Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic chemistry at Clemson University spans a broad range of interests with a common theme of understanding and promoting the richness of the chemistry of the elements. Its boundaries have merged with those of the other traditional sub-disciplines of chemistry as well as many other areas of science to spawn exciting new interdisciplinary areas of research. The inorganic division at Clemson has a strong background in the synthesis and characterization of new compounds and this strength has evolved to include a major emphasis in materials chemistry. Top-level research being pursued by our faculty include:
* Synthesis of novel ionomer membranes, an exciting new class of materials with considerable promise for electrochemical applications in fuel cells, secondary lithium batteries and as acid catalysts and ion exchange resins.
* Solid state chemistry of new inorganic materials that are of electronic, magnetic, catalytic and optical importance, geared toward systematic structure and property correlation studies to determine the origin of unusual physical phenomena associated with metal-insulator transitions, charge density waves, magnetic ordering, and nonlinear optical activity.
* The development of new synthetic methodologies utilizing supercritical fluids for the preparation and crystal growth of industrially important solid state inorganic compounds. Materials include new optical crystals. laser hosts, wide bandgap materials, ferroics and thermoelectrics. These materials include metal oxides, sulfides, nitrides and lanthanides.
* Crystal design through the use of intermolecular interactions, such as halogen bonding, to produce complexes which can be used for the interconversion of polymorphic materials and to facilitate solid state polymerization for the production of new and unique porous materials.
Research in our division is very well funded and places great emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration. Our students receive a solid foundation in inorganic and materials chemistry and develop outstanding skills for success in careers in academics or the industry. Recent graduates currently have positions at Edwards Air Force Base, ATMI Semiconductors, Corning Glass, Toyota, NASA Langley Research Center, DuPont, Milliken Chemicals, St. Jude's Medical, Philip Morris, Inc., Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, the University of South Florida, and the University of Minnesota.
Faculty currently conducting inorganic chemistry research include:
Julia Brumaghim
Darryl DesMarteau
Shiou-Jyh Hwu
Joe Kolis
Bill Pennington
Rhett Smith