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Current Thermodynamic Research Areas

  • Rare earth and actinide materials
  • Polymorphism and confinement in porous materials (zeolites and MOFs)
  • Nanomaterials and surface energies
  • Order-disorder in ceramics induced by low-temperature synthesis, high-temperature equilibrium disordering, grinding and radiation damage
  • Complex functional and hybrid perovskites relevant to energy applications
  • Melt and glass chemistry and crystallization
  • The nuclear fuel cycle, including molten salt reactors and waste management
  • Materials in the Si-O-C-N-H system
  • Applications of thermochemistry to environmental, earth and planetary science
  • Calorimetry at 1500-2500 °C

Specific Projects

Thermochemistry of advanced functional metal oxides for energy applications

Development of new high-temperature instrumentation, calorimetry and thermal analysis above 1500 °C

Sergey Ushakov (Staff Research Associate)
Thermodynamics of flexible zeolite frameworks and molecular confinement
Xin Guo (Postdoc)
Thermochemistry of rare-earth phosphate minerals and disordered lithium-ion battery cathode materials, using high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry
Tamilarasan Subramani (Postdoc)
Energetics of surface reactivity on nanoparticles with organic molecules; Thermodynamics of critical elements (Li, La, Ce, Nd)
Lili Wu (Postdoc)
Thermodynamics of actinide-bearing materials for nuclear applications; Radiation damage and annealing
Cheng-Kai Chung (PhD Student)
High-temperature thermodynamics of metal oxides; CALPHAD modeling
Can Agca (PhD Student)

Energetics of uranium adsorption and structural incorporation into naturally occurring iron oxides in the context of radioactive waste leakage, and the potential remediation of contaminated water.
Andy Lam (PhD Student)

Porous materials and clusters

Adsorption on carbon-based materials (graphene, carbon nanotubes)

Interface and bulk energies of noncrystalline ceramics

Investigation of the thermochemistry of aluminum and gallium inorganic clusters to understand the pathways between ions in solution and nanophase mineral precipitates