Teng-Hao Chen Research Group

Functional Porous Materials

The goal of our research group is to synthesize novel functional porous materials based on the rational design of organic building blocks. This strategy could be applied to various blooming porous materials, including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), porous molecular crystals (PMCs), and supramolecular cages. These materials feature self-assembly, high crystallinity, modularity, and porosity. They are very promising for applications such as gas storage and separation, molecular recognition, catalysis, sensing, and drug delivery. Given the increasing global population and energy demand, we focus on developing advanced porous materials for energy storage, gas separations, and pharmaceutical applications. Students and researchers in our group receive broad training on synthetic chemistry, materials chemistry, material characterization, and the development of substantial applications.

Nanomedicines

Porous materials have attracted much attention for biomedical applications owing to their high surface area and tunable functionality. Our goal is to design stimulus-sensitive MOFs and COFs that possess high drug-loading capacity, a favorable release profile, low inherent cytotoxicity, and effective release of drug guests. Integrating nanotechnology, we will develop new nanomedicines for drug delivery, theranostics, and cancer treatment.

Gas Separations

Efficient waste-gas separations and hydrocarbon upgrading can minimize pollution, costs, and energy consumption, which are extremely important for sustainable development. Adsorption technologies based on solid adsorbents are considered a promising alternative, especially when adsorbent regeneration is performed by pressure-reduction processes, i.e., pressure swing adsorption (PSA), which has the potential to lower the environmental, energetic, and economic costs of CO2 separations. Our research aims to design functional porous materials capable of efficient gas separations using the PSA approach.

Energy Storage Materials

To make the best use of green energy sources, we need to develop clean, sustainable energy storage. Through the development of new synthetic approaches and strategies, we have made significant progress in redox-active coordination polymers, porous organic polymers, and MOFs for lithium-, sodium-, and zinc-ion batteries. Our ongoing studies will continue to explore fundamental approaches to synthesizing functional materials based on quinone-derived linkers, with the ultimate goal of achieving scientific breakthroughs in sustainable technologies.