Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

1.      Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
We are studying the electronic properties that arise when inorganic nanocrystals are used as building blocks to construct mesostructured materials. This includes fabricating inorganic nanocomposite materials and mesoporous architectures. I am particularly interested in electrochemical materials including those for electrochromic devices and batteries, in which many individual properties such as electron and ion transport, optical absorption, and phase behaviour combine to determine the overall functional characteristics.

2.      What motivated you to focus on inorganic nanoscience?
Nanoscience offers a whole new frontier in manipulating properties through the arrangement of matter. Understanding how the size, shape, and arrangement of nanoscale building blocks combine with atomic scale structure and composition to determine material properties is exciting and often unexpected.

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1. Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
We are developing new methods for synthesizing complex metal oxide and chalcogenide nanocrystals.  Once we’ve developed a route and collected materials, we are currently putting a lot of effort into controlling the surface chemistry of the resulting nanocrystals.  Since small nanocrystals are predominantly surface, this is extremely important and necessary if one wants to extract any utility from these materials into a functional device.  Along those lines, we are focusing on devices for energy conversion and storage.  We are using our metal chalcogenide nanocrystals for low-cost solar cells and our metal oxide nanocrystals for dielectric capacitors.  As a synthetic chemist, I get great satisfaction when a material my group has made and labored over ends up in a device that actually works well!

2. What motivated you to focus on the synthesis and properties of nanocrystals?
Organic chemists possess an incredibly powerful toolbox of reaction chemistry that allows them to rationally design molecules with desired functionality.  Unfortunately, the toolbox for rationally designing functional inorganic nanocrystals is severely lacking.  Moreover, many synthetic preps for inorganic nanocrystals are plagued by impurities, work-up issues, low yields, and irreproducibility.  The concept of “materials by design” will never get off the ground with the existing limited design space.  We got into this area thinking we could add some synthetic perspective to the problem.

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1. Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
We are trying to integrate multiple functions in a single organic-based electronic device. In other words, we are attempting to fabricate devices like field-effect transistors that can respond simultaneously to multiple yet independent stimuli. This can be achieved by developing multi-component nanostructured materials.

2. What motivated you to focus on nanoscale architectures?
During my undergraduate studies the world of the single molecules was left mostly to theoretical predictions or even to imagination. During my thesis work, about 18 years ago, I started “playing” with the Scanning Probe Microscopies. These very powerful Microscopies allowed me to really “see” the molecules, to enter their world, and to look also at their “sociology “, i.e. at the way they interact among each other on the nanoscale generating highly ordered structures at the supramolecular level.

Naturally, after several years devoted to understand and control the generation of these ordered nanostructures I became interested into learning more and more also about their properties and how one can tailor them to develop nanoscale supramolecular functional materials.

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1. Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
I have been working on materials chemistry for more than 50 years. One of the main areas of my research has been transition metal oxides. I have investigated superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance and a variety of phenomena associated with metal oxides. In the last few years, my main interest has been multiferroic and magnetoelectric oxides. Another important area of interest is nanomaterials where I have been working on carbon nanotubes as well as graphene extensively in the last few years. One of my specialities is nanotubes and graphene-like materials of (non-carbon) layered inorganic materials. I am interested in inorganic and organic hybrid materials as well.

2. What motivated you to focus on solid state and materials chemistry?
When I started research in this area, there were very few practitioners in solid state and materials chemistry. I thought that I should start my work in this area since there was little known about chemistry of solids. It has been nice to see the subject grow in a big way in the last 2-3 decades.

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Dr. Aron Walsh is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Bath. He previously held a Marie Curie Fellowship at University College London and a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His research concerns the application and development of computational chemistry techniques for modeling the solid-state. The current focus of the Walsh group is on the systematic design of materials enhanced for energy applications.

1. Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
We are developing new sulfide materials for low-cost solar cells, designing oxide systems for transparent electronics, and optimising the electronic properties of metal-organic frameworks. To put materials modeling to the test, we are also working towards computer-controlled material synthesis.

