This three-year award will support U.S.-France cooperative research in inorganic and organometallic chemistry between Kenneth J. Balkus, Jr. of the University of Texas at Dallas and Fethi Bedioui of the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie in Paris. The objectives of their research are to prepare novel, microporous materials and to evaluate their electrochemical activity. They will synthesize and modify zeolites. Related metal oxides research will involve electrochemistry and electrocatalysis with novel zeolite host-guest materials. Zeolites are important new materials with applications, for example, in diagnostic pharmaceuticals and in chemical sensors. This project will advance our understanding of the reactivity of zeolite composites and their homogenous properties. This collaboration takes advantage of complementary resources and expertise. The U.S. investigator and his group at the University of Texas are experts in the synthesis and characterization of catalytic materials and will prepare the new materials. This will be complemented by French expertise in electrochemical analysis.
