**Research Activity: Materials Chemistry**

Division: Materials Sciences and Engineering

Primary Contact(s): Richard D. Kelley (<Richard.Kelley@science.doe.gov>
301-903-6051)

Aravinda M. Kini
([Aravinda.Kini@science.doe.gov](mailto:Richard.Kelley@science.doe.gov)
301-903-3565)

Team Leader: William T. Oosterhuis

Division Director: Iran L. Thomas

**Portfolio Description:**

This activity supports basic research on the synthesis,
characterization, and chemical properties of materials to understand the
effects of chemical reactivity on the synthesis and behavior of novel
materials and structures. The portfolio emphasizes surface and
interfacial chemistry, nanoscience, solid state chemistry, polymers, and
organic materials that underpin many energy-related areas such as
batteries and fuel cells, catalysis, friction and lubrication,
membranes, electronics and environmental chemistry. It includes
investigations of novel materials including low-dimensional,
self-assembled monolayers; cluster and nanocrystal-based materials;
polymeric conductors; organic superconductors and magnets; complex
fluids; biomolecular materials; and solid state neutron detectors. The
research employs a wide variety of experimental techniques to
characterize these materials including x-ray photoemission and other
spectroscopies, scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopies,
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and x-ray and neutron reflectometry.
The program also supports the development of new experimental techniques
such as high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) without
magnets, neutron reflectometry, atomic force microscopy of liquids,
nanopatterning with self-assembly of block copolymers, and surface
engineering of hybrid living/nonliving systems.

**Unique Aspects:**

Investigators are world leaders in solid state NMR and MRI, neutron
reflectivity of soft matter, organic magnets, organic conductors and
superconductors, biomolecular materials, polymers, nanoscience,
organic-inorganic composite materials, basic science of tribology, and
advanced inorganic materials including quasicrystals.

Investigators in this program have conceived, developed, and exploited
novel instrumentation/techniques such as high resolution MRI without
magnets (Pines/LBNL), neutron reflectometers (Felcher/ANL and Russell/U.
Mass), combinatorial chemistry for new material discovery (Schultz/LBNL
(now Scripps Research Institute), the surface force apparatus
(Israelachvili/UC Santa Barbara), and spin polarized metastable helium
scattering (El-Batanouny/Boston University)

**Relationship to Others:**

The Materials Chemistry program is a vital component of the materials
sciences that interfaces chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering.
This interfacing results in very active relationships.

-   Within BES, there are jointly funded programs in the National Labs
    and Universities (about 10 currently), joint program reviews, joint
    contractor meetings and programmatic workshops.

-   Within DOE, there is coordination through the Energy Materials
    Coordinating Committee (EMaCC) which involves representatives of DP,
    EE, RE, FE, and EM; laboratory investigators collocated and
    occasionally co-funded by EE & RE (transportation technologies
    (batteries and fuel cells), industrial technologies (Green
    Chemistry), solar energy technologies (hydrogen storage), FE
    (catalysis and advanced materials research), and DP (nanoscience
    research).

-   Within the federal agencies, the program coordinates through the
    Federal Interagency Chemistry Representatives (FICR), meets
    annually; the Interagency Power Working Group, which meets annually
    to coordinate all federal electrochemical technology (e.g., battery
    and fuel cell R&D) activity; the interagency polymer working group;
    and the nanoscience, engineering, and technology committee (NSET),
    which initially was formed to formulate the National Nanotechnology
    Initiative (NNI) and is currently a sub-committee of the National
    Science and Technology Council. This last committee meets monthly to
    coordinate the federal initiative.

-   Very active interactions with NSF and NIH through joint workshops
    and joint funding of select activities as appropriate (two currently
    active).

-   Industrial interactions: 15 active CRADAs at four DOE laboratories;
    grant with small business to develop solid state neutron detectors.

**Significant Accomplishments:**

This program is responsible for the discovery of the first organic
magnet (1986) and the first room temperature organic magnet (1991). This
work created a new field of research, which has grown substantially
since these discoveries and has transformed organic magnets from an
impossibility to a thriving new science and potentially new, enabling
technologies. The program pioneered the development and use of neutron
reflectivity for the study of interfaces, buried interfaces, and
interfacial phenomena in magnetic materials, polymers, colloids,
biomaterials, and other complex, multicomponent materials. Every neutron
scattering facility in the world now has neutron reflectometers in great
demand. The program pioneered and developed the use of laser polarized
xenon to significantly enhance NMR spectra and MRI images in materials
science, in medicine, and in biology.

**Mission Relevance:**

Materials Chemistry provides support for fundamental research in surface
and interfacial chemistry, nanoscience, polymeric and organic materials,
solid state chemistry, and development of new tools and techniques to
advance the materials sciences. Research in these areas is at the
forefront of the synthesis, assembly, and understanding of materials.
The research in this portfolio underpins many technological areas such
as batteries and fuel cells, catalysis, friction and lubrication,
membranes, electronics, and environmental chemistry. New techniques for
fabrication of nanocrystals have generated a unique inverse micellar
process that makes possible the efficient elimination of dangerous
chlorinated organic and phenolic pollutants (e.g., PCP). Similarly, the
development of synthetic membranes using biological synthesis may yield
materials for separations and energy storage. Research on solid
electrolytes is already paying off in new very thin rechargeable
batteries that can be recharged many more times than existing commercial
cells. Research on polymers may lead to lightweight structural materials
that can be used in automobiles and thereby providing substantial
savings in energy efficiency. Research in this program on chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) continues to impact the electronics industry.

**Scientific Challenges:**

The increasing complexity and variety of materials offers many
opportunities. The challenge is to choose the right directions from
among the many combinations. The choices are expected to be abundant in
nanoscale science where the "explosion" of exciting activity across a
wide spectrum of scientific disciplines has brought about an interagency
research initiative, National Nanotechnology Initiative. This
initiative, to rapidly expand the ongoing research, will require many
choices and the guidance of earlier and future workshops of experts and
the peer review community.

Materials Chemistry research is needed to find new solid state materials
for advanced neutron and x-ray detectors.

Experimental and theoretical research is needed to explore new
approaches to the understanding of the origins of complex and
cooperative phenomena in soft materials.

**Funding Summary:**

**Dollars in Thousands**

**[FY 2000]{.underline}** **[FY 2001]{.underline}** **[FY
2002]{.underline}**

\$25,353 \$30,808 \$27,823

*.* **[Performer]{.underline} [Funding Percentage]{.underline}**

> DOE Laboratories 72.0%
>
> Universities 25.0%
>
> Other 3.0%

Performers in FY2001 included 37 DOE Laboratory projects and 45
university grants The 'Other' category includes a grant with a small
company (Mission Support, Inc., in Utah) that is conducting research to
develop new solid state detectors for neutron scattering research and
two projects jointly supported with NSF.

**Projected Evolution:**

Beyond maintaining a healthy core research activity, the program will
expand nanoscience research, particularly to explore new techniques with
combination of biological, organic, inorganic, and physics approaches.
Other areas that will receive additional support will include solid
state neutron detectors, high pressure synthetic chemistry, organic
lasers, polymer interfaces, and increased theoretical chemistry.

Increased emphasis on new synthetic routes to advanced materials
including biologically-inspired, macromolecular, and composite materials
and complex fluids research.

Increased multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary team research, to bring
appropriate talent to bear on increasingly more complex materials
chemistry.

04 February 2001