Inorganic
Chemistry & Materials Science
at
Oregon
State University
The inorganic division is led by Professors Keszler, Lerner, and Sleight. Research within the division focuses on the preparation and study of new materials. Professor Keszler's group prepares and structurally characterizes new oxides, oxide halides, and chalcogenides. The optical properties of these materials and their potential for development as new phosphors, nonlinear optical crystals, and laser hosts are explored. Professor Lerner's group examines intercalation chemistry and the formation of nanoscale composites with layered hosts. These materials will have applications in charge-storage and other electrochemical devices. Professor Sleight's group explores the synthesis of new oxides with special emphasis on materials showing unusual thermal expansion and materials which are electrically conducting but optically transparent.
Facilities for molecular and materials synthesis as well as structural, electrical, thermal, and optical characterization are contained within the division, and collaboration with several other departments at OSU, e.g., physics, chemical and electrical engineering, and others within the Center for Advanced Materials Research, provide additional local resources for ongoing research. A cross-disciplinary approach is encouraged, as many research projects involve active collaborations with industry, national laboratories, and other universities; in this way the division interacts with researchers throughout the U.S. and abroad.
A comprehensive sequence of courses in inorganic chemistry, as well as special-topics courses, are offered in the Department, and students are strongly encouraged to broaden their backgrounds in materials through course offerings in other departments.
Materials research is one of the important frontiers of modern science and engineering. From a technological standpoint, the ability to produce materials with desired physical, chemical, and electrical properties is essential to our modern society. From an intellectual point of view, the question of how to relate the bulk properties of materials to their underlying atomic, molecular and electronic structures presents an exciting challenge to both theoretical and experimental science.
Recognizing both the intellectual and technological importance of the study of materials, Oregon State University has established a Center for Advanced Materials Research. The principal goal of this Center is to foster interdisciplinary work on the synthesis, fabrication, manufacture, characterization, and understanding of materials. More than 50 faculty members and approximately 100 graduate students in three colleges of the University and eight departments are affiliated with the Center. The homepage for the center can be found at osu.orst.edu/dept/camr
Chemistry plays a key role in the development of new materials, first, by providing the fundamental understanding of the relationships between molecular structure and macroscopic properties, and second, by exploring the techniques by which materials with interesting or desirable properties can be synthesized and characterized. About half of the faculty members in the Department of Chemistry are also members of the Center.
The Center's activities encompass chemistry, physics, mathematics, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and forest products. Research of interest to chemists is found in several of these disciplines and cross-disciplinary projects are strongly encouraged. Graduate chemistry students may work closely with other departments, and some students will obtain an M.S. in materials science enroute to a graduate degree in chemistry.
Research interests include superconductivity (both high-and low-temperature), materials for electronic devices, thin films, optical science, surface science and catalysis, solid-state theory and physics, polymers and composite materials, and analytical methods.
The Center sponsors a seminar program throughout the year as well as the annual Oregon Materials Science symposium that is held on campus.