Functional inorganic chemistry
We have a strong research activity in coordination chemistry, exploiting d- and f- block metals to generate new functional devices including, sensors (colorimetric and luminescent), switchable materials for nanoelectronics (spin crossover systems) and light emitting devices based on organic and lanthanide containing chromophores, and developing and exploring new coordination chemistry, involving polydentate and macrocyclic ligands containing donor atoms from Group 15 (N, P, As, Sb, Bi) and Group 16 (S, Se, Te) with metal ions from across the Periodic Table. We are also concerned with developing these complexes for the deposition of functional materials for electronic and thermoelectric applications and their incorporation into devices, and are developing metal fluoride complexes as new agents for medical imaging applications. We also have a research programme in solid state materials chemistry, focussing on mixed anion phases and their thin film fabrication by chemical vapour deposition, a technique widely employed in the electronics and glazing industries. Applications of the solid-state films in self-cleaning coatings and solar energy harvesting devices are under investigation.
Materials chemistry
Porous materials and their composites form a big part of our research portfolio, encompassing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), silica and aluminophosphates across the micro- and mesoporous regimes, respectively. We are developing strategies to process MOFs into application-specific configurations inspired by the interfacial interactions that govern biomineralisation processes and have prepared a wide-range of MOF-based composite materials with enhanced properties, including MOF-oxide composites for efficient chromatographic separation of xylene isomers, MOF-based capsules for pH triggered cargo release and size-selective biocatalysis and the use of biopolymers to influence crystal growth and orientation. We are also interested in the MOF-protein interface for materials design and therapeutic applications. The design of functional catalytic materials at the nanoscale is also a major area of research, wherein a detailed understanding of the nature of the active sites at the molecular level has led to the predictive design of single-site heterogeneous catalysts for multi-scale petrochemical and environmental technologies; with a multidisciplinary focus on photonics, renewable energy, sustainable nanocomposites and maritime engineering. Strategies to prepare hierarchically porous materials spanning multiple pore size regimes are also under development.
Supramolecular chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry is the third major area of research in this section, where control over the interactions between molecules and exploitation of molecular recognition processes has led to important discoveries and developments in sensing, catalysis and increased our understanding of fundamental biological transport processes. Research interests focus on the supramolecular chemistry of anionic species and in particular the molecular recognition, sensing and lipid bilayer transport of anions where transmembrane anion transporters have potential applications in the development of future treatments for cystic fibrosis and cancer. The mechanical bond as found in mechanically-linked architectures such as rotaxanes and catenanes is an unusual and under-explored structural motif for catalysis, sensing and materials applications, and we are developing cutting-edge synthetic techniques to produce these interesting and complex structures in high yield and selectivity in order to investigate and exploit their properties and potential in a wide range of areas. Current projects focus on the development of insulated molecular wires, switchable catalysts, and molecular machines for polymer synthesis.
All of the research described above is underpinned by a very strong background in structure determination and characterisation, where structure-property relationships based on a molecular level understanding of the materials and molecules under investigation has led to demonstrable improvements in performance and design. As part of this capability, we are building solid-state structural libraries analogous to organic compound libraries to investigate the link between molecular modifications and crystal structure, electron density distribution and physical properties; this work uses a combination of crystallographic, physical measurement, statistical and computational approaches.