First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Abraham,Clearfield,Distinguished Professor,"Our research interests are focused in solid state and materials chemistry and encompass a wide variety of projects. An important goal is the ability to design and synthesize new materials whose structure and properties can be predicted and controlled. Layered compounds are amenable to manipulation to produce new structures because of the weak forces between layers. We have learned how to separate the layers of several classes of compounds and are reconstituting them into novel materials. For example, we have prepared staged materials in which alternating layers are hydrophobic and hydrophilic.
The surfaces of our layered materials react with a variety of molecules to bond them to the surface. We are developing such materials for drug delivery, heterogeneous catalysis, and polymer-nanoparticle composites.
Single crystal X-ray diffraction has been the key tool in elucidating the structure of solids. For many compounds, single crystals are unavailable so that indirect methods need to be used. We pioneered the solution of crystal structures from X-ray powder data and have had considerable success. The methods need to be improved and extended to more complex systems such as poorly crystallized materials. Combined use of X-ray, neutron and synchrotron methods are in progress and extension to EXAFS and amorphous scattering techniques is contemplated.",Distinguished Professor,Chemistry,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n6dc4bd81
Marcetta,Darensbourg,Distinguished Professor,"Bio-inspired Catalysts for Hydrogen Production: The ultimate, home-run, goal of our work is to synthesize and develop a robust, highly active hydrogen-producing catalyst comprised of earth-abundant transition metals within a ligand environment that is inspired by the biological Figure 3hydrogenase (H2ase) enzyme active sites. Progress in precise structural modeling of the illusive ""rotated"" structure displayed in the as-isolated, mixed-valent FeIIFe state in the past decade has permitted in depth analysis of electronic structure by Mo ssbauer, EPR (ENDOR), and computational chemistry. New electrocatalysts for hydrogen production: The connection between the Fe(NO)2 unit and the Fe(CX)3 (X = O or N) unit found in hydrogenase enzyme active sites offers opportunity for design of new catalysts, one of which is shown. In this regard we explore the ability of N2S2 metal complexes to bind as metallodithiolate ligands to various metal acceptors. The properties of such complexes vary The connection of these to light harvesting molecules for dye sensitized, sacrificial electron donor, hydrogen production is also of interest. When Iron Meets Nitric Oxide: Good Chemistry, Intriguing Biology. The affinity of iron for diatomic molecules, O2, CO, N2, and NO, is central to the most important of life processes, including those of human physiology. Figure 6In this research area we target synthetic chemistry involving dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNICs) that serve as biomimetics of products of FeS cluster degradation by excesses of NO, or as derived from the chelatable iron pool (CIP) in cells. The electronic ambivalence of the DNIC unit is expressed in the ease with which it interconverts between oxidized and reduced forms, {Fe(NO)2}9 and {Fe(NO)2}10, respectively (Enemark/Feltham notation), and serves as impetus to explore analogous reactions known to involve the CuII/CuI redox couple. The accessory ligands which stabilize one redox level over the other, including N-heterocyclic carb",Distinguished Professor||Faculty Affiliate,Energy Institute||Chemistry,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n6f445741
Kim,Dunbar,Distinguished Professor,"Research in the Dunbar group spans topics in synthetic, structural and physical inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry. The use of a range of tools including spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, magnetometry, electron microscopy, mass spectrometry and electrochemistry reflect the breadth of problems under investigation.",Distinguished Professor,Chemistry,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/ndd473437