The MatCat Lab designs advanced materials for catalytic applications. Key themes and tools in the group include materials synthesis, ground and excited state structure elucidation, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Motivation: Catalysts are masterful directors of the electron supply chain in chemical reactions, facilitating the synthesis of complex molecules and processes that underlie crucial advancements in medicine, agriculture, and energy, among others. Our work is motivated by the pressing need for catalysts that can execute increasingly complex reaction pathways within narrowing process windows defined by sustainable chemistry agendas. We approach this challenge through a fundamental materials lens centered on molecular-level catalyst design.
We are currently working on CO2 capture and reduction materials, but we are broadly interested in the domains of pollution abatement, closed carbon cycle chemistries, greener chemical processes, and light-mediated reactions (photocatalysis). We closely collaborate with computational groups to guide rational materials design efforts with the overarching goal of developing practical, scalable materials technologies that underpin a sustainable future.
Designing catalysts using hydrogen-bonding levers
We are currently developing a generalizable synthesis method to manipulate hydrogen-bonding interactions during catalyst synthesis as a molecular-scale lever for tuning structure early in the synthetic coordinate. Our recent efforts have focused on carefully designed triazine motifs to alter bimetallic alloy structure in supported metal nanoparticle catalysts as well as crystallization mechanisms in zeotypes. These catalytic materials are promising for diverse photo/electrochemical redox processes as well as C-C bond formation catalysis.
Functionalizing zeotypes for a circular carbon economy
We are designing multifunctional zeotypes for humid-tolerant direct air capture of CO2, integrated CO2 capture and photoreduction to C2+ species, and selective light alkane production from polyethylene plastic wastes*. We approach these challenges in zeotype design through systematic control of structural features across length scales via synthetic efforts, coupled with flow reactor development for evaluating key performance metrics in adsorption and catalytic applications. *In collaboration with Prof. Michele Sarazen, Princeton.