2. What motivated you to focus on computational materials science?
I have always had a fascination with computers. In the 80s I had my trusty ZX Spectrum, in the 90s I had a state-of-the-art Pentium60 PC. When I got to use the national supercomputer for my final year project in computational chemistry at Trinity College Dublin, there was no turning back.

3. What are the hot topics in materials chemistry at the moment?
I predict big things for photoferroic materials, topological insulators and ion-conducting thermoelectrics. For solar cells, Cu₂ZnSnS₄ is the material of the moment with an explosion of research this year.

4. What current problem would you like to see science provide a solution to?
A use for graphene!

5. What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of your career?
Interacting with scientists around the world. My collaborations with chemists and physicists in America, China, Korea, Ireland and the UK provide me with endless stimulation, inspiration and support, as well as a good excuse to travel the globe.  

6. What’s the secret to being a successful scientist?
The majority of scientists have a passion for what they do, and put in long hours trying to achieve their research goals. The perception of success is largely to do with visibility, which increasingly combines a variety of media including journal articles, conferences, the internet and social-networking. There is no magic formula, but the Research Excellence Framework may disagree!

7. Which scientist past or present do you most admire?
Gilbert N. Lewis was an exceptional physical chemist. He never won a Nobel Prize, which many would say led to his eventual death by hydrogen cyanide. His models for electron counting are still of great value to my work today, and his research was the stepping stone for Linus Pauling to provide his authoritative account of the nature of the chemical bond.

8. If you weren’t a scientist, what would you be?
My dream at ten years old was to be an accountant. No doubt, I would have been paid more, but I would have missed out on a lot of fun.

If you’re interested to learn more about research in the Walsh lab you can read a selection of papers below or check out their research pages on the group website.

     1. Magnetic properties of Fe2GeMo3N; an experimental and computational study
      J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM32574H (Advance Article)

     2. Prediction on the existence and chemical stability of cuprous fluoride
      Chem. Sci., 2012,3, 2565-2569

     3. Structural and electronic properties of CuSbS2 and CuBiS2: potential absorber materials for thin-film solar cells
      Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 7229-7233

     4. Microscopic origins of electron and hole stability in ZnO
      Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 3386-3388

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Andrew Grimsdale was born in Waiouru, New Zealand in 1963 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Auckland, in 1990 under the supervision of Prof. R. C. Cambie. After postdoctoral research into materials for optoelectronic applications with Prof. Andrew Pelter at University of Wales, Swansea, and Prof. Andrew Holmes at the University of Cambridge, he was project leader in charge of research into conjugated polymers in the group of Prof. Klaus Müllen at Mainz from 1999-2005. After working again with Prof. Holmes at University of Melbourne, he joined the faculty of Nanyang Technological University in November 2006, as an Assistant Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His current research interests are the synthesis of materials for optoelectronic applications and on the formation of functional nanomaterials by self-assembly. He is the author of over 100 publications (>6800 citations, h-index 35) including some major reviews on the synthesis and applications of conjugated polymers and organic nanomaterials.

1. Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a number of projects related to energy storage and conversion, which is a major focus of research here in Singapore, as it is a country currently almost totally dependent upon imported energy supplies. I am involved in one industry funded project on developing new materials for organic solar cells. I am collaborating with two projects on batteries including new types of batteries and new materials for existing types. I am also part of a big project on trying to understand the working principles of and optimise the design of light-harvesting systems, which has obvious implications for organic photovoltaic devices and also to related areas such as solar fuels. In relation to these projects I am not just interested in making classical polymers and oligomers but also in investigating the use of self-assembly to make functional materials including nanocomposite materials. Finally I am part of a project on developing new anti-fouling coatings for ships – it is amazing how much fuel can be saved by preventing things like barnacles from growing on the sides of ships, and it is fascinating to think that an understanding of how mollusc proteins bind to surfaces could be useful for fighting global warming.

