The materials chemistry program at UCR focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of new functional materials, understanding the fundamental chemical principles governing their fabrication, investigating their properties, and exploring their unique applications. Students in the materials chemistry program will be provided with opportunities to develop interdisciplinary research expertise via collaborations in engineering, physics and biological sciences. At UCR, the research in materials chemistry covers a wide range of materials including molecular materials (Bardeen, Bocian), polymers (Cheng), solid state materials (Feng, Haddon, Ozkan, Yin), colloidal materials (Tang, Yin), and composite/hybrid materials (Haddon, Tang, Yin). These materials are processed at different length scales spanning from the molecular level to nanometer and micrometer sizes, often in the form of nano- or microcrystals, thin films, and porous structures. Significant efforts have been focused on the exploration of niche applications for these materials in a variety of areas, including sensors and actuators (Bardeen, Bartels, Cheng), electronic and photonic devices (Bartels, Bocian, Haddon, Tang, Yin), as well as catalysis and energy applications (Bardeen, Feng, Ozkan, Yin, Zaera). A number of groups are also actively developing cutting edge characterization tools to study various aspects of the formation processes and properties of the new materials (Bartels, Zaera, Y. Zhang). With unique computational expertise, the Beran group aims to predict the chemical behaviors of gases and solid state materials through calculations. Many faculty members working in materials chemistry have joint positions in the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the Bourns College of Engineering. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, furnished with a state-of-the-art nanofabrication research facility, is headquartered in the Chemistry Department. Please follow the links to find out more information about Materials Chemistry research at UCR.