Micro-ED for the Stuctural Elucidation of Radiation-Sensitive, Monosaccharide-, and Peptide-based Metal-Organic Chalcogenolates

Project Description

In order to keep up with increasing energy demands, the synthesis and characterization of new materials is at the forefront of the search for new semiconductors and materials for photovoltaic cells. Metal-organic chalcogenolates, “MOChas,” are an emerging class of semi-conducting low-dimensional materials that are highly customizable, with exchangeable metals, chalcogens, and organic ligands. These materials are radiation-sensitive and typically form at <10 micron crystals, preventing the use of single-crystal x-ray diffraction for structural determination. Taking inspiration from biological building blocks, we have synthesized a series of silver MOChas composed of amino acid and carbohydrate ligands, creating a new form of bio-inorganic low-dimensional material systems. Our goal for this project is to use electron diffraction to determine the crystal structures of our biological MOChas and other radiation-sensitive materials, including a series of gold n-alkanethiolates.

Instruments