Direct synthesis of organic functionalized nanoporous silica using surfactant templates possess the advantage of uniform distribution of the functional group within the nanoporous silica and tailoring of the degree of functional group loading over post synthesis functionalization.

Incorporation of long chain hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon functional groups, and reactive amine functional group in nanoporous silica using fluorinated and hydrocarbon surfactants as templates was investigated in this research. Surfactant/functional group combinations and the degree of functional group loading had significant effect on the properties of the synthesized silica such as surface area, pore size, structure and order of the pores and surface hydrophobicity.

The wide application areas of these functionalized silicas, such as adsorbent for separation processes, CO2 capture, sensing and catalysis have generated a plethora of research activities. My future research will focus on understanding properties of composite materials formed from organic-functionalized nanoporous metal oxides and polymers; and their application as membranes for fuel cells, sensing, contaminant removal from waste water, CO2 capture and also as surface coatings.

In addition to research I am interested in instructing both graduate and undergraduate students in all chemical engineering curriculum. I have developed instruction material and taught Chemical Reactor Design, Separation Processes, Chemical Engineering Seminar, Engineering Thermodynamics and Process Control at University of Kentucky Extended Campus at Paducah.