Research

We specialize in collaborative and interdisciplinary research in the fields of chemistry, chemical biology, chemical education, material science, and nanoscience and nanotechnology. Our research laboratories located in Temple Building and Oliver hall provide space for graduate students, undergraduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and faculty to conduct research in a safe and spacious environment. We have active collaborations with faculty in engineering, pharmacy, and the Medical College of Virginia (MCV).

We are fortunate to have three major instrumentation facilities in the department that house a wide range of modern instruments that are capable of studying chemical phenomena. These instruments include mass spectrometers, spectroscopic systems (UV-Vis, FTIR, Raman, Fluorescence, ICP), NMR (400, 600), chromatographic systems (HPLC, LC, Ion), electrochemical workstations, and hyphenated instruments (GC-MS, ICP-MS). Down the street from the Chemistry, the Nanoscience Core Characterization (NCC) facility is located, which houses state-of-the-art instruments designed to visualize and extract fundamental chemical information from the smallest sized materials. We have on average more than $3M in funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Research Corporation, NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Education and the Jeffress Memorial Foundation. These funds allow us to support our students on research assistantships and conduct high-level and innovative research expected at an R1 doctoral university such as VCU. Diversity, inclusion, and the desire to educate the next generation of students to solve complex scientific problems are among our greatest assets.

Our primary research areas are listed on the left. Clicking on those links will show you a list of our faculty and some of the exciting projects they are currently working on.