Research Interests
Our research interests are focused on the development of the new generation of heterogeneous catalysts, optics, chemical and biological sensors, and gas-storages based upon nano-, micro-, and macro-scaled porous metal-organic framework (MOF) and coordination polymer materials.
Self-assembly of two or more components into supramolecular nanostructures, networks, and polymers has been used to generate materials that have many potential applications in magnetics, optics, molecular recognition, catalysis, sensing, separations, and general guest-host interactions. The recognition process implicit in the formation of such materials is most commonly based on hydrogen bonding, p-p stacking, or metal-ligand interactions.
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Another class of materials are nano- and microparticles, which play important roles in many different areas, including catalysis, optics, biosensing, and data storage. In general, organic particles can be prepared either by polymerization of a monomer or precipitation methods. In the case of inorganic ones, particle fabrication tends to involve the reduction of a metal salt, or the controlled addition of two salts, each of which typically supplies a metal cation and an elemental anion (e.g. S2-, Se2-, O2-). Promising subsets of materials are ones based upon well-defined metalloligand precursors, which provide an additional level of tailorability. We have demonstrated the formation of a new class of metal-metalloligand coordination polymer particles from metal ions and predefined metalloligand precursors.
The ease with which these particles can be fabricated, and the ability to tailor their chemical and physical properties through the choice of metal ion, organic ligand, and solvent used, should facilitate investigations of their scope for practical applications.
