Inorganic/Organic NanocompositesUsing low-dimensional nanoparticles as artificial atoms, this program aims to develop basic understanding to independently modulate thermodynamics and kinetic pathways and to synthesize designer composites with chemical control across the atomic-nanoscopic-microscopic-macroscopic hierarchy and the interfaces across each length scale. While both organic and inorganic components can exhibit new phase behaviors under nanoscopic confinements, the composite properties rely on all structures including the scales above and below nanometers. However, it remains synthetically challenging to atomically modulate the organic/inorganic interface. As the assembly process climbs up along the structural hierarchy, building blocks serve both as the end products from the lower tier and the reactants for the next tier. Given obvious differences in the diffusion rates of reactants and distances needed for rearrangement at each tier, the apparent reaction rate and kinetic pathway can significantly vary. Studies in this program will lead to control over composite synthesis beyond nanoscale to harvest emerging phenomena at atomic and microscopic levels collectively.

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