Building the Infrastructure for Physical Property Measurements Toward
the Design of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials with Geometric Frustration
Dr. Joyce Pham1, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Co-PI(s): Youngmin Kim1, Shannon Lee 2, Le Wang 2
Senior Personnel: Sara Callori 1, Vijay Murugesan 2
1: California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407
2: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354
In solid-state materials, chemical bonding varies from strong intermolecular forces in extended solids, such as ionic or polar covalence, to weaker interactions in molecular solids such as Van der Waals or hydrogen bonding. This project develops synthetic strategies and guiding principles for the discovery of organic-inorganic hybrid materials in single compounds comprised of both extended- and molecular-solid chemical bonding motifs. These guiding principles will affect the design of structures with geometric magnetic frustrations, which would broadly affect magnetic properties of crystalline condensed matter. In alignment with the FAIR-FOA to build research infrastructure at diverse institutions, the project acquires the VersaLab instrument to train students on measuring physical properties in teaching labs and through research projects at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), a federally designated Hispanic-Serving & Emerging-Research Institution. By employing solid-state synthesis techniques in combination with fundamental principles from both organic chemistry and inorganic extended solids, intermetallic halides will be systematically modified to embed organo-ammonium electron-donating groups (EDGs) with various steric effects. The project involves: (1) establishing general principles for incorporating molecular organic EDGs into inorganic extended solids, (2) structurally characterizing products to uncover the fundamental effects of targeted hybrid organic-inorganic chemical compositions, (3) optimizing single-phase products for physical property characterizations, (4) rationalizing structural formations via computational investigations of chemical bonding and electronic structure theory, and (5) establishing structure-physical property relationships via direct transport and magnetic property measurements. Students will train preliminarily at CSUSB on the VersaLab magnetometer and more in-depth with other advanced structure and physical property characterization equipment (e.g., electron paramagnetic resonance, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, cryogenic Evercool system) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The collaboration with PNNL aligns with the FAIR-FOA to further expand the capabilities of CSUSB in training students by exposing them to the scientific workforce and diverse instrumentation of a DOE national lab. The overall outcomes of this research will be new predictive relationships between atomic sizes and steric hindrance effects, and a broader application of electronegativity effects, including electron-donation by molecular organic fragments, on the structural formation of crystalline condensed matter. This greater understanding advances the science of synthesis and materials discovery by offering new building blocks to target organic-inorganic hybrids and improve control over materials design and magnetic properties.
This research was selected for funding by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences
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