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Research Overview My research program focuses on new syntheses and structures of metal-oxide and -oxide/organic hybrid solids (e.g. MM’OL; M/M’ = early and late transition metals; L = coordinating ligand) that are aimed at the discovery and understanding of catalytic and electronic/magnetic properties. Our current research investigations include the development of hydrothermal and molten-salt synthetic routes to these new materials,
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Last updated: February, 2005 |
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and that enable greater diversity and control over their structures, compositions, and particle sizes and morphologies. For example, these synthetic methods are ideal for inserting coordinating organic ligands into metal-oxides as structure-directing agents, shown in Figure 1a, and have enabled us to utilize new molecular-level strategies for elucidating the underlying principles for the formation of three-dimensional frameworks. These hybrid solids have revealed new expressions of rare structural features such as chiral pillaring, small-molecule absorption, and the stabilization of coordinatively-unsaturated metal sites in solids. Furthermore, the flexibility of synthetic conditions (temperature, reaction duration, flux type and molar ratio) allows for control over the growth of the crystallite particle sizes from the nano- to the micrometer length scales, as illustrated in Figure 1b. Thus, in contrast to standard ‘grind and heat’ methods, our synthetic techniques have led to the establishment of new forms of molecular- and micro-structural control for many metal oxides, and that represent the essential underlying elements in our research. Current research areas are centered around the synthesis and design of 1) new photocatalytic metal-oxides and –oxide/organic hybrids for the production of hydrogen, and 2) unique electronic/magnetic hybrid solids with a structural flexibility for enabling new interactions with molecular guest species.