Research

Adsorption: Our research concerns the study of the kinetics and mechanisms that control adsorption processes in porous materials. We are particularly interested in arsenic and mercury removal systems, where nanotechnology has a fundamental impact to revolutionize removal systems. We are also interested in the use of novel porous materials for the necessary shift from today’s fossil-based energy economy to a more sustainable economy based on hydrogen and renewable energy, linked to the carbon capture to mitigate the effects of global warming. Our objective is to evaluate new strategies in the study of adsorption processes, the study and design of new porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and to develop new methods in the prediction of their performance.

Photodegradation: Our group is focused primarily on synthesizing visible light active photocatalysts that can be used for environmental remediation, whether it’s waste-water treatment or conversion of greenhouse gases such CO2. Heterogeneous (semiconductor) photocatalysis has attracted increasing attention in recent years as an alternative means for environmental cleaning using solar energy. Typically, photocatalysts are activated by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation because of their wide bandgaps. Since UV light accounts for a small fraction (~ 4-5%) of solar energy compared to visible light (~ 45%), any shift in the optical response of these semiconductors will increase energy utilization.

Supercapacitor: To meet growing demands for electric automotive and regenerative energy storage applications, researchers all over the world have sought to increase the power density of batteries and the energy density of electrochemical capacitors. Hybridizing battery capacitor electrodes can overcome the energy density limitation of the conventional electrochemical capacitors because they employ both the system of a battery-like (redox) and a capacitor-like (double-layer) electrode, producing a larger working voltage and capacitance. Our goal is to hybridize materials at a molecular level by incorporating the battery-like material with a carbonaceous capacitor-type material.