Projects: Nanostructured Materials

Bio-inspired and Biomimetic Water Purification Matierals

Nature can produce elegant structures at room temperature through controlled organic– mineral interactions. Based on inspiration from Nature, We are trying to use bio-inspired methods/biomimetic to rationally design and synthesize highly complex nanostructures with precisely controlled chemical composition, structural morphology and physical dimension with novel chemical, optical, electronic and magnetic properties and explore their applications in efficient energy and environmental areas, including water purification, photocatalysis, lithium batteries, fuel cells and so on.

Biologically Inspired Photocatalytically Active Membranes for Water Treatment

 

To accommodate the ever-increasing demand for clean drinkable water Advances Oxidation Technologies are being employed to degrade harmful compounds. One such technology uses photooxidative reactions to completely mineralize such compounds to carbon dioxide and water using Titanium dioxide. We are developing Titanium dioxide photocatalytic membranes for water treatment systems based on inspiration from biology.

Bio-inspired synthesis, characterization and application of high performance lithium ion battery cathode materials

 

We are trying to use bio-inspired methods to synthesize lithium ion battery  anode and cathode materials Li(NiCoMn)⅓O2 and LiFePO4. By controlling their morphology and particle size through different synthesize conditions (such as precursors, polymers, solvents, annealing temperature and time, pH, etc), we will be able to optimize their battery performance like extended cycle life, increased capacity and conductivity, etc.

Biologically Inspired Synthesis of Nanostructured Zinc Oxide

 

Mineralizing biological systems demonstrate how nature can produce elegant structures at room temperature through controlled organic-mineral interactions. Based on inspiration from Nature, we are using organic agents to modify the growth behavior of ZnO nanostructured materials under mild conditions, studying ZnO growth mechanism, thereby to control the size, phase and morphology of ZnO.

Band Gap and Nanostructural Engineering of TiO2

 

We aim to produce engineered nanostructures that will enable highly-efficient production of hydrogen via electrolysis of water using the visible solar spectrum. TiO2 has been proven to be one of the most stable materials for solar-hydrogen cells, but has a wide band gap, absorbing in the UV and limiting its performance in the visible spectrum. In this project, we will focus primarily on engineering (1) the nanostructural features and (2) the band gap of the TiO2. In theoretical direction, I model supercells of doped or co-doped TiO2 and try to investigate the nature of TiO2 band structure under the influence of different doping materials with different concentrations through ab-initio modeling. Meanwhile, hydrothermal synthesis and characterizations of doped TiO2 is the main goal of my experimental study.

Combinatorial selection of ZnO binding peptide using phage display

Dedecapeptide targeting to specific crystallographic ZnO can be selected using phage display technique. Peptide-directed ZnO nano materials can be utilized as building element for dye-sentisized solar cell (DSSC).

Enzyme Mediated Synthesis of a Semiconducting Metal Oxide

 

Enzymes are an important class of biological molecules, their specific functionality being exploited to perform tasks beyond the reach of conventional chemistry. One possible use of the enzyme urease is to modify the solution environment of a water soluble and stable TiO2 precursor under benign conditions. Previous research has shown that the immobilization of urease onto self-assembled monolayers resulted in increased stability with respect to increased temperature and pH. Our current research is directed at immobilizing urease in order to develop a suitable industrial application for enzyme mediated synthesis.