Tags: Inorganic Seminar


PbTiO3 Nanosheets from a Layered Titanate Precursor

Freestanding nanosheets of lead titanate (PbTiO3) were synthesized via a hydrothermal approach. PbTiO3 is distinguished for being a piezoelectric material that exhibits ferroelectricity, as well as for having a high Curie temperature compared to other perovskite materials. For this reason, research on PbTiO3 nanomaterials is of great interest for applications involving high temperature piezoelectric ceramics and microelectronics. The isolation…


Engineered Manganese-Based Nanoparticles as MRI Contrast Agents for Early Tumor Detection

Cancer is a fatal disease, affecting approximately 25% of the population worldwide1. Given the global impact, early detection of cancer is needed to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality2. Unfortunately, not all forms of cancer diagnosis such as blood tests or biopsy can detect the disease during its early stages. Medical imaging has emerged as one of the salient tools for early detection, but not all imaging modalities fit this criterion. Some…


Advances in Polycrystalline P-type SnSe for Thermoelectric Applications

Approximately two-thirds of the energy utilized globally is lost as heat in the atmosphere.1 The role of thermoelectric materials is gaining more attention to recycle this lost energy, especially in light of the increased worldwide projection for energy demand. Unfortunately, the conversion efficiency of thermoelectric applications averages around 5-10%, which raises concern regarding the ability to expand these applications on a wider scale.2…


Manganese coordination chemistry: opportunities and applications for magnetic resonance imaging

My talk will cover work on two projects. One project focuses on the development of new Mn coordination complexes as a replacement for commercially available MRI contrast agents, which are all gadolinium-based. This work is driven by a high-state of anxiety surrounding well-established and newly emergent toxicity concerns related to Gd-based contrast agents. The other project is focused on developing redox active Mn coordination complexes as…


Synthesis of Carbene-Stabilized Silylenes and 1,3,2-Diazaborole-Derived Carbene Complexes

The investigation of novel silylene (:SiR2) species will be presented. The reaction of carbene-stabilized disilicon(0) with one equivalent of Fe(CO)5 at room temperature yields the carbene-stabilized Si2Fe(CO)4 complex (1). Further reaction of 1 with an additional equivalent of Fe(CO)5 at raised temperatures affords carbene-stabilized silylene-iron carbonyl cluster, Si[μ-Fe2(CO)6](μ-CO)Si (2), through the insertion of a CO and a Fe2(CO)6 unit…


Photophysics of Metal-Organic Frameworks with Emphasis on Directional Energy Transfer

The study of energy transfer (ET) processes is a cornerstone of modern physical and inorganic chemistry, which is driven by growing demand in efficient energy transfer and conversion, necessary to build a sustainable energy society independent from fossil fuels. Specifically, materials with a predesigned pathway for ET can address the urgent needs in fast enhancement of material performance in areas ranging from optoelectronic devices to…


QDLEDs for Next Generation Lighting and Display Applications

Traditional lighting methods such as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs utilize less than 30% of the energy input to produce light while roughly 70% is dissipated as heat. This technology is not only cost inefficient but also environmentally harmful.1 The demand for more sustainable and efficient lighting has led to unparalleled interest in the devolvement of light emitting diodes or LEDs. These LEDs are much brighter, have longer operational…


Framework materials for efficient harvest, conversion and transport of solar and electrochemical energy

The ability to design and impose specific molecular traits for targeted properties in inorganic solid-state materials is one of the many challenges in materials science. In our research, we focus our efforts in the design of organic and inorganic molecular building blocks with well-defined properties to be incorporated in solid-state materials in the form of metal-organic and covalent-organic frameworks (MOFs and COFs, respectively). These…


Turning Cartoons into Reality: Retrosynthetic Design Tools for Complex Inorganic Nanostructures

When approaching the synthesis of a material that requires rigorous control over multiple features (e.g. composition, crystal structure, shape, size), it is helpful to understand how the material forms, including how each variable influences its formation. Realistically, though, this is not always possible, particularly for inorganic solids that form at high temperatures and colloidal nanoparticles that form in solution. We have been studying…


Negative thermal expansion and other anomalous properties of metal fluorides with ReO3-related structures

Thermal expansion is a phenomenon that chemists do not often consider, and yet it is an important material’s characteristic for many applications. For example, Pyrex is used for laboratory glassware because it has a close to zero thermal expansion coefficient. This makes the glassware resistant to failure when subject to rapid temperature changes. While most materials expand on heating, there are materials that shrink when heated and this…
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