Research Interests

The central research theme of our group is to uncover inorganic materials with exotic physical and chemical properties. To pursue this goal, our group focus on synthetic inorganic chemistry of crystalline and amorphous materials, including nano to microporous amorphous solids, hetero-anionic composites, and ultra-low dense high surface area gels, nanoparticles, and deposition of the thin film. We converge numerous analytic tools, including Synchrotron X-ray Pair Distribution Functions (PDF) and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XANES and EXAFS), to understand the synthesis, morphology, and structure-function relationships of the newly synthesized materials. The ultimate goal of synthesizing such diverse classes of materials is to discover innovative materials that meet the required properties for applications related to sustainable energy, environment and sensing, specifically:

Environmental Remediation (Wastewater and Nuclear Waste Treatments)

Remediation of radioactive ions from defense legacy tank waste
Wastewater treatment for chemically toxic metals cations and oxo-anions
Gaseous mercury and radio-iodine removal

Radioisotopes of Cs, Sr, and U Removal: Islam & Co-workers, Small 2024, 2400679; Chem. Mater. 2023, 35,10446-10456

Heavy Metal Removal: Islam & Co-workers, Chem. Engineer. J. 2021, 426, 131696

Tc/Cr Removal from nuclear waste: Islam & Co-workers, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56, 12, 8590–8598

Selenate and Selenite Removal: Islam & Co-workers, Inorg. Chem. 2024, 63, 10997–11005

Mercury Vapor Removal: Islam & Co-workers, Chem. Mater. 2024, 36, 5826–5835

Electrochemical Energy Storage (Batteries and Supercapacitors)

Electrode materials for Li- and Na-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage
Incremental development of lithium oxide-based cathodes for fast-charged batteries.
Synthesis and fabrication of high energy density supercapacitor

Islam & Co-workers, ChemSusChem. 2024

Islam & Co-workers, ACS Energy Letter 2024, 9, 1-9

Energy Conversion

Electro-catalytic Hydrogen production as an alternative to carbon-based energy (HER & OER)

HER & OER, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 26, 10417–10430

Nuclear Radiation

Development of high quality single semiconductors for X-ray and gamma-ray detection

X-ray and gamma ray detectors: Chem. Rev. 2023, 123, 4, 1207–1261

Our Collaborators

Dr. Dien Li (Savannah River National Laboratory)
Dr. Kathryn Taylor-Pashow (Savannah River National Laboratory)
Dr. Ruhul Amin (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Dr. Chad Risko (University of Kentucky)
Dr. Mengya Li (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Dr. Kamila Wiaderek (Argonne National Laboratory)
Dr. David Baker (US Army Research Laboratory)
Prof. Shulan Ma (Beijing Normal University)
Prof. Mercouri Kanatzidis (Northwestern University)
Dr. Ioannis Spanopoulos (University South Florida)

FUNDING

We are thankful to the National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense, US Department of Education, and the HBCU Clean Energy Prize for funding our research, education, and workforce development program