Inorganic Materials

Research in our group focuses on the synthesis of complex organic/inorganic molecular systems for applications in small molecule conversion, energy storage, photo-catalysis and the development of functional materials. Employing a bottom-up approach to molecular design, we can link simple building blocks with clearly defined physical properties, to construct sophisticated systems whose performance (reactivity, photo-response, stability…) can exceed that of their isolated components. One such example is in our development of multi-component systems for the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to feedstocks and fuels. Current approaches in our group involve the use of organically-hybridized polyoxometalates (POMs) as conjugated electron/proton reservoirs for catalytic transition metal-based antenna groups, and the development of multinuclear transition metal clusters with distinct substrate capture and catalysis sites.