Research

Inspired by the self-healing, adhesive and tunable properties of biological material interfaces, we design and characterize molecular material systems for novel uses in medicine, adhesive technology, and metal sequestration. Our materials have the added benefit of aqueous processing without the use of hazardous organic solvents. This makes our systems both environmentally and user-friendly.

Our studies are multi-disciplinary, involving fundamental chemistry and physics as well as computational techniques. We are actively engaged in collaborations with several research groups at MIT and other universities.

Please select one of the links below to learn more.

Figure: Samples that show the effect of mixing different lanthanide ions with a ligand material called terpyridine in a solvent. In the top three vials, the lanthanides used are (left to right) lanthanum, europium, and terbium. The fluids display the characteristic colors of those elements. The white-light-emitting fluid in the lower vial was formed by mixing together equal volumes of the blue, red, and green samples above.

Chen, Holten-Andersen, Multistimuli-responsive White Luminescent Fluids Using Hybrid Lanthanide Metal–Coordinate Complex Probes, Advanced Optical Materials, 2015.