MMST·Research — system overview
Our group works at the interface of materials science, sensing, and sustainability — designing multifunctional nanomaterials that address real environmental and energy challenges.
Development of sensitive and selective sensing platforms for biological and chemical species, combining nanomaterials with transduction techniques for rapid, reliable detection.
Read more →Design of sensor systems targeted at environmentally important analytes, supporting monitoring of pollutants and contaminants relevant to environmental and public health.
Read more →Exploration of nanomaterials and their composites for energy-related applications, including materials engineered for improved performance in energy devices.
Read more →Development of approaches to recover valuable products from electronic waste and other low-grade sources, supporting resource circularity and sustainable materials use.
Read more →Porous metal–organic frameworks and their composites that capture, degrade, and recover contaminants from water through adsorption and light-driven oxidation.
Read more →Focus area
A biosensor couples a biological recognition element — an antibody, enzyme, bacteriophage, aptamer or glycan — to a transducer that converts the binding event into a measurable signal. We build these interfaces on nanomaterials such as graphene and graphene quantum dots, MoS2, carbon nanotubes and metal–organic frameworks, whose large surface area, conductivity or luminescence amplify the signal. Targets range from clinical biomarkers to foodborne and waterborne pathogens and food toxins.
Receptors are anchored on the nanomaterial, commonly by carbodiimide (EDC/NHS) coupling of surface carboxyl groups to receptor amines:
R–COOH + H2N–R′ → R–CO–NH–R′ + H2O
MOFs can also encapsulate enzymes, shielding them from denaturation.
The target binds selectively to its receptor, governed by the dissociation constant:
Ab + Ag ⇌ Ab·Ag
KD = [Ab][Ag] / [Ab·Ag]
Bacteriophages bind their host bacteria through strain-specific receptor proteins.
Binding changes an interfacial property. In impedimetric sensors the captured layer blocks the [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− redox probe, raising the charge-transfer resistance:
ΔRct = Rct(bound) − Rct(blank)
Optical sensors read fluorescence quenching or a shift in surface plasmon resonance instead.
A calibration curve over the linear range gives sensitivity and the limit of detection:
LOD = 3σblank / S
where S is the calibration slope. Sensors are then validated in real samples such as serum, milk and water.
Label-free impedimetric and conductometric immunosensors built on graphene quantum dots, amine-functionalized graphene, gold nanoparticle–reduced graphene oxide and TCNQ-doped Cu-MOF films, for cardiac markers (troponin I, myoglobin) and prostate-specific antigen.
Phages as robust, strain-specific receptors on MOF and graphene surfaces, giving optical and impedimetric detection of Staphylococcus aureus and S. arlettae.
Water-dispersible terbium MOFs for dipicolinic acid (an anthrax spore biomarker), and optical-fibre surface plasmon resonance sensors modified with 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides for proteins such as BSA, ferritin and IgG.
Enzymes immobilized in or on MOFs for stability and reuse, such as organophosphate hydrolase on UiO-66-NH2 for methyl parathion, and glucose oxidase on long-period fibre gratings for glucose.
Carbon quantum dot lateral-flow immunoassays for aflatoxin M1 in milk, MoS2 quantum dot/MOF and MOF/MXene electrochemical sensors for aflatoxins, and a UiO-66-NH2 fluorescent aptasensor for zearalenone in cereals.
MOF/polyaniline and MIL-53/PEDOT electrodes and terbium-MOF optical probes for E. coli, and glyco-conjugated MOFs for fluorescent detection of bacteria.
Focus area
Pollutants in air and water — pesticides, heavy-metal ions, toxic gases and volatile organic compounds — must be measured at trace levels, in the field, and in complex matrices. We engineer the sensing layer at the molecular level: porous MOFs pre-concentrate the analyte inside their pores, while conductive or luminescent partners such as graphene, polyaniline, PEDOT:PSS and MXenes convert that uptake into an electrical or optical readout.
Analyte molecules adsorb into MOF pores or onto open metal sites, raising their local concentration at the sensing surface far above that in the surrounding air or water.
