Publications

MOST SIGNIFICANT BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

Books

Ozin, G.A., Lohr, J., Energy Materials Discovery for a Sustainable Future, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021.

– Energy consumption is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. How will billions of humans survive on Earth in the future?
The demand for energy will soon exhaust traditional resources such as oil, gas and coal. Developing cost effective ways of using renewable sources such as solar energy is important for future generations.
This book will enable you to explore the vital role that new materials play in ensuring life on Earth is sustainable. You’ll learn about inexpensive energy generation and storage and gain a greater understanding of the energy crisis the world is facing.

Ozin, G.A., Ghoussoub, M, The Story of CO2 – Big Ideas for a Small Molecule, University of Toronto Press, 2020

– The climate crisis requires that we drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions across all sectors of society. The Story of CO2 contributes to this vital conversation by highlighting the cutting-edge science and emerging technologies – a number of which are already commercially available – that can transform carbon dioxide into a myriad of products such as feedstock chemicals, polymers, pharmaceuticals, and fuels. This approach allows us to reconsider CO2 as a resource, and to add “carbon capture and use” to our other tools in the fight against catastrophic climate change.
The Story of CO2 explores all aspects of carbon dioxide, from the atomic to the universal perspective, and takes the reader on an epic journey into our physical world, starting from the moment of the Big Bang, all the way to the present world in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations continue to grow. This story seeks to inspire readers with the latest carbon utilization technologies and explain how they fit within the broader context of carbon mitigation strategies in the shift towards a sustainable energy economy.

Ozin, G.A., Cademartiri, L., Nanochemistry: Principles and Practice, Wiley-VCH 2009.

Ozin, G.A., Arseneault, A., Nanochemistry: A Chemistry Approach to Nanomaterials, Royal Society of Chemistry, First Edition November 2005, Second Edition 2009.

– As of this writing, this is the “first teaching textbook on the subject of Nanochemistry”. It has been written by chemists in an attempt to fill the nano-chemistry teaching void. The content of the book has been carefully selected and organized to teach the basic principles of Nanoscience through the subject of Nanochemistry. Because of the interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach adopted by the authors, the book should be useful to a broad audience at levels that encompass the needs of the specialist as well as the lay reader.

Ozin, G.A., Cademartiri, L., Nanochemistry: Principles and Practice, Wiley-VCH 2009.

This text book is ideal for interdisciplinary courses – bridging chemistry, materials science, physics and biology. Adopting a completely new and visionary approach, this is a unique learning tool, focusing on just six concepts crucial for understanding nanochemistry: surface, size, shape, self-assembly, defects and the interface of biology and nanochemistry. These concepts are elucidated through the analysis of six materials representing the real life application of the nanochemistry concepts. The teaching questions included provide real “food for thought”, thus training students to think as a researcher does and so develop problem solving skills.

Journal Articles

Cheng, D., Zhao, Z.J., Zhang, G., Yang, P., Li, L., Gao, H., Liu, S., Chang, X., Chen, S., Wang, T. and Ozin, G.A., 2021. The Nature of Active sites for Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction over Oxide-Derived Copper Catalysts. Nature Communications, 12 (1), 1-8.

Loh, J.Y., Kherani, N.P., Ozin, G.A., 2020, Waveguide Photoreactor Enhances Solar Fuels Photon Utilization: Towards Maximal Optoelectronic – Photocatalytic Synergy. Nature Communications, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20613-2.

Loh, J.Y., Kherani, N.P., Ozin, G.A., 2020, Persistent CO2 Photocatalysis for Making Solar Fuels in the Dark. Nature Sustainability, in press.

Xu, Y., Duchesne, P., Wang, L., Tavasoli, A., Jelle, A., Xia, M., Liao, J., Kuang, D., Ozin, G.A., 2020, High-Performance Light-Driven Heterogeneous CO2 Catalysis with Near-Unity Selectivity on Metal Phosphides. Nature Communications 11 5149.

Wang, L., Dong, Y., Yan, T., Hu, Z., Jelle, A., Meira, D., Duchesne P., Loh, J., Qui, C., Storey, E., Xu, Y., Sun, W., Ghoussoub, M., Kherani, N., Helmy, A., Ozin, G.A., 2020 , Black Indium Oxide a Photothermal CO2 Hydrogenation Catalyst. Nature Communications 11 2432.

Yan, T., Li, N., Wang, L., Ran, W., Duchesne, P., Wan, L., Nguyen, N., Wang, L., Xia, M., Ozin, G.A., 2020 Bismuth Atom Tailoring of Indium Oxide Surface Frustrated Lewis Pairs Boosts Heterogeneous CO2 Photocatalytic Hydrogenation. Nature Communications 11 6095.

