Our research leverages the intersection between i) in-situ metrology, ii) process engineering and iii) material synthesis to enable bottom-up novel materials design and synthesis for energy, membranes, electronics, catalysis, metrology, environmental protection and healthcare applications.

The key scientific questions in the field relate to understanding mechanisms for atomistic control during nanomaterial synthesis, while the engineering challenges center around developing scalable production processes and interfacing nanomaterials into functional systems to realize applications.

We typically leverage fundamental insights from in-situ metrology to drive process industrialization via the development of a process rationale and enable applications.

Here is an example of how we implemented this vision in the context of proton exchange membranes.

Current projects include:

1. 1D and 2D material synthesis and characterizations: We are interested in the synthesis of new 1D and 2D materials via bottom-up synthesis processes with a focus on understanding growth mechanisms.

2. Atomically thin membranes: Fabrication of atomically thin membranes for ionic and molecular separations with a focus on understanding nanoscale mass transport. Energy, sustainability, and healthcare applications are focus areas.

3. Novel separation processes: Design of novel separation processes by leveraging nanoscale interactions.

4. In-situ metrology: Exploring material synthesis and material properties using in-situ metrology.