Dr Peter Nockemann

Research

Coordination Chemistry in Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids can provide interesting and unique possibilities for inorganic and materials chemists. For instance, metal containing ionic liquids are regarded as promising new materials combining properties of ionic liquids and additional intrinsic magnetic, catalytic or e.g. spectroscopic properties depending on the respective included metal ion. Functionalised ionic liquids have been demonstrated as reaction media for the synthesis of inorganic compounds with unusual properties as well as for the synthesis of coordination polymers and for the crystallization and crystal engineering of novel coordination compounds.[1] The research in my group is focused on the use of ionic liquids as media for the synthesis and design of coordination complexes which cannot be obtained from conventional solvent systems, such as complexes containing air-sensitive metals, metals in unusual oxidation states or metal- and nanoclusters. Besides that, we are looking for metal-containing ionic liquids as ‘liquid catalysts’ for environmentally benign synthesis and efficient catalyst recycling.

 

[1] Nockemann, P.*; Thijs, B.; Van Hecke, K.; Van Meervelt, L.; Binnemans, K. “Polynuclear Metal Complexes Obtained from the Task-Specific Ionic Liquid Betainium Bistriflimide”, Crystal Growth & Design, 2008, 8, 1353-1363.

 

 

Nanomaterials

Metal nanoparticles are known to exhibit a very high reactivity compared to the bulk metals. Ionic liquids allow a new synthetic approach in the fine-tuning of electronic properties by controlling the shape, size and level of impurity-doping of nanoclusters which may for instance lead to the design and synthesis of specific and very efficient catalysts. Furthermore, by designing appropriate dispersions of nanoparticles in ionic liquids, nanocomposites with additional or varying physical properties can be obtained.[2] Our research aims to explore novel pathways to obtain highly stable dispersions of nanoparticles in ionic liquids, which can be of great interest in various fields of nanotechnology, catalysis, biotechnology and molecular biology

 

[2] Lunstroot, K.; Baeten, L.; Nockemann, P.; Martens, J.; Verlooy, P.; Ye, X.; Görller-Walrand, C.; Binnemans, K.; Driesen, K.; Luminescence of LaF3:Ln3+ Nanocrystal Dispersions in Ionic Liquids. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, 113, 13532-13538.

 

 

Heterobimetallic Complexes and Materials

We are interested in heterobimetallic lanthanide (f)- and transition-metal (d) containing complexes. Such molecular f-d materials have potential magnetic, catalytic or optical properties. For instance, by coupling a lanthanide ion to a d-block fragment that possesses broad d-d and intense charge-transfer (CT) transitions in the visible spectral region it is possible to efficiently collect photonic energy and transfer it to the lanthanide ion.[3] Furthermore, depending on the chosen metal-f-d-couple, magnetic spin-coupling can occur. Such complexes are potential materials for OLEDs, catalysis, single molecule magnets (SMMs) or sensing molecules.

Furthermore, our research aim is to design and synthesise f-d-solid-state architectures from metal-containing ionic liquid as precursors and building blocks that self-assemble to afford two- and three-dimensional networks as. This is an approach to establish novel inorganic synthetic pathways towards the formation of supramolecular solid state architectures.

 

[3] Yuan, Y. F.; Cardinaels, T.; Lunstroot, K.; Van Hecke, K.; Van Meervelt, L.; Görller-Walrand, C.; Binnemans, K.; Nockemann, P.* „Rare-earth complexes of ferrocene-containing ligands: Visible-light excitable luminescent materials.” Inorganic Chemistry 2007, 46 (13), 5302-5309.