Adsorbed gas donates or withdraws electrons, changing the film's carrier density. On p-type films, electron-donating NH3 fills holes and raises resistance:
Response (%) = (Rgas − Rair) / Rair × 100
Several of our composites, such as ZIF-67/rGO for ammonia and Zr-MOF/PEDOT:PSS for toluene, work at room temperature with no heater.
Heavy metals are measured by anodic stripping voltammetry: deposit, then re-oxidize to a current peak proportional to concentration:
M2+ + 2e− → M0 → M0 → M2+ + 2e−
Nitroaromatics quench MOF luminescence (Stern–Volmer):
I0 / I = 1 + KSV[Q]
Sensing films are printed onto low-cost platforms, such as inkjet-printed MOF patterns and screen-printed electrodes, and tested for selectivity against interferents and in spiked real samples.
Room-temperature ammonia sensing with ZIF-67/reduced graphene oxide, Cu-MOF–graphene–polyaniline and nanostructured polyaniline films; toluene sensing with Zr-MOF/PEDOT:PSS; and low-cost inkjet-printed MOF patterns.
Anodic stripping voltammetry on amine-functionalized Fe-MOF for cadmium, and on ZIF-67/rGO for simultaneous detection of lead and cadmium.
Impedimetric parathion sensors from nano-MOF films on amine-functionalized ITO, antibody-functionalized Cu-MOF films for atrazine, and luminescent MOF-5 for nitro-containing organophosphates.
Turn-off detection of nitroaromatics such as nitrobenzene and trinitrotoluene, and of formaldehyde in water, using Zr- and lanthanide-based frameworks.
Surface-functionalized carbon dots for dual-mode detection of Pb2+, building on our reviews of fluorescent and noble-metal colorimetric sensors for lead.
A Cu-MOF modified electrosensor for ciprofloxacin and a Zr-MOF opto-electrochemical sensor for nitrofurazone.
Focus area
Storing and converting energy efficiently depends on electrodes that combine a large electroactive surface, fast ion transport and good electrical conductivity. We use metal–organic frameworks as tunable templates: directly, in conductive composites, or as sacrificial precursors that convert into porous metal oxide, sulfide or phosphide/carbon hybrids. We pair these electrodes with redox-additive electrolytes to raise energy density, and extend the same materials to batteries and solar cells.
A framework such as ZIF-67, ZIF-8, UiO-66 or a Ni-MOF is grown with defined metal nodes, pore size and particle shape, including core–shell architectures.
Controlled pyrolysis, sulfidation or phosphidation turns the MOF into a porous hybrid (ZrO2/C, Co3S4, ZnS/C, nickel phosphide/C) that keeps the parent's porosity while gaining conductivity.
Charge is held by double-layer adsorption and by fast surface redox, e.g. for nickel sites in alkaline electrolyte:
Ni(OH)2 + OH− ⇌ NiOOH + H2O + e−
We separate surface-capacitive and diffusion-controlled contributions (Dunn's method):
i(V) = k1ν + k2ν1/2
Energy grows with the square of the cell voltage, so widening the stable window (our 1.8 V symmetric and 2 V flexible solid-state devices) pays off quickly:
E = ½ C V2
Pmax = V2 / 4Rs
ZrO2/carbon from UiO-66, Co3S4 hollow microspheres from ZIF-67, TiO2–carbon, ZnS–carbon from ZIF-8, and nickel phosphide/carbon from Ni-MOF.
ZIF-67/rGO, nickel-intercalated ZIF-67/rGO, ZIF-67/PEDOT and TCNQ-doped Cu-MOF electrodes for all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitors, often with redox-additive electrolytes.
UiO-66@ZIF-8 and core–nanoshell ZIF architectures for asymmetric supercapacitors with high energy density, and surface-mounted MOF films for storage and conversion.
Highly porous activated carbons from neem leaves, waste office paper and other bio-waste, including waste-paper carbon combined with ZIF-8 crystals.
MOFs and their derivatives as lithium-ion battery anodes, and ZnS/carbon composites for flexible sodium-ion hybrid capacitors.
Quantum-dot/MOF photoanodes (CdTe/Eu-MOF, CdTe/NTU-9) for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells, perovskite platforms, and photocatalytic hydrogen production from H2S.
