Our group is particularly interested in the ordered porous inorganic/organic and hybrid materials; this area of research is most exciting due to their structural diversity and wide applicability towards solving societal problems related to clean energy and the environment.
Primarily, we intend to explore the controlled synthesis of coordinate and covalently bonded functional framework materials preferably using greener approach (e.g. mechanosynthesis) and try to understand the physical and chemical phenomena (reaction mechanism, kinetics, thermodynamics, structure analysis etc.) involved.
A significant part of our research is aimed to address the societal challenges towards air purification and affordable drinking water. We utilize our expertise in porous framework materials and develop hybrid membranes with the fullest potential for gas and/or liquid separation. We engage ourselves in the discovery of novel materials, membrane fabrication methodologies, advancing characterization techniques and finally, performance evaluation, which would lead to commercialization in the industry.
We also have an interest on the engineering of advanced porous crystalline materials for solar-driven renewable fuel production, and gathering unique insights into the photocatalytic reaction mechanism and the complex kinetics of the reaction system.
The conversion and storage of solar energy in the form of chemical bonds in “solar fuels” such as H2 and CH4 through light-driven H2O and CO2 reduction, respectively, has evolved into a key technology over the last decade, driven by the fast depletion of fossil energy sources and rapid global climate change. The research on solar fuel production utilizing fully organic frameworks as heterogeneous photosensitizers has been gathering significant momentum due to their crystallinity and ordered porosity, controllable light harvesting and photophysical properties, as well as their molecular definition and tunability.