Materials chemistry involves the synthesis and study of materials that have interesting and potentially useful electronic, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties. Such materials can be inorganic or organic, and range from small molecules to polymers to extended solids. Materials research activities in our Department include studies of:

• Semiconductor nanowires
• Hyperbranched and degradable polymers
• Shell-crosslinked polymer nanoparticles
• Organic semiconductors
• Molecular electronics
• Magnetic molecules and solids
• Transition metal-chalcogen clusters (by NMR)
• Polymer dynamics (by NMR)
• Sol-gel materials (by computer simulation)

Please also see the Washington University Center for Materials Innovation, to which many of our faculty belong.