Jolene Cao
Smithtown High School East
Saint James, New York
Stable and Magnetically Responsive Perovskite Quantum Dots for Programmable Light Polarization
Jolene designed a perovskite quantum dot (PQD) nanomaterial that can change its nanoscale arrangements on demand. PQDs are tiny crystals that glow when exposed to energy. These are used in future 3D displays and computer chips.
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Jolene Cao, 17, of Saint James, New York, designed a magnetically responsive perovskite quantum dot (PQD) nanomaterial for her Regeneron Science Talent Search materials science project. PQDs are tiny crystals that glow when exposed to energy. They have unique optical and electrical properties that make them useful for applications like bioimaging, anti-counterfeiting, encryption and quantum communication. However, they degrade quickly, making commercial fabrication difficult.
In her project, Jolene figured out how to make stable cesium lead halide PQDs. She stabilized the PDQs by encasing them in a polymer shell with a magnetic iron oxide rod to make them magnetic. The shell increased stability 53-fold compared to free PQDs. Under a magnetic field, her PDQs assembled, giving off different types of polarized light depending on their structure. With optimization, this material could be used for the next generation of optoelectronic materials.
Jolene, the child of Yifang Cao and Le Yan, attends Smithtown High School East, where she founded the school’s first ChemClub. She is president of several STEM clubs and plays the harp at the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York.
Beyond the Project
Jolene presented a poster on breast cancer detection at the Materials Research Society Fall 2023 Meeting. She has submitted her paper for peer review to the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials.
FUN FACTS: Jolene volunteers as a skating instructor for toddlers and loves creating games for them. She is an award-winning competitive figure skater and has been skating since first grade.
