The research activity deals with the generation of frameworks containing one-, two- and three-dimensional confined spaces with uniform and precisely engineered geometries to create new environments for storage of chemical entities. The study is focused on new materials with nanoscale architectures for storage of important gases such as methane and hydrogen considered as clean fuels, carbon dioxide that is an intermediate product in the hydrogen production processes, and pollutant vapors, especially benzene. The construction of stable and robust ionic, inorganic and hybrid frameworks with 3D periodic motifs can increase separation, capture and storage of small gases. These frameworks can arrange sites and receptors into arrays for controlling and interacting with gas species. The advantages of the novel materials will be compared with the conventional material properties for obtaining the basis of patent applications. The research activity is mainly devoted to physico-chemical methods for the characterization of the porous structures and of the confined gases and vapors by X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques. Advanced experiments using synchrotron radiation and neutron sources will be performed at the European Facilities, especially at ESRF (Grenoble) and Rutherford Laboratory (Chilton). The synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments enable the in-situ observations of the gas adsorption kinetics whilst neutron diffraction experiments can detect the localization of stored gases. The dynamics of gases and vapors in the confined state and the identification of ionic and weak interactions will be studied in depth by inelastic and deep inelastic neutron scattering.

COLLABORATIONS

International collaborations with prof. M. D. Ward at Molecular Design Institute of New York University, Prof. S. Kitagawa at Kyoto University and prof. M. W. Hosseini at Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg are active.