Khashayar Ghandi

Research Overview

1) Research on material science: Our work in material science are related to green material chemistry, ionic liquids, magnetic materials, and nanomaterials for health and energy applications. One aspect that is common in all of our research on material science is the studies of fundamental aspects and the applications of physical chemistry. An example of these studies is investigation of the role of external fields on electronic structure and as a result on morphologies of material. On applied side, we have been using green chemistry principles to make nanomaterials and polymers with applications in different new technologies. Some of the applications involve biosensing, the energy industry (bio-based solar cells, one of the least expensive methods to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, and a potential method for electricity generation from nuclear waste in water); and biotechnology (material for health applications as well as material that could decrease the side effects of radiation therapy).

2) Research on chemistry of reactive intermediates: We investigate reactive intermediates that are short lived typically from ps to ms time scale with focus on reactive intermediates involved in electrochemical processes, in free radical or radiation based applications under a wide variety of thermodynamic conditions including extreme conditions. This work sis mostly done at particle accelerators and for some of these studies we use particle physics methods. The extreme conditions we study includes from high temperatures and pressures (supercritical conditions) to extremely cold conditions (close to 0 K). Reactive intermediates are involved in almost all chemical and energy transformation processes in labs and in industries and in materials chemistry. The studies under extreme conditions at higher temperatures and pressures are very important for many industries, including nuclear industry. The studies of extreme cold conditions are important in Astrochemistry and towards fundamental understanding of quantum effects in chemistry and material science.

In both of the above research fields, we use combination of lab based synthetic methods, computational and theoretical studies, including quantum field theoretical studies and often we develop new spectroscopic techniques. The work also involves developing new instruments for our studies in the university or at particle accelerators.

Prof. Ghandi's research page