About

Suneel Kodambaka is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research interests focus on the science underlying the synthesis and stability of advanced materials for aerospace, energy storage, optoelectronics, and other industries. He develops a detailed atomic-level understanding of the mass transport mechanisms, chemical reaction kinetics, and material thermodynamics that control the morphological, compositional, and structural evolution of materials. Professor Kodambaka holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, obtained in 2002. He also earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1996 and a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1995. His professional activities include reviewing proposals for various agencies, refereeing for prominent scientific journals, organizing symposia, and serving on editorial boards. He has received numerous awards, including the Alumni Achievement Award from Southern Illinois University, the Paul H. Holloway Young Investigator Award from AVS, and the Ross J. Martin Award for outstanding doctoral thesis from UIUC.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Metallurgy
• Chemical engineering
• Chemical physics
• Physical chemistry
• Composite material
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• Direct Observation of Structural Phase Transformations during Phosphorene Formation on Cu(111)

  ACS Nano · 2025-01-22 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  Blue phosphorene, a two-dimensional, hexagonal-structured, semiconducting phosphorus, has gained attention as it is considered easier to synthesize on metal surfaces than its allotrope, black phosphorene. Recent studies report different structures of phosphorene, for example, on Cu(111), but the underlying mechanisms of their formation are not known. Here, using a combination of in situ ultrahigh vacuum low-energy electron microscopy and in vacuo scanning tunneling microscopy, we determine the time evolution of the surface structure and morphology during the deposition of phosphorus on single-crystalline Cu(111). We find that during the early stages of deposition phosphorus intermixes with Cu, resulting in copper phosphide structures. With the increasing surface concentration of phosphorus, the phosphide phase disappears, and a blue phosphorene layer forms, followed by the self-assembly of highly ordered phosphorus clusters that eventually grow into multilayer islands. We attribute the unexpected transformation of stable phosphide to a phosphorene layer to the presence of a large concentration of P2 dimers on the surface. Our results constitute direct evidence for a growth mode leading to a flat phosphorene layer via an intermediary phase, which could underpin the growth of other 2D materials on strongly interacting substrates.

  PublisherDOI

• Capillary Wave Driven Dynamics of Graphene Domains during Growth on Molten Metals

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · 2025-09-17

  articleOpen access

  Rheotaxy─growth of crystalline layers on molten surfaces─is considered as a promising approach for achieving large-scale monolayers of two-dimensional (2D) materials via seamless stitching of 2D domains during growth on molten metals. However, the mechanisms leading to this process are not well understood. Here, we present in situ microscopic observations of rheotaxy of graphene via chemical vapor deposition on molten gold and copper. We show that the graphene domains undergo translational and rotational motions, leading to self-assembly, during growth on molten metals. Using environmental and ultrahigh vacuum scanning electron microscopy and high-temperature (∼1300 K) atomic force microscopy, coupled with density functional theory and continuum modeling, we suggest that the observed graphene domain dynamics is due to forces arising from capillary waves on the surface of the liquid metal. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms leading to self-assembly during rheotaxy of 2D layers.

  PublisherDOI

• Enhanced crystallinity in Ta2C thin films grown on free-standing graphene

  Surface and Coatings Technology · 2025-02-26 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Unusual secondary slip activity at room temperature in VC single crystals

  Materials & Design · 2024-07-27 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Cubic transition-metal carbides are high-melting compounds with remarkable high-temperature mechanical properties but are generally considered to be brittle at low-temperatures. Here, we report on the activation of multiple slip systems and plasticity in 001, 110, and 111 oriented vanadium carbide (VC) single-crystals subjected to uniaxial compression at room-temperature. Using in situ scanning electron microscopy based mechanical testing, we observe plastic strains up to 21%, size-dependent yielding, and work hardening in VC(0 0 1) and VC(1 1 1). In comparison, VC(1 1 0) crystals are relatively brittle with limited localized plasticity. VC(1 1 1) crystals exhibit the highest yield strengths of up to ∼23 GPa while VC(0 0 1) crystals are some of the softest with yield strengths as low as ∼13 GPa. For loading along [1 1 0], we find that only the primary slip system, {1 1 1}〈11¯0〉, is active. In VC(0 0 1) and VC(1 1 1), we find the operation of two sets of slip systems, [{1 1 0}〈11¯0〉 and {1 1 1}〈11¯0〉] and [{1 1 1}〈11¯0〉 and {1 0 0}〈11¯0〉], respectively. Intriguingly, the estimated critical resolved shear stresses for all the three slip systems are nearly the same. Our results, which reveal orientation-dependent differences in the activity of the same slip system, provide new insights into plastic deformation in refractory compounds.

