From Carbon-Rich Bowls to Nanobelts and Warped Nanographene: Self-Assembly and Metal Ion Intercalation Upon Multi-Charging

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This NSF award by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division supports the project by Professor Marina A. Petrukhina, a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Albany. This project is to explore a diverse set of novel nanocarbon materials ranging from carbon bowls to nanobelts and warped nanographene. Studies of the addition of several electrons by novel nanostructured systems may improve our understanding of their fundamental properties. The research may also expand the applications of carbon-rich materials in several technological fields ranging from electronics to energy storage. This research lies at the interface of organometallic, supramolecular and nanochemistry and provides unique educational and research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students at the University at Albany. The project is designed to engage the students in a modern interdisciplinary research in synthetic, structural and materials chemistry and thus, to prepare them for successful careers in chemistry.This research includes a broad fundamental investigation of chemical reduction processes occurring on novel curved and strained nanocarbon systems with different structural topologies ranging from carbon-rich bowl-shaped polyarenes to nanobelts and warped nanographene sheets. This diverse set of structurally well-defined carbon materials provides unique opportunities to study their multi-electron uptake properties at the molecular level. Specifically, investigations of the structural consequences of adding multiple electrons to the curved and bent surfaces are being pursued. Studies of alkali metal intercalation and self-assembly trends related to the non-planar and highly charged carbanions is also studied. As a result, this research may improve our fundamental understanding of the redox behavior and electron transport properties of carbonaceous nanomaterials having different structures and nanosized dimensions. The project may assist in describing alkali metal ion intercalation in between non-planar carbon surfaces, which is important for the advancement of carbon-based anode materials in energy storage devices. This fundamental research may advance the materials chemistry applications of curved carbon-rich polyarenes and enhance education opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students at the University at Albany. The education plan targets training of the next generation of materials chemists, including women and minorities, and is well integrated with the research.