Sustainable Heterogeneous Catalyst
In this program, we aim to design optimal near infrared (NIR) light activated catalysts for synthetic reactions. An advantage is that NIR light is able to penetrate deep into the reactor and enhances reaction efficiency. We are looking at nanostructures that are either lanthanide- or triplet-triplet annihilation-based.
Photoredox Catalyst
Transition-metal complexes are commonly utilized as photocatalysts in carbon dioxide reduction, water splitting, polymerization and organic synthesis. This program focuses on using a suite of electrochemisty and spectroscopy techniques to understand the stability of Ir(III), Ru(II) and earth abundant Fe(III)-complexes, and to unravel their catalytic mechanisms. The ultimate aim is to exploit the knowledge gained to better design and prepare stable transition-metal based nanomaterials for photoredox catalysis.
Interfacial Reactions
Single-molecule fluorescence is an extremely powerful technique to gain insight into several physical and chemical phenomena without ambiguity associated with ensemble averaging. There are several important processes that involve interfacial reactions such as in Pickering emulsions and enhanced catalytic reactions at interfaces. In this program, we are interested in studying the dynamics of single colloidal particles/fluorescent-tagged substrates at liquid-liquid and liquid-air interfaces.