Inorganic Chemistry Approaches to Tunable Nanoscale Materials

Our lab aims to develop and characterize inorganic materials with unique electronic or photophysical properties that can be accessed via inexpensive, solution-based techniques. Research in the Schimpf Lab will involve the synthesis of new nanoscale materials, use of chemical environment to control material properties, and spectroscopic characterization of electronic and photophysical properties.

Cluster-Based Frameworks

The development of high-surface-area functional materials is advantageous for many emergent technologies including adsorption, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, optoelectronics and drug delivery. Inorganic cluster-based frameworks combine the synthetic flexibility of metal-organic frameworks with the robust properties of metal oxide semiconductors. This combination offers access to quantized ternary metal oxide compositions not readily accessible via other synthetic strategies. We aim to exploit this synthetic versatility to design porous metal oxide semiconductors with precisely tunable electronic properties.

Colloidal Nanocrystals

Colloidal nanocrystals are attractive components for a myriad of applications due to their inexepensive solution-processability and potential to realize crystal phases and properties that may not be accessible in the bulk. We use various solution-phase synthetic strategies including nanocrystal conversion chemistry and microwave heating to access new nanocrystal compositions and develop routes to heterostructures or other interesting morphologies. We aim to manipulate the electronic and photophysical properties both synthetically and with post-synthetic chemical treatments.

We are currently looking for PhD students to join our group! Contact Alina if you are interested.