov. 26-30th, 2007)
Thermal Conductivity of CoSb3 nano-composites grown via a novel solvothermal nano-plating technique
X. Ji, J. He, P. N. Alboni, Z, Su, N. Gothard, J. Kolis and Terry M. Tritt,
Phys.Stat.Soli., (Rapid Review Letters), 1, no.6, pp.229-231, (2007)
Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties of “Nano-Engineered” CoSb3 Skutterudite Materials
P. N. Alboni, X. Ji, J. He, N. Gothard, J. Hubbard, and Terry M. Tritt
Jour Elec. Materials 36, 711 (2007)
Structural and transport properties of Ba8Ga16SixGe46-x clathrates
J. Martin, S. Erickson, G.S. Nolas, P. Alboni, T.M. Tritt, and J. Yang
J. Appl. Phys. 99, 044903 (2006).
Thermoelectric Properties of Ba-Filled Si-Ge Alloy Type I Semiconducting Clathrates
J. Martin, S. Erickson, G.S. Nolas, P. Alboni and T.M. Tritt
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, June 19-23, 2005, IEEE Press (2005)
Investigation of i-AlCuFe Quasicrystals and their  and Approximants as Thermoelectric Materials
P. N. Alboni, A. L. Pope, T. M. Tritt, A. R. Ross, C. Jenks, and D. Sordolet
Materials Research Society, Symposium G, (Thermoelectric Materials)
MRS Fall 2001 Proceedings, Editors: G. S. Nolas, D. Mandrus and D. Johnson
691, 233-238 (2002)
Effects of the Addition of Rhenium on the Thermoelectric Properties of the AlPdMn Quasicrystalline System
Amy L. Pope, Robert Gagnon, Robert Schneidmiller, Paola Alboni, Roy T Littleton, IV, Bartosz Zawilski, Donny
Winkler, Terry M. Tritt, John Strom-Olsen, Joseph W. Kolis, Stephan Legault
MRS Vol 626, Z5.1.1 (2000)
Effects of the Addition of Co on the Thermoelectric Properties of the AlPdMn Quasicrystalline System
A.L. Pope, T. M. Tritt, P. N. Alboni, R. Gagnon, S. Legault, J. Strom-Olsen,
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of Thermoelectrics,
Baltimore, MD, August 1999, IEEE Press, 605(2000)
Presentations
Effect of CoSb3 Nanoparticles on Filled and Unfilled CoSb3 Skutterudites.
Paola N Alboni, X. Ji, N. Gothard, J. He and T. M. Tritt
MRS Fall 2007
Thermal and Electrical Transport Properties of Nano-Particles Added Half-Heusler Alloys.
Vijayabarathi Ponnambalam, Sloan Lindsey, Paola N. Alboni, Brad Edwards and Terry M. Tritt
MRS Fall 2007
Thermoelectric Properties of Bulk Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt, Xiaohua Ji, Jian He, Bo Zhang, Nick Gothard, Paola Alboni, and Huqin Zhang
Meet. Abstr. - Electrochem. Soc. 702, 329 (2007)
Thermoelectric Properties of Bulk Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt, B. Zhang, X. Ji, J. He, H. Zhang, N. Gothard and P. Alboni,
Keynote Lecture, Advanced Ceramics and Technology for Sustainable Energy Applications, Nov. 4-7, 2007, Howard Beach
Resort Kenting, Taiwan
Lattice Thermal Conductivity and Thermoelectric Properties of Bulk Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt, X. Ji, J. He, B. Zhang, N. Gothard, P. Alboni and H. Zhang,
7th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology (PacRim7) on November 11-14th,2007
at Shanghai International Conventional Center, China.
Lattice Thermal Conductivity and Thermoelectric Properties of Bulk Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt,* X. Ji, J. He, B. Zhang, N. Gothard, P. Alboni and H. Zhang,
Focused Invited Session on Thermoelectrics: November 15-18th, 2007 at Wuhan, China.
Thermoelectric Properties of Bulk Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt,* X. Ji, J. He, B. Zhang, N. Gothard, P. Alboni and H. Zhang,
Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage"
Fall meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Washington DC,
USA, October 7 -12, 2007
Thermal Conductivity and other Thermoelectric Properties of Nano-Composite Thermoelectric Materials
Terry M. Tritt, Bo Zhang, X. Ji, J. He, N. Gothard, P. Alboni, Xing Gao, & M.S. Daw
Special Session on Low Thermal Conductivity Materials,
29th International Conference on Thermal Conductivity, June 24-27th, 2007 Birmingham, Al
Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties of Nano-Engineered CoSb3Skutterudite Materials
P. N. Alboni, Xiaohua Ji, N. Gothard, J. He,Terry M. Tritt
Materials Science and Technology 2006 Conference
Hydrothermal and Solvothermal Syntheses of Nano-Engineered Thermoelectric Materials and Their Potentials as
Inclusions in FormingNano-Composites TE Materials
Xiaohua Ji, Bo Zhang, Paola N. Alboni, Huqin Zhang, Terry M. Tritt1
Materials Science and Technology 2006 Conference
Thermal Properties of Ba8Ga16SixGe30-x Clathrates
Paola Alboni, Terry M. Tritt, Joshua Martin and G.S. Nolas
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, June 19-23, 2005, Clemson, SC, IEEE Press, (2005)
Thermoelectric Properties of Ba-Filled Si-Ge Alloy Type I Semiconducting Clathrates
J. Martin, S. Erickson, G.S. Nolas, P. Alboni and T.M. Tritt
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, June 19-23, 2005, IEEE Press (2005)
Synthesis, characterization and theoretical studies of new conjugated polymers for thermoelectrical applications Reactive
and Functional Polymers
Lévesque, X. Gao, J. Tse, D.D. Klug, C.I. Ratcliffe, M. Leclerc, P. Alboni, T. Tritt
Volume 65, Issues 1-2, November 2005, Pages 191-194
Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Polymers and Organic Chemistry 2004 (POC’04)
Thermoelectric Properties of AlCuFe Quasicrystals and their Approximants
P. N. Alboni, A. L. Pope, T. M. Tritt, A. R. Ross, C. Jenks and P. Thiel
2001 Fall MRS Meeting, Symposium G, Thermoelectric Materials,editors: G. S. Nolas, D. Mandrus and D. Johnson
MRS Fall 2001 Symposium G:# G8-12
Electrical Transport in Quasicrystalline AlCuFeCr Thin Films
P. N. Alboni, A. L. Pope and T. M. Tritt,
2000 Fall American Ceramics Society Meeting- Electronics Division,
organizers: R. Guo, B. Schwartz, P. Davis and T. M. Tritt
Thermal Conductivity in AlCuFe Quasicrystals
P.N. Alboni, A.L. Pope, T.M. Tritt , Cynthia Jenks, Pat Thiel
Southeast Regional American Physical Society meeting, November 7-9, 1999, Chapel Hill, NC.
Thermoelectric properties of partially filled skutterudites
M. Kaeser, T.M. Tritt, G.S. Nolas, R.T. Littleton, P. Alboni and A.L. Pope
Southeast Regional American Physical Society meeting, November 7-9, 1999, Chapel Hill, NC.
Patents
“Hydothermal Coating of Nanometers Thick Coating on Larger Nanoparticles or Grains”
Terry M. Tritt, Bo Zhang, Dr. Jian He, Dr. Xiaohua Ji, Nick Gothard, Su Zhu and Paola Alboni