MSE 298 Seminar: Chemical Composition as a Tuning Parameter to Control Functional and Structural Properties

Abstract: The relationships between the crystal structures of extended compounds, their chemical compositions and the properties they exhibit allow for a rich design space yielding desirable materials functionalities. An understanding of these relationships can yield design principles that allow high-performing materials to be obtained more rapidly. For materials chemists, some of the knobs that can be controlled towards new and useful materials are structure and chemical composition. Our group works toward developing an understanding of tunability and control of various properties of inorganic pigments and controlling thermal expansion in inexpensive materials. The connecting link between the distinct classes of properties discussed is the control of transition metal identity, oxidation and spin state and coordination geometry. The research within these themes will be approached using a combination of innovative synthetic methods, local- and long-range structural characterization and property measurement. 

Bio: Professor Joya A. Cooley obtained undergraduate degrees in chemistry (B.S.) and music (B.A.) from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at UC Davis focused on understanding thermoelectric phenomena. Following this, she completed a postdoctoral appointment at UC Santa Barbara understanding magnetocaloric. She has been an assistant professor at Cal State Fullerton since 2020 and her current research focuses on (i) understanding structure-property relationships in materials exhibiting anomalous thermal expansion and (ii) color tunability and heat-reflecting properties of cool pigments.