Opportunities In 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.