For his dissertation work, Dr. Blackburn worked primarily at NREL with Dr. Arthur Nozik, studying ultra-fast relaxation and charge-transfer processes occurring in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and QD interfaces. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Michael Heben at NREL, focusing on the applications of low-dimensional carbon in hydrogen storage and photovoltaics. He is a Senior Scientist and Group Manager at NREL, leading projects on a variety of fundamental and applied research topics. His work focuses on low-dimensional carbon and includes the synthesis, purification, separation, and characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene. An overarching goal of his research is to produce highly pure, well-characterized, single-walled carbon nanotube and graphene samples that are rationally tailored for integration into renewable energy applications such as photovoltaics, thermoelectric devices, batteries, solar fuel generation, and fuel cells. 

Charge separation and transport in nanoscale systems

Steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy of nanoscale systems

Solar photochemistry

Thermoelectric energy conversion

Synthesis, purification, separation, and characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Synthesis, characterization, and device integration of graphen

Hydrogen storage

Photovoltaic materials and technologies