Adam Jaffe
Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Friday, May 5
9:30-10:00 a.m.
“Hybrid Bronzes as a Versatile Organic-Inorganic Material System”
Abstract
We create tunable materials that combine synthetically precise molecular chemistry with the robust structural and electronic properties of crystalline inorganic solids to address numerous energy-related applications. We have developed hybrid bronzes—air- and water-stable solids synthesized under mild conditions that feature two-dimensional metal oxide layers that support high electron concentrations alternating with ordered arrays of molecular species. These crystalline materials therefore place facile conduction pathways in direct proximity to molecules that enable desired chemical functionality, including redox-, photo-, or catalytic activity. Through a suite of diffractive, electrochemical, and spectroscopic methods—including measurements under extreme conditions—we have investigated the diverse electronic properties of hybrid bronzes, allowing us to formulate design strategies for this promising new class of materials.
Biography
Prof. Adam Jaffe joined the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2021. He received his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry with Prof. Hema Karunadasa at Stanford University, where he studied structural and electronic property relationships in hybrid materials, including their high-pressure behavior as well as their optoelectronic properties and energy-storage capabilities. He later moved across the bay to work with Prof. Jeffrey Long at UC Berkeley to study redox-active metal–organic frameworks for separating oxygen from air as the Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He grew up in Stockton, California and received his A.B. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Princeton University. At Princeton, he worked with Prof. Andrew Bocarsly and Dr. Ellazar Niangar to develop anodic catalysts for ethanol fuel cells and also worked on phosphors for solid-state lighting at the Materials Research Laboratory of UC Santa Barbara with Prof. Ram Seshadri and on metal–organic frameworks for gas storage at Seoul National University with Prof. M. P. Suh.
His research interests include developing new hybrid organic-inorganic material platforms that combine the diverse chemical properties of molecules with the favorable structural and electronic properties of crystalline inorganic solids. This work ultimately strives to address key challenges related to a cleaner energy future by targeting energy storage, catalysis, and optoelectronics. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of relationships between structural and electronic properties of materials that exhibit intriguing properties including variable band gaps, stimulus-responsive phase transitions, and controllable ionic and electronic conductivity. Projects combine synthesis of hybrid and solid-state materials with characterization through crystallography, vibrational and electronic spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and in situ high-pressure diamond-anvil cell techniques.
Relevant Energy Publications
- Jaffe, Adam, Michael E. Ziebel, David M. Halat, Naomi Biggins, Ryan A. Murphy, Khetpakorn Chakarawet, Jeffrey A. Reimer, and Jeffrey R. Long. "Selective, High-Temperature O2 Adsorption in Chemically Reduced, Redox-Active Iron-Pyrazolate Metal–Organic Frameworks." Journal of the American Chemical Society 142, no. 34 (2020): 14627-14637.
- Jaffe, Adam, Stephanie A. Mack, Yu Lin, Wendy L. Mao, Jeffrey B. Neaton, and Hemamala I. Karunadasa. "High Compression‐Induced Conductivity in a Layered Cu–Br Perovskite." Angewandte Chemie 132, no. 10 (2020): 4046-4051.
- Smith, Matthew D., Adam Jaffe, Emma R. Dohner, Aaron M. Lindenberg, and Hemamala I. Karunadasa. "Structural origins of broadband emission from layered Pb–Br hybrid perovskites." Chemical science 8, no. 6 (2017): 4497-4504.
- Jaffe, Adam, Yu Lin, Christine M. Beavers, Johannes Voss, Wendy L. Mao, and Hemamala I. Karunadasa. "High-pressure single-crystal structures of 3D lead-halide hybrid perovskites and pressure effects on their electronic and optical properties." ACS central science 2, no. 4 (2016): 201-209.
- Jaffe, Adam, Abraham Saldivar Valdes, and Hemamala I. Karunadasa. "Quinone-functionalized carbon black cathodes for lithium batteries with high power densities." Chemistry of Materials 27, no. 10 (2015): 3568-3571.