Faculty Research Groups

Materials Chemistry

Stony Brook has an extremely diverse program within this research area. Groups within the Department of Chemistry are actively involved in research programs that include the characterization of polymer structure, design of molecular solids, synthesis of new solid state materials, and the study of catalyst structure and mechanisms, battery materials, gels, polydiacetylenes and polytriacetylenes, supercritical fluids and nanostructures. Critical to the success of these programs is the availability of modern, state-of-the-art instrumentation for structure elucidation of both crystalline and amorphous materials. Stony Brook is extremely well equipped to conduct such research, with 2 single crystal diffractometers and 3 wide bore NMR machines in the Department of Chemistry, and powder diffractometers, microscopes (SEM, TEM, and AFM), high pressure cells for synthesis, etc. available on campus. Scattering experiments, designed to probe polymer properties such as crystallization, gelation and micellization are performed in-house, and at synchrotron sources such as the NSLS or the Advanced Photon Source (at Argonne National Laboratory), where dedicated instruments are available. Although there are no formal requirements for research in this area, many students opt to take relevant courses in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Geosciences.

	Benjamin Chu Distinguished Professor. Light-scattering spectroscopy; X-ray scattering; polymer physics; colloid science, DNA electrophoresis; biomedical applications
	Frank Fowler Professor . Synthetic chemistry.
	Nancy Goroff Associate Professor . Non-natural organic compounds and their properties; organic materials.
	Clare Grey Professor. Materials chemistry; solid-state NMR spectroscopy; environmental chemistry, batteries, fuel cells, gas sorption and catalysis
	Robert Grubbs Associate Professor. My research group is interested in the common ground shared by polymer, organic, and materials chemistry and we are involved in the design, synthesis, and characterization of polymer-based organic materials.
	Benjamin S. Hsiao Professor. Fundamentals of structure, morphology, property and processing relationships in polymers; nanocomposites and biomaterials.
	Peter Khalifah Assistant Professor. Materials chemistry; designing functionality into crystalline solids using elemental substitution and structural control to fine-tune the energy levels of bulk materials.
	Joseph Lauher Professor . Structural chemistry and X-ray crystallography, supramolecular chemistry and crystal engineering, hydrogen bonding, topochemical polymerizations, conjugated polymers. molecular graphics.
	John Parise Professor. Crystallography; mineral physics.
	Jon Rudick Assistant Professor. Design and synthesis of bioactive oligomers, peptides and bioconjugates. Molecular recognition of biomacromolecules. Nanostructured materials for biotechnology applications (e.g., sensors and diagnostics).
	Stanislaus S. Wong Professor. Synthesis and characterization of chemically functionalized nanomaterials (including carbon nanotubes and quantum dots) and one-dimensional nanostructures. Physical, chemical, and biological applications of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Biophysical chemistry. Surface chemistry and reactivity. Optical spectroscopy. Probe and electron microscopies.