Professor Jon A. Zubieta of Syracuse University is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program to explore the synthesis of hybrid metal oxide crystals in hydrothermal media. These metal oxides are capable of incorporating organic components in their crystalline phases and thus the design and discovery facets of the project elaborate on the understanding of the role of structural determinants on thermal stability and pore dimensions of the novel oxovanadium and oxomolybdenum phosphonates and related materials. The microporous properties of these materials are of considerable interest for applications in separation and gas storage, catalysis, and non-linear optics. Undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in this interdisciplinary research, conducting the proposed chemical syntheses and property measurements. Professor Zubieta will develop instructional materials for graduate students in the form of a two-semester sequence devoted to x-ray crystallography and structural solid state chemistry as well as a website on crystallographic principles. These instructional materials have been adapted for presentation to high school teachers and students participating in the Syracuse University Project Advance.
