Redox-active and naturally occurring molecules as robust building blocks in conductive porous materials

The suggested project aims to develop electronically active and crystalline porous materials from sustainably sourced building blocks.

The unique properties of crystalline porous materials originate in their well-defined pore environments and the possibility of guest species not only interacting with the surface of the material, but throughout the entire bulk, having a broad range of applications in processes such as ion-exchange, catalysis, and adsorption.

Incorporating sustainably sourced molecules, isolated from plant waste, into high-performance and electronically active porous materials would be a significant step toward sustainability in an emerging field of materials chemistry.The intrinsic properties of the suggested plant-sourced and redox-active molecules would give materials with high porosities and rich electrochemistry.

The project will be carried out with two world-leading groups, establishing structure-property relationships and the applications of such materials, thereby acquiring a fundamental understanding of charge transport in the obtained materials (through spectroscopy and voltammetry studies carried out at the University of Oregon, 24 months) while also studying their application in electrochemical processes (Uppsala University, 12 months).

The obtained results would give a deeper understanding of the electronic properties of porous materials as a whole, while also ensuring the incorporation of sustainably sourced raw materials.