Designing Material Properties from Molecular Principles

Targeted design of electronic and magnetic properties in novel materials remains a critical bottleneck in the development of many next-generation electrical and electrochemical devices. In this talk, I will describe how the principles of molecular inorganic chemistry can be applied to systematically engineer materials hosting a diverse range of desired properties. First, I will discuss a family of redox-active metal–organic frameworks, in which trends in metal–ligand covalency can be used to rationalize changes in conductivity, electrochemical behavior, and magnetic anisotropy. Next, I will discuss the realization of a spin-polarized charge density wave through chemical intercalation of a layered magnetic semiconductor, where the local crystal field generates nearly one-dimensional electronic properties. Finally, I will highlight the discovery of “heavy” charge carriers in a van der Waals material hosting formally low-valent Ce ions.

Mike Ziebel is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University working on the development of new two-dimensional materials with Prof. Xavier Roy and Prof. Cory Dean. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University, where he pursued the synthesis of molecular electron donors for organic photovoltaic devices with Prof. Samuel Stupp. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked with Prof. Jeff Long on electrically conductive metal–organic frameworks.