Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Carl Brozek, University of Oregon
About the Seminar
Size-Dependent Behavior in Porous Nanocrystals
Synthesizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as nanoparticles is critical for their large-scale processability in real-world technologies and is poised to alter wide-ranging MOF behaviors, especially those related to transport phenomena. Little is known about controlled synthetic techniques, however, and studies into the impact of nanosizing physical properties have only just begun. Here, we present synthetic methods and mechanistic models that enable the precise preparation of MOF particles with conductive, magnetic, optical, and dynamic-bonding behavior distinct from their bulk counterparts. These results include the first analysis of MOFs by solution-state spectroscopy and electrochemistry, revealing size-dependent phenomena and interfacial chemistry impossible to observe with conventional framework materials. Taken together these results offer tools for fabricating MOFs at-scale, while opening fundamental questions into the structure-size-property relationships of materials, in general.
About the Speaker
Carl Brozek is an assistant professor in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oregon. He earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Prof. Mircea Dinca in 2015 and completed post-doctoral studies with Prof. Daniel Gamelin at the University of Washington prior to starting his independent career in 2018. His research focuses on charge transport through high surface area media, porous nanoparticles, membrane fabrication, interfacial redox, and energy capture. He has been recognized as a Cottrell Scholar, a Davison Thesis Award, and, most recently, the Dream Chemistry Award.