Multi-Charged Buckybowls: Self-Assembly and Metal Ion Intercalation

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This award by the MSN Chemistry Program supports work of Professor Marina A. Petrukhina at the University at Albany, SUNY, to explore multiple electron uptakes by bowl-shaped polyaromatic hydrocarbons (also known as buckybowls or fullerene fragments). In this program, buckybowls mapping onto the surfaces of fullerenes and representing the end-caps of nanotubes are utilized as effective models for a diverse range of carbon-rich nanosize materials, thus providing an excellent opportunity to study the redox properties of curved and strained pi-systems at the molecular level. Specifically, the effects of charging pi-bowls with multiple electrons on their molecular geometry, metal binding abilities and self-assembly will be broadly investigated. As a result, this program should improve our understanding of the redox behavior and electron transport of carbonaceous nanostructured materials. It should assist in elucidation of alkali metal ion intercalation in between non-planar pi-carbon surfaces, which is important for search and design of prospective carbon-based anode materials for Li-ion batteries. This fundamental program should overall advance the materials chemistry applications of curved carbon-rich polyarenes, including buckybowls, fullerenes, and nanotubes in several emerging fields ranging from electronics to energy storage. This program will also make its major impact on the enhancement of the educational and research experiences of graduate and undergraduate students at the University at Albany by engaging them into a modern cross-disciplinary research program, and thus improving their future career prospects in the highly competitive global marketplace.