Research
Research in our group broadly seeks to develop tailor-made functional surfaces and materials that can be used for understanding fundamental chemical processes at the molecular level. We also focus on leveraging that knowledge to develop new applications in materials science. Research activities are at the intersection of materials, analytical and physical chemistry and the program offers opportunities for students and postdoctoral researchers with diverse backgrounds to perform interdisciplinary experimental research.
We are interested on various subjects that have surfaces and interfaces as a common thread; some of them are illustrated below.
Understanding the chemistry and photochemistry of disordered carbons
Numerous important heterogeneous reactions occur at gas-carbon and liquid-carbon interfaces at macroscopic surfaces, micro and nanoparticles. In order to understand complex heterogeneous reactions at carbons we develop model interfaces with controlled chemical and physical properties that can be investigated under well defined conditions. In particular we are investigating the role of photochemical processes in transformations of carbon materials in our environment, such as those that occur at the surface of combustion carbonaceous aerosols. We are tackling this problem by developing model carbon materials whose composition, electronic structure and surface chemistry can be tailored to mimic different types of soot in order to then study reactions of environmental relevance. A complementary effort is that of developing new approaches to monitoring carbon/organic and carbon/liquid interfaces in situ, so that details of reaction dynamics can be elucidated.
Functional Metal/carbon porous microspheres
Carbon porous materials are attractive because they can display very high specific surface area, high chemical resistance and good biocompatibility. We work on developing composite metal/carbon materials using porous carbon scaffolds in order to control the loading, distribution and morphology of metal nanoparticles for applications in catalysis, design of reactive adsorbers and delivery agents. Work in this area is highly interdisciplinary and carried out in collaboration with groups in Ireland, UK and US.