Professor M. D. Ward B.A., Chemistry, William Paterson College of New Jersey, 1977 Ph.D., Chemistry, Princeton University, 1981   Director, Molecular Design Institute Editor, Chemistry of Materials   Department of Chemistry New York University 100 Washington Square East, Room 1001 New York, NY 10003-6688 Phone: (212)998-8439 FAX: (212)995-4895 Email: mdw3@nyu.edu  Click to see the publications of Dr. M. D. Ward!

    A principal area of research in our group is crystal engineering - the design, synthesis, and crystal growth of crystalline molecular solids in which the molecules are held together in a lattice by weak, and typically unpredictable, intermolecular interactions. Our goal is to understand these interactions and to use molecular design principles to direct the assembly of molecules into desirable solid-state structures. Advances in crystal engineering will lead to fabrication of materials with unique conductivity, magnetic and optical properties that can be manipulated by molecular design, as well as materials that are promising for chemical separations. For example, recent efforts in our group have led to the discovery of a novel class of porous molecular frameworks held together by hydrogen bonding. These frameworks are capable of organizing guest molecules in their pores in unusual ways, or trapping small molecules in their pores with high selectivity during assembly, enabling otherwise difficult separations.

    We also seek to understand the nucleation and growth processes that lead to the formation of molecular crystals such as conducting solids, dyes and pharmaceutical reagents, and proteins. This understanding is crucial for control of crystal characteristics such as polymorphism, size, growth orientation, morphology and defect density, which ultimately affect the properties of these materials. Much of our effort involves the study of epitaxial growth on highly ordered surfaces that serve as templates for selective growth of desirable crystalline phases. A significant part of our effort is devoted to elucidating the fundamental principles of epitaxy that govern nucleation of these materials so that thin film and crystal processing can be better controlled. We use various techniques to examine crystal growth, including real-time atomic force, scanning tunneling and optical microscopies, that enable direct visualization of nucleation and growth from the molecular to the macroscopic length scale.

    Our group also has active efforts in electrochemistry, including the development of methodology such as the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, and more recently, the use of combinatorial electrode arrays to screen and optimize electrode materials. We have recently extended our work with the quartz crystal microbalance to study the properties of polymer films and the dynamic spreading of aqueous surfactant solutions. We also combine electrochemical methods with our expertise in crystal engineering to create redox-active molecular films that may have potential as ultrasmall energy storage materials.

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