Date and Time: Tuseday, 25 February, 13:30～14:30
Place: IMRAM Administration Building, 2nd Floor, Main conference room, Katahira Campus,Tohoku University

Wet-Chemically Prepared Graphene – Chemistry and Device Fabrication
Robert K. Szilagyi, Associate Professor
（Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University）

Outline：I propose that it is not a coincidence that contemporary challenges in our modern, technologically evolved age overlap with the fundamental issues emerging life may have faced here on Earth. These include, but are not limited to carbon dioxide, methane, dinitrogen, hydrogen gas conversion, organic tar problem, or the use of molecular oxygen (a green oxidant) to enable complex organic compounds with high chemical potential and in parallel, elevated economic value. From a chemist’s perspective, the processes of small molecule activation, redox conversion, bond breaking and formation are stoichiometrically simple, but energetically extremely challenging problems that can be facilitated by intricate catalytic processes. My hypothesis is that biology provides the link between the ancient Hadean Eon and the present state of our home planet. By studying the chemical functions of biological systems, we can gain inspiration and even obtain blueprints for developing emerging technologies for environmentally sound and sustainable chemical technologies to meet the challenges of our modern lives.
In order to tap into the tantalizing wisdom of molecular biomimicry, we are focused on enzymatic processes that are enabled by the presence of site-differentiated [4Fe-4S] cluster complexes with cysteine coordination. We carry out synthetic, spectroscopic, and computational studies of [4Fe-4S]-maquettes in order to elucidate the structure/function relationships in metalloproteins (ferredoxins, high-potential iron-proteins) and metalloenzymes (hydrogenase, nitrogenase, radical S-adenosylmethionine activating enzyme). The main goal of these bioinspired studies is to develop the fundamental understanding of the role and potential of site-differentiation in emerging chemical function of small molecule activation.
In parallel, we utilize these compositional, structural, and reactivity insights obtained from the [4Fe-4S] maquette studies in converting low-economic value phylloaluminosilicates with natural transition metal substitutions. Our current focus is on Fe-containing, exfoliated nanokaolinite particles, which have the potential to open up research into a new family of 2D materials that encompasses the beneficial properties of enzymes (soft-materials) and clays (hardmaterials).