  PublisherDOI

• Perspective on descriptors of mechanical behavior of cubic transition-metal carbides and nitrides

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-04-19

  preprintOpen access

  Cubic rocksalt structured transition-metal carbides, nitrides, and related alloys (TMC/Ns) are attractive for a wide variety of applications, notably as hard, wear-resistant material. To-date, valence electron concentration (VEC) is used as a good indicator of stability and mechanical properties of these refractory compounds. In this perspective, we argue for the need for electronic descriptors beyond VEC to explain and predict the mechanical behavior of the cubic TMC/Ns. As such, we point out that descriptors that highlight differences between constituent have been underused, along with semi-empirical models of mechanical properties. Additionally, it appears promising to partition VEC into contribution to ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds and we suggest that such partition could provide more insight into predicting mechanical properties in the future.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Direct observation of structural phase transformations during continuous phosphorus deposition on Cu(111)

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-08-23

  preprintOpen access

  Blue phosphorene -- two-dimensional, hexagonal-structured, semiconducting phosphorus -- has gained attention as it is considered easier to synthesize on metal surfaces than its allotrope, black phosphorene. Recent studies report different structures of phosphorene, for example, on Cu(111), but the underlying mechanisms of their formation are not known. Here, using a combination of in situ ultrahigh vacuum low-energy electron microscopy and in vacuo scanning tunneling microscopy, we determine the time-evolution of the surface structure and morphology during the deposition of phosphorus on single-crystalline Cu(111). We find that during early stages of deposition, phosphorus intermixes with Cu, resulting in copper phosphide structures. With increasing surface concentration of phosphorus, the phosphide phase disappears and a blue phosphorene layer forms, followed by self-assembly of highly ordered phosphorus clusters that eventually grow into multilayer islands. We attribute the unexpected transformation of stable phosphide to a phosphorene layer, and the previously unreported multilayer growth, to the presence of a large concentration of P2 dimers on the surface. Our results constitute direct evidence for a new growth mode leading to a phosphorene layer via an intermediary phase, which could underpin the growth of other 2D materials on strongly interacting substrates.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unusual Secondary Slip Activity at Room Temperature in VC Single Crystals

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Perspective on descriptors of mechanical behaviour of cubic transition-metal carbides and nitrides

  Philosophical Magazine Letters · 2024-05-31 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Cubic rocksalt structured transition-metal carbides, nitrides (TMC/Ns), and related alloys, are attractive for a wide variety of applications, notably as hard, wear-resistant materials. To-date, valence electron concentration (VEC) is used as a good indicator of stability and mechanical properties of these refractory compounds. In this perspective, we argue for the need of electronic descriptors beyond VEC to explain and predict the mechanical behaviour of the cubic TMC/Ns. As such, we point out that descriptors that highlight differences between constituents, along with semi-empirical models of mechanical properties, have been underused. Additionally, it appears promising to partition VEC into contribution to ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds and we suggest that such partition could provide more insights into predicting mechanical properties in the future.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Borazine Promoted Growth of Highly Oriented Thin Films

  Nano Letters · 2023-05-02 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  We report on a phenomenon, where thin films sputter-deposited on single-crystalline Al2O3(0001) substrates exposed to borazine─a precursor commonly used for the synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride layers─are more highly oriented than those grown on bare Al2O3(0001) under the same conditions. We observed this phenomenon in face-centered cubic Pd, body-centered cubic Mo, and trigonal Ta2C thin films grown on Al2O3(0001). Interestingly, intermittent exposure to borazine during the growth of Ta2C thin films on Ta2C yields better crystallinity than direct deposition of monolithic Ta2C. We attribute these rather unusual results to a combination of both enhanced adatom mobilities on, and epitaxial registry with, surfaces exposed to borazine during the deposition. We expect that our approach can potentially help improve the crystalline quality of thin films deposited on a variety of substrates.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanoscale friction of high entropy alloy sulfide thin films in comparison with molybdenum disulfide

  Applied Physics Letters · 2023-12-25 · 4 citations

  article

  We present nanoscale friction measurements performed on sputter-deposited high entropy alloy (HEA) sulfide thin films [(VNbTaMoW)S2] via atomic force microscopy. The results reveal (i) the influence of deposition time on the film morphology and (ii) the presence of isolated areas of low friction on film surfaces. We compare the friction results on HEA sulfide thin films with those on a prototypical solid lubricant, sputter-deposited molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and find that they are superior in terms of lubricative performance. Variable temperature x-ray diffraction, performed up to 973 K, reveals that HEA sulfide thin films exhibit improved oxidation resistance when compared with MoS2 films. Combined, our results show that HEA sulfide thin films have considerable potential as oxidation-resistant solid lubricant coatings.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Engineering the Morphology and Microstructure of Group III-V Compound Semiconducting Nanowires

  NSF · $195k · 2009–2012

• High-Temperature Surface Dynamics of Transition-Metal Oxides

  NSF · $290k · 2012–2015

• Kinetics of Thin Film Growth on van der Waals Surfaces

  NSF · $418k · 2022–2022

• Revealing Ductility in Transition-Metal Carbides through Small Scale Experiments and Modeling

  NSF · $360k · 2016–2019

• GOALI: In Situ Electron Microscopy Studies of Zinc Electrodeposition for Secondary Battery Applications

  NSF · $370k · 2013–2016

Frequent coauthors

• I. Petrov

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  72 shared

• Cristian V. Ciobanu

  Colorado School of Mines

  57 shared

• V. Petrova

  Institute of Biochemical Physics NM Emanuel

  53 shared

• Javier Bareño

  Argonne National Laboratory

  44 shared

• J. E. Greene

  Boston University

  34 shared

• Frances M. Ross

  IIT@MIT

  32 shared

• Vivek B. Shenoy

  University of Pennsylvania

  29 shared

• Vincent Gambin

  Northrop Grumman (United States)

  28 shared

Awards & honors

• AVS ambassador, 37th Brazilian Congress on Vacuum Applicatio…
• Alumni Achievement Award, Southern Illinois University at Ca…
• Paul H. Holloway Young Investigator Award, AVS International…
• Best Paper Award, IBM Materials Research Community (2008)
• Ross J. Martin Award, outstanding doctoral thesis, College o…