Synthesis of Materials with Novel Electric, Magnetic or Optical Properties

My research interests span the disciplines of molecule-based magnetic and nonlinear optical materials, organic conductors and semiconductors, novel microporous and mesoporous materials, synthesis and crystal growth of metal oxides, chalcogenides and borophosphates.

Novel NLO materials are expected to play a pivotal role in the emerging new technology of photonics. We are using 2-D and 3-D coordination polymers as hosts to form lattice inclusion compounds with NLO-active chromophores. This may lead to novel hybrid materials that synergistically combine the attributes of inorganic, organic, polymeric and crystalline materials. Such a crystal engineering approach is aimed at tailor-making supramolecular single crystals suitable for optical frequency conversion applications. Similar strategies are being adopted by us to engineer other useful, ordered supermolecular assemblies as molecular magnets and conductors/semiconductors.

Microporous solids such as naturally occurring zeolites and other synthetic versions of phosphate-based open-framework structures find applications in such diverse processes as ion exchange, separations and heterogeneous catalysis. The commercial success of molecular sieves is due largely to the continual discovery of new materials with improved properties. Thus, the ability to change the materials properties by creating new structure types has been and will continue to be of paramount importance in zeolite research. We are interested in using transition metal oxo- and sulfide cluster compounds as building blocks for synthesizing new open-framework structures that do not have analogs in natural zeolites. Such microporous materials are expected to have different properties than those of p-block element microporous solids in the redox chemistry and catalytic activities of the frameworks.

Selected Publications

1. Ye, Q., Fu, D.-W., Tian, H., Xiong, R.-G., Chan, P. W. H. & Huang, S. D. Multiferroic Homochiral Metal-Organic Framework. Inorganic Chemistry (Washington, DC, United States) 47, 772-774 (2008).

2. Zhao, H., Ye, Q., Qu, Z.-r., Fu, D.-W., Xiong, R.-G., Huang, S. D. & Chan, P. W. H. Huge deuterated effect on permittivity in a metal-organic framework. Chemistry--A European Journal 14, 1164-1168 (2008).

3. Wang, G.-X., Han, G.-F., Ye, Q., Xiong, R.-G., Akutagawa, T., Nakamura, T., Chan, P. W. H. & Huang, S. D. Dielectric anisotropy of a homochiral rare-earth metal complex. Dalton Transactions, 2527-2530 (2008).

4. Zhang, W., Xiong, R.-G. & Huang, S. D. 3D Framework Containing Cu4Br4 Cubane as Connecting Node with Strong Ferroelectricity. Journal of the American Chemical Society 130, 10468-10469 (2008).

5. Ye, Q., Song, Y.-M., Fu, D.-W., Wang, G.-X., Xiong, R.-G., Chan, P. W. H. & Huang, S. D. Deuteration Effect of Ferroelectricity and Permittivity on Homochiral Zinc Coordination Compound. Crystal Growth & Design 7, 1568-1570 (2007).

6. Ye, Q., Song, Y. M., Wang, G. X., Chen, K., Fu, D. W., Chan, P. W. H., Zhu, J. S., Huang, S. D. & Xiong, R. G. Ferroelectric metal-organic framework with a high dielectric constant. Journal of the American Chemical Society 128, 6554-6555 (2006).

7. Huang, T., Vanchura, B. A., Shan, Y. & Huang, S. D. Na(H3NCH2CH2NH3)0.5[Co(C2O4)(HPO4)]: A novel phosphoxalate open-framework compound incorporating both an alkali cation and an organic template in the structural tunnels. Journal of Solid State Chemistry 180, 2110-2115 (2007).

8. Fu, D.-W., Song, Y.-M., Wang, G.-X., Ye, Q., Xiong, R.-G., Akutagawa, T., Nakamura, T., Chan, P. W. H. & Huang, S. D. Dielectric Anisotropy of a Homochiral Trinuclear Nickel(II) Complex. Journal of the American Chemical Society 129, 5346-5347 (2007).

Last Updated: 15 August 2008