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Chemistry of Nanoclusters – Relevance to Energy Storage and Atmospheric Processes
Chemistry of Nanoclusters – Relevance to Energy Storage and Atmospheric Processes
We are interested in the intersection of molecular, materials, and surface chemistry relevant to catalysis, energy storage and
environmental chemistry. Our interests in nanoclusters are driven by the potential as new catalysts as well as models for understanding the fundamental growth mechanisms of atmospheric aerosols under diverse atmospheric conditions including temperature, humidity and interactions with other chemical precursors. The well-defined atomic structure of nanoclusters allows us to explore how principles of inorganic and physical chemistry can inform the design and understanding of new catalysts for energy conversion. The same principles also inform our efforts towards in-situ spectroscopic understanding of atmospheric chemistry of aerosols and design of chemically sensitive remote sensors (LIDAR).
Ongoing research projects span two areas:
a). Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Quality
b). Electrocatalysis and Energy Storage
The core research areas are highlighted below.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Quality
We are interested in the development of analytical methodologies combining experimental and computational efforts towards chemically sensitive remote sensing of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) aerosols. Our group utilizes a variety of computational chemistry methods to identify and characterize primary brown carbon chromophores and their secondary reaction product aerosols to use as tracer compound(s) for BrC remote sensing applications. We work closely with the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Hampton University to develop and provide offline chemical analysis and monitoring of particulate matter in the Hampton Roads area. More details can be found here.
Electrocatalysis and Energy Storage
Metal oxide catalysts for CO2 conversion usually comprise of nanocrystalline materials in which the catalytically active sites are few and often undetectable i.e., grain boundaries and defect sites. Consequently, these materials are not amenable to atomic level understanding of electrocatalytic CO2 conversion. We draw lessons and analogies from traditional organometallic chemistry to inform approaches to understanding and tuning the coordination chemistry of heterogeneous single-site iron-based catalysts. Our research is informed by vibrational and optical spectroscopic techniques as well as electroanalytical and computational chemistry methods relevant to structure and reaction mechanism elucidation. More details can be found here.
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