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We are interested in new and novel materials for applications. Our current research topics consist three areas: 1) synthesis of conducting polymers for new optical and electronic materials; 2) design of new analytical techniques to study structure-property relationships in these new materials; and 3) construction of "molecular" devices and testing for their practical uses. Students in our group will use polymer chemistry, physical chemistry, surface chemistry, and analytical methods for their thesis research. Experimental techniques include FTIR, electrochemistry, physical methods for polymers, high-resolution electron microscopy, and synthetic chemistry. We have studied conductive, polymer-based "smart" materials.

We currently use the material synthesis and chemical characterization techniques to develop new materials and devices. The principle of molecular self-assembly is used to synthesize of nano-materials including double-strand synthetic polymers and the organic / inorganic composite materials. These new materials are currently used in the following projects: (1) the development of chromate-free (non-toxic) corrosion inhibitors, (2) the environmentally friendly antifouling coatings, and (3) the study of new materials for chemical analysis and chemical separation, for example, the new stationary phase for High Performance Liquid Chromatography.