Focus area
Spent batteries, electronic scrap, industrial effluents and low-grade ores still hold valuable metals: zinc, cobalt, nickel, copper, indium, chromium, titanium and the rare earths. Recovering them eases pressure on primary mining and keeps toxic metals out of the environment. Our work combines hydrometallurgy (leaching followed by selective solvent extraction) with upcycling the recovered metals directly into nanomaterials and MOFs.
Mineral acids, or greener organic acids for lithium-ion battery cathodes, dissolve metals from the waste matrix into solution:
MO + 2H+ → M2+ + H2O
A selective extractant in an organic diluent pulls the target ion across the liquid–liquid interface, by solvation (Cyanex 923) or cation exchange (Cyanex 272, ACORGA M5640):
M2+(aq) + 2HA(org) ⇌ MA2(org) + 2H+(aq)
D = [M]org / [M]aq β = DA / DB
The loaded organic phase is contacted with a stripping solution that reverses the equilibrium, giving a concentrated, purified metal solution and regenerating the extractant for reuse.
The recovered metal becomes a product: high-purity ZnO nanoparticles from spent alkaline batteries, or zinc used directly as the metal source for MOF synthesis.
Chemical routes to high-quality ZnO nanoparticles from spent Zn–MnO2 alkaline batteries, and eco-friendly organic-acid leaching of metals from waste lithium-ion batteries.
Zinc recovered from alkaline battery waste used directly as the metal precursor for metal–organic framework synthesis, turning waste into functional materials.
Cyanex 923-based extraction and separation of indium, cadmium, 3d transition-metal ions, and tervalent lanthanides and yttrium.
Separation and recovery of uranium, thorium and lanthanides from monazite, and analysis of global rare-earth demand and strategies for green mining.
Fe(III) and Cr(III) from tannery filtrates, chromium and nickel from industrial waste, Ti(IV) from ilmenite and red mud, and copper from zinc leach liquors.
Cobalt, nickel and copper from sea nodules with alkylphosphine extractants, and cobalt and nickel from spent catalysts.
Focus area
Industrial and domestic effluents carry contaminants that conventional treatment removes poorly: synthetic dyes, pharmaceuticals, organophosphate pesticides, heavy-metal ions, and pathogenic bacteria. We design porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and their composites that first capture these species and then destroy or recover them, aiming for complete mineralization rather than moving the pollution from water into sludge.
Pollutant molecules diffuse into the framework's pores and bind through electrostatic attraction, π–π stacking, hydrogen bonding, or coordination to open metal sites.
Visible light excites the framework or a sensitizing quantum dot, creating separated charges:
hν ≥ Eg → e−CB + h+VB
Heterojunctions slow electron–hole recombination.
The charges generate reactive oxygen species that attack the pollutant:
e− + O2 → •O2−
h+ + H2O → •OH + H+
In iron-based MOFs, Fe3+/Fe2+ cycling also activates H2O2 (photo-Fenton):
Fe2+ + H2O2 → Fe3+ + •OH + OH−
Organic pollutants are mineralized toward CO2 and H2O. Magnetic composites are pulled out with an external magnet and reused over repeated cycles.
Amine- and thiol-functionalized frameworks such as magnetic NH2-MIL-101(Fe) and cysteine-modified Al-MOFs, whose high surface area and tunable pore chemistry give strong, selective uptake. Uptake is characterized through equilibrium isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich), kinetic models (pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order), and thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH°, ΔS°).
Quantum-dot/MOF and polymer/quantum-dot nanocomposites that harvest visible light and separate photogenerated charges efficiently, degrading persistent dyes such as rhodamine 6G. Iron-based frameworks extend this to photo-Fenton oxidation.
Dual-function materials that report a contaminant and remove it in the same step, such as a cysteine-functionalized Al-MOF for simultaneous chemosensing and removal of Cu2+, and MOF/MXene hybrids that combine conductivity with high adsorption capacity.
Recyclable magnetic mesoporous MIL-125(Ti) composites that capture waterborne pathogens and are separated magnetically for reuse.
Agro-waste derived materials such as sugarcane bagasse ash for cost-effective removal of methylene blue from dye effluents, under both UV and dark conditions.
MOF composite membranes that pair size- and charge-selective separation with photocatalytic self-cleaning to resist fouling, and how water chemistry (pH, ionic strength, natural organic matter) governs their performance.