Speaker：Prof. Puru Jena (Physics Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284)

Chair Person: Prof. Shaoqiang Tang

Date：Jun. 2, 12:30-13:30

Place：Room 210 COE Building No.1

Report Introduction:

The building blocks of all materials known to man are derived from the 90 naturally occurring elements in the periodic table. While some of these elements are abundant and cheap, many technologically important ones are either scarce or expensive. The superatom concept developed more than 20 years ago, allows the possibility to overcome this limitation of the periodic table and helps to design and synthesize an entirely new class of materials nature has not been able to do. Superatoms are clusters of atoms with specific size and composition that mimic the chemistry of atoms in the periodic table. Understanding the structure-property relationships of these superatoms is a key to the development of a theory-led design and focused discovery of materials with tailored properties. This talk will describe how simple electron counting rules developed over the last century can be used to design these superatoms by paying particular attention to the group 17 elements, the halogens. I will show how complex clusters known as super- and hyper-halogens can not only mimic the chemistry of halogens, but also have far superior properties, allowing the synthesis of strong oxidizing agents, safer materials for hydrogen and electrochemical storage, photo-voltaic materials with tunable band gaps, and high energy density materials.
 

About Speaker:
　　Professor Jena received his Ph.D. in physics from University of California, Riverside, California, 1970. He was promoted to a full professor in Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982, and appointed as a Distinguished Professor of Physics since 2005. Professor Jena has made tremendous contributions to physics in many fields, including cluster physics, chemical physics, and energy physics. He is the first one to propose the idea of using a magic cluster as a super atom to assemble nanomaterials, the first one to disclose the polarization mechanism in hydrogen storage, the first one for the concept of hyperhalogen, and the first one for revealing the relevance of superhalogen with lithium battery. In addition, he served as Program Director at the Materials Science Division of the National Science Foundation and as Jefferson Science Fellow and Senior Science Advisor at the US Department of State. He has served as a member of numerous scientific panels at the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Army Research Office. He has given over 425 invited talks in international conferences and academic institutions in 29 countries around the world and has organized over 50 international conferences.