Design/Synthesis

Sensing/Removal

Catalysis

Photonics

Research Interest

Research Experience

Research Summary

I am an “Experimental Inorganic Chemist” specializing in the design, synthesis, and characterization of sustainable hybrid materials for, (I) environmental remediation and (II) quantum bits (qubits) development. My research focuses on developing novel coordination polymers (CPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and macrocycles. These materials are tailored for applications in a) Fluorescence sensing, adsorptive/degradative removal of pollutants like nitroaromatics, organic dyes, solvents, iodine, and heavy metal ions from water; b) Enabling carbon capture and utilization (CCU), small organic transformations (SOT), and electrocatalytic water splitting; c) Exploring photonics applications like singlet fission (SF)-derived quintet qubits, triplet fusion, and quantum manipulation. I employ a variety of synthetic methods, including solvothermal, diffusion, and mechanochemical approaches, to produce high-crystalline, phase-pure materials. My research has contributed to sustainable solutions for environmental challenges and the development of photogenerated quintet qubits. Application-wise, my doctoral/postdoctoral research achievements can be classified in the following three categories:

1) MOFs for fluorescence sensing and encapsulation of hazardous organic/inorganic pollutants: 

Despite the vast array of structurally unique MOFs reported in the literature, many lack the stability and functionality required for real-world applications. My doctoral research aimed to address these limitations by developing robust and luminescent MOFs (LMOFs) for practical use. To achieve this, we systematically identified and overcame the key challenges hindering LMOF development, as illustrated in Figure 1a. By strategically combining d10 metal nodes (Zn(II) and Cd(II)) with polycarboxylate and azine/acylhydrazone-based polypyridyl linkers (Figure 1b), we successfully synthesized over 50 structurally diverse and stable LMOFs. These materials were characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and demonstrated exceptional performance in sensing and adsorbing pollutants from aqueous solutions. Our expertise and comprehensive understanding of the field have led to several perspective reviews (Inorg. Chem. Front. 2020; Dalton Trans. 2021) and original research publications. A few representative studies are highlighted below:

Figure 1. (a) Challenges in developing new LMOFs; (b) Explored N-donors; (c) & (d) representative depictions of sensing and adsorption application of CPs/MOFs.

2) MOFs for heterogeneous catalysis (CCS; SOT) and electrocatalytic water splitting:

The leaching of heterogeneous catalysts in aqueous, non-aqueous, or organic solvents has been a longstanding challenge for materials scientists. Given the thermal and chemical stability, as well as the presence of supramolecular unsaturated sites on our prepared materials, we were motivated to investigate their potential as heterogeneous catalysts (Figure 2). Some notable results are presented below:

Figure 2. Developed MOFs/CPs as a heterogeneous catalyst for various small organic transformations including CO2 fixation and MOF-derived nanomaterials as electrocatalyst for water splitting.

3) MOFs and Macrocycles for Photonic Applications: Singlet Fission, Triplet Fusion and Qubits: 

Our primary goal was to develop quantum bits (qubits) with long coherence times in solid-state at mild temperatures, suitable for practical photonics applications in quantum sensing and quantum information science. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), known for their tunable structures, porosity, and guest accessibility, were considered ideal hosts for molecular qubits.

Figure 3. Schematic representation of acene based MOFs/macrocycles and their photonic properties explored for singlet fission, triplet fusion, quantum bits (qubits) and qunatum information science (QIS).