Sensing the Essence of Matter

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 and the environment, specifically: