Research | The MatChem Lab

Material Design

Functionalized nano/micro porous self-assembled materials are advanced structures created through the self-assembly of small organic or inorganic building blocks, resulting in materials with tailored porosity and functionality.

These materials exhibit high surface area and well-defined pore structures, allowing for specific applications in various fields.

Porosity: The nano or micro-scale pores enable efficient adsorption and transport of gases or liquids, enhancing their utility in separation and storage applications.

Functionalization: The ability to incorporate various functional groups into the material's framework allows for specific interactions with target molecules, improving selectivity and performance in applications like catalysis and separation.

Self-Assembly: The spontaneous organization of components driven by non-covalent interactions (such as hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, and π-π stacking) leads to stable, well-defined structures without the need for extensive processing.

Supramolecular Self-Assmblies

Hydrogen Bonded Organic Frameworks [HOFs]
Molecularly Woven Materials
Axel and Wheel type Assemblies

Polymeric Self-Assemblies

Resarch Highlights

Thin Films and Membranes

Thin films/Membranes have proven to play crucial roles in technology and industry, contributing to advancements in optics, electronics, energy, and environmental solutions.

Thin films are layers of material that range from a few nanometers to several micrometers in thickness, whereas membranes are selective barriers composed of thin films or active ingredient that allow certain substances to pass while restricting others.

Thin films/Membranes are widely used in commercial separation processes like water treatment, gas separation, and food processing to selectively remove impurities or recovering valuable components.

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Application

Innovations in Separation and Energy Recovery: Separation utilizes selective materials/ processes to efficiently separate/ purify mixtures, enabling applications in water, energy, & chemical processing sector.

Membrane-based separation uses selective barriers (thin films) to separate complex mixtures, offering efficient & scalable solution for various processes i.e. filtration, purification, and concentration.

Molecular sieving use materials with precise pores to selectively filter molecules based on their size, shape, or chemical properties.

Adsorptive separation relies on the selective attachment of molecules to a material's surface, enabling the separation of specific components from a mixture based on their affinity.

Catalysis for Small Molecule Activation:

The electrolysis of water is a complex four-electron redox process, involving two different half-cell reactions, hydrogen evolution reaction at cathode (HER, H2O/H2) and oxygen evolution reaction at anode (OER, H2O/O2). We target improving the efficiency and stability of catalysts for HER and OER is vital for advancing sustainable energy systems and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

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Supramolecular Self-Assmblies

1. Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) are the materials with nano- or micro-scale porosity, constructed through hydrogen bonding interactions between small organic molecules and supported via strong van-der-waals interactions. Functionalized HOFs represent a versatile class of materials with significant potential across various fields, including environmental science, energy, and medicine, due to their unique structural properties and functional capabilities.

HOFs can be easily functionalized by choosing appropriate organic building block.
Robust self-assembly via H-bonds, further supported with ∏- ∏ stacking & other secondary interactions.
Offers high surface area, ease in processability, regenerability.
Efficient diffusion through channels and permanent pores
Excellent mechanical properties offer lightweight composite materials.
High thermal, chemical and hydrolytic stability.
Selectively adsorb specific gases or molecules due to their high surface area and pore volume.
Useful in separation, purification, catalysis, hydrogen storage and carbon capture etc.

2. Molecularly Woven Materials inspired by traditional weaving, offer unique properties by entangling one-dimensional molecular strands into organized two- or three-dimensional networks, using non-covalent interactions (hydrogen bonding, van der Waals, π-π stacking).

Woven materials are at the intersection of polymer science and molecular nano-topology.
Weaving allows precise control over molecular arrangement to create unique architectures with tailored properties.
Tessellation strategy offers woven materials exhibiting long-range order.
Molecular interconnections impart desirable characteristics, i.e. increased mechanical strength, flexibility, and thermal stability.
Woven materials can be functionalized to enable specific and enhanced sensing, separation, catalysis, and drug delivery.

3. Supramolecular self-assemblies of pseudorotaxanes are fascinating dynamic molecular complexes formed by the threading of a linear molecule (often called the "axle") through a cyclic structure (the "wheel"). These structures are stabilized by non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, van der Waals forces, and electrostatic interactions.

Self-assembly of pseudorotaxanes can achieve a high level of complexity and precision at the molecular level to form highly organized structures with specific functionalities.
Pseudorotaxanes exhibit unique dynamic behavior that can be tuned to external stimuli such as changes in pH, light, temperature, or chemical environment.
Non-Covalent Interactions driven supramolecular self-assemblies of pseudorotaxanes offers flexibility and reversibility in the assembly.
Stimuli-responsiveness, self-healing, scalability enables their use in applications such as sensors, drug delivery, and smart materials.

Polymeric Self-assemblies

Specialized polymers are designed and engineered with specific functional groups to adsorb or separate specific metal ions from mixtures, allowing selective binding of desired ion and effective separation from other ions or contaminants.

Polymer composition and structure can be modified to optimize their performance for specific metal ion.
Polymers are robust exhibiting high stability and durability, making them suitable for use in challenging environments, such as industrial wastewater treatment.
Used for environmental remediation to remove toxic metals (e.g., lead, mercury) from wastewater, helping to protect water resources.
Employed in recovery of precious/strategically important metals from mining and recycling industries for selective recovery of valuable metals.