CAREER: Soft Chemical Synthesis of Porous Materials Based on Cluster-Network Structures

9701507 Stein Metal polyanion or -cation clusters will be used as building blocks (or as metal precursors) to synthesize extended inorganic-organic network structures to design new classes of functional materials. The clusters will be preorganized in two- and three-dimensional structures using surfactants to optimize the cluster arrangements for linking; salt-gel reactions will be used to convert the pre-organized salt structures into high surface area mesoporous materials, with the salt-gel reactions studied in collaboration with Argonne National Labs; methods for the linkage of the inorganic clusters by organic connectors through hydrogen bonding, coordination polymerization, and covalent bonding will be developed; and optimized linking mechanisms will be combined with templating techniques to produce well-ordered structures with accessible void spaces. %%% New classes of functional porous materials based on cluster-network structures will be designed with void spaces for applications in catalysis, separations, sensing, optics or electronics. Integrating these current high-priority materials research challenges with the educational curriculum of this CAREER Program results in the training of students in areas of growing relevancy thereby advancing science and technology while improving job prospects for students. ***