• Fluorine Chemistry

  • Fluorinated dendrimers

  • Fluorinated materials

  • Novel fluorinated monomers

• Fuel Cell Research

  •  Membrane modification

• Molecular electronics

1.  Fluorine Chemistry

·        Fluorinated dendrimers

Since their discovery in the early 1980's, the area of dendrimer chemistry has practically exploded.  However, the role of fluorine in dendrimer chemistry has been rather limited to a few types of areas, such as ponytail additions to existing dendrimeric structures.  The aim of this area is to produce new dendrimeric structures, which contain high fluorine content.  These new structures could potentially have many exciting applications in areas such as molecular electronics and fluorous phase catalysis. 

·        Fluorinated self-assembled materials

Self-assembly in coordination chemistry over the years has produced many new, unique structures.  Some these include molecular knots, squares, hexagons, etc...  This is done through control of structural, stereo chemical, and kinetic factors of the starting materials.  The aim of this research is to produce new self-assembled structures containing fluorinated motifs.  These structures may hold promise as sensors and molecular machines. 

·        Novel fluorinated monomers

Polymers have played an important role in chemistry for a long time.  Fluorinated polymers are no different (i.e. Teflon).  The goal of this research is to find produce novel monomeric structures.  These new monomers containing fluorine can then be polymerized and used for molecular electronics and in membrane structures.

2.  Membrane Research

·        Membrane modification

One of the most widely used polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) in fuel cell research is that of Nafion.  Many attempts are being made to improve the properties of Nafion such that it has higher thermal stability, conductivity and, in the case of direct methanol fuel cells, low methanol crossover.  The main focus in order to achieve this is through modification of the Nafion membrane itself.  PAMAM dendrimers can be used to coat the surface of the membrane.  These dendrimers can be incorporated onto the membrane surface through a proton-exchange mechanism, where basic amine groups accept protons from the acidic sulfonate groups in the Nafion structure.  The goal of this research is to synthesize and deposit a variety of dendrimers on the surface of Nafion. Conductivities and diffusion measurements are then performed to discover which coatings work the best.