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Seshadri is a professor of Materials and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He received his BS degree in chemistry from St. Stephens College, Delhi, in 1989, and his PhD degree in solid state chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1995. After some years as a postdoctoral fellow in Caen, France, and Mainz, Germany, he started a faculty career as an assistant professor in Bangalore in 1999, before moving to UCSB in 2002. Seshadri’s research program addresses structure-composition-property relations in functional inorganic materials, focusing currently on magnetic and correlated materials, catalysts, and phosphors.

1.      Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
This is an exciting time in our research. We continue to look at magnetic properties of oxides, and have added intermetallics to the list of materials. We also have an active and continuing program in phosphors for solid state lighting, and materials for heterogeneous catalysis. Newer avenues include thermoelectrics and batteries.

2.      What motivated you to focus on functional solid state materials?
Love at first sight. I started researching the chemistry and physics of solids — specifically carrying our redox titrations of high-temperature copper oxide superconductors — under the guidance of Professor C. N. R. Rao FRS, whilst an undergraduate, and I continue to be both fascinated and ignorant in the area. I will quit researching solids when I understand them, which is likely never!

3.      What are the hot topics in materials chemistry at the moment?
Materials for processes related to energy conversion and energy efficiency.

4.      What current problem would you like to see science provide a solution to?
I would love to see an understanding of high-temperature superconductors.

5.      What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of your career?
Working with smart students at a great institution (UC Santa Barbara).

6.      What’s the secret to being a successful scientist?
I wish I knew. I do know how to be a happy scientist – work on things you don’t understand, but wish to.

7.      Which scientist past or present do you most admire?
Helen Megaw (1907-2002). Everything I do traces back to her in some way. An unsung hero of materials science.

8.      If you weren’t a scientist, what would you be?
I am a third-generation scientist. To even think of alternate careers is tantamount to apostasy.

If you’re interested to learn more about research in the Seshadri lab you can read a selection of papers below or check out their research pages on the group website.

• Spontaneously formed porous and composite materials (Feature Article)
• A protected annealing strategy to enhanced light emission and photostability of YAG:Ce nanoparticle-based films
• Preparation, magnetism and electronic structures of cadmium technetates
• Probing local structure in the yellow phosphor LaSr₂AlO₅ : Ce³⁺, by the maximum entropy method and pair distribution function analysis
• VO₂(B) nanorods: solvothermal preparation, electrical properties, and conversion to rutile VO₂ and V₂O₃
• La_{1−x−0.025}Ce_0.025Sr_2+xAl_1−xSi_xO₅ solid solutions as tunable yellow phosphors for solid state white lighting

Don’t forget to keep up-to-date with all the latest research you can sign-up for the Journal of Materials Chemistry RSS feed or Table of contents alert.

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Gengfeng Zheng is currently a professor of Chemistry at Fudan University, China. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry in 2000 from Fudan University, and obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry in 2006 from Harvard University, under the guidance of Prof. Charles M. Lieber. During 2007-2010, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Chad Mirkin at Northwestern University, USA. Dr. Zheng has been the recipient of the Professorship of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning (2012), the China Ministry of Education New Century Excellent Talents (2011), and the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Gold Award (2006). His research interests include the synthesis of low-dimensional semiconducting nanomaterials, fabrication of nanodevices for solar energy conversion and lithium ion battery, and studies of hybrid nanomaterial-biomaterial interfaces for disease diagnosis.

1.      Which research projects are you working on at the moment?
We are working the synthesis of new low-dimensional semiconducting nanomaterials for energy conversion and storage, including: 1) metal oxide and sulfide nanowires for photoelectrochemical water splitting, and 2) hybrid porous and nanostructured materials for lithium ion battery and supercapacitors.

2.      What motivated you to work on porous and nanostructured materials?
Porous and nanostructured semiconducting materials with rationally designed architectures provide tunable electronic bandgap structures, efficient charge transport, and large interfacial area for surface reactions. A lot of unconventional properties and high device performances can be expected from these material building blocks.

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