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RESEARCH INTERESTS
My
research deals mainly with the design of porous materials and
large supramolecular assemblies. Porous
materials
allow the passage of small molecules through their matrices, and
may thus be used for a variety of applications. One of these
applications is gas storage and here hydrogen storage is
especially relevant since hydrogen has been identified as a
possible alternative to fossil fuels, leading to the pursuit of
the so-called 'hydrogen economy'.
However, with
regard to its use as a fuel source for motor vehicles, some
practical challenges remain.
Large amounts of hydrogen gas are needed to make it a practical
fuel source and thus one of the very important challenges for
its use in this regard is the reduction of pressure under which
the hydrogen gas will need to be stored, in order to reduce the
need for heavy containers. Materials that adsorb hydrogen will
aid in this regard since they will concentrate the gas onto
their available surface areas, thereby reducing the pressure
within these containers.
Synthetic, large,
multi-component, supramolecular assemblies
which enclose chemical space are rare. This area of research
draws its inspiration from nature (viruses, cells, etc.) and it
is envisaged that these systems may in future serve as drug
carriers or confined spaces to catalyze reactions. In this area
of my research, I have separate collaborations with Professor
Barbour and with Dr Nikoletta Báthori (Cape Peninsula University
of Technology).
REPRESENTATIVE
PUBLICATIONS
1. Caira, M .R., Bourne, S. A,
Oliver, C. L., Thermal and structural characterization of two
polymorphs of the bronchodilator tulobuterol, Journal of
Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 2004, 77, 597-605.
2. Dobrzanska, L., Lloyd, G. O.,
Jacobs, T., Rootman, I., Oliver, C. L., Bredenkamp, M. W.,
Barbour, L. J., Construction of one- and two-dimensional
coordination polymers using ditopic imidazole ligands,
Journal of Molecular Structure, 2006, 796, 107-113.
3. Davies K., Bourne S.A., Öhrstrom
L., Oliver C.L., Anionic zinc-trimesic acid MOFs with unusual
topologies: Reversible hydration studies, Dalton Transactions,
2010, 39(11), 2869-2874.
4. Borel C., Davies K., Handa P.,
Hedberg G., Oliver C. L., Bourne S. A., Hakansson M.,
Langer V., Öhrstrom L., Family of Isoreticular Chiral
Metal-Organic Frameworks Based on Coordination and Hydrogen
Bonds in [M[Co(ethylenediamine)(oxalato)(2)](2)], Crystal
Growth and Design, 2010, 10(4), 1971-1978.
5. Nikoletta B. Báthori, Luigi R.
Nassimbeni and Clive L. Oliver, Quininium mandelates—a
systematic study of chiral discrimination in crystals of
diastereomeric salts, Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 2670.
UCT
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