Cherukupally, P., Sun, W., Wong, A.P., Williams, D., Ozin, G.A., Bilton, A., Park, C.B., 2020, Surface-Engineered Sponges for Recovery of Crude Oil Micro-droplets from Wastewater. Nature Sustainability 3 136-143.

Dittmeyer, R., Klumpp, M., Kant, P., Ozin, G.A., 2019, Crowd Oil not Crude Oil. Nature Communications 10 1818.

Qian, C., Sun, W., Hung, D.L.H., Qiu, C., Makaremi, M., Kumar, S.G.H., Wan, L., Ghoussoub, M., Wood, T., Xia, M., Tountas, A., Li, Y., Wang, Lu., Dong, Y., Gourevich, I., Singh, C., Ozin, G.A., 2019,
Catalytic CO2 Reduction by Palladium-Decorated Silicon–Hydride Nanosheets. Nature Catalysis 2 46-54.
Wan, L., Zhou, Q., Wang, X., Wood, T., Wang, L., Duchesne, P., Guo, J., Yan, X., Xia, M., Li, Y., Jelle, A., Ulmer, U., Jia, J., Li, T., Sun, W., Ozin, G.A., 2019, Cu2O Nanocubes with Mixed Oxidation-State Facets for (Photo) Catalytic Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide. Nature Catalysis 2 889-898.

Ulmer, U., Dingle, T., Duchesne, P., Morris, R., Tavasoli, A., Wood, T., Ozin, G.A., 2019, Fundamentals and Applications of Photocatalytic CO2 Methanation. Nature Communications 10 3169.

Yan, X., Sun, W., Fan, L., Duchesne, P., Wang, W., Kubel, C., Wang, D., Kumar, S.G.H., Li, Y., Tavasoli, A., Wood, T., Hung, D.L.H., Wan, L., Wang, L., Song, R., Guo, J., Gourevich, I., Jelle, A., Lu, J., Li, R., Hatton, B., Ozin, G.A., 2019, Nickel@ Siloxene Catalytic Nanosheets for High-Performance CO2 Methanation. Nature Communications 10 2608.

Yan, T., Wang, L., Liang, Y., Makaremi, M., Wood, T., Dai, Y., Huang, B., Jelle, A., Dong, Y., Ozin, G.A., 2019, Polymorph Selection Towards Photocatalytic Gaseous CO2 Hydrogenation. Nature Communications 10 2521.



Cademartiri, L., Scotognella, F., O’Brien, P.G., Lotsch, B.V., Kherani, N.P., Ozin, G.A., 2009, Crosslinking Ultrathin Nanowires: A New Platform for Nanostructure Formation and Biomolecule Detection, Nano Letters 9, 1482-1486.

Breakthrough paper that describes a synthetic route to ultrathin inorganic nanowires with thicknesses below 2 nm, a size right at the threshold where molecules meet nanostructures in one-dimension. Specifically, the use of amine chemical crosslinking of ultrathin inorganic nanowires as a bottom-up strategy for nanostructure fabrication as well as a chemical detection platform is demonstrated. Nanowire microfibers are produced by chemospinning nanowire dispersion into an amine crosslinker solution at room temperature. Nanomembranes with thicknesses down to 50 nm were obtained by injecting the nanowire dispersion at the amine crosslinker-solution/air interface. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the nanowire to amine crosslinkers allowed development of a novel sensing platform for small molecules, like the neurotransmitter serotonin, with detection limits in the picomolar regime.

O’Brien, P.G., Chutinan, A., Vekris, E., Tetreault, N., Mihi, A., Míguez, H., Zukotynski, S., John, S., Ozin, G.A., Kherani, N.P., 2007, Enhanced Photoconductivity in Thin-Film Semiconductors Optically Coupled to Photonic Crystals, Adv. Mater. 19, 4177-4183.

Pioneering work that demonstrates enhancement in the photoconductivity of a thin semiconductor film can be achieved by depositing a photonic crystal (PC) onto its backside. The greatest photoconductivity enhancement is observed when the thickness of the film is such that a resonant mode appears within the stop-gap of the PC. Notably, the semiconductor film itself does not need to be periodically structured to exhibit enhanced photoconductivity, allowing the simple architecture of the film-PC construct to be readily applied to a variety of devices including resonant cavity enhanced photodiodes and more efficient photovoltaics.

Mirkovic, T., Foo, M.L., Arsenault, A.C., Fournier-Bidoz, S., Zacharia, N.S., Ozin, G.A., 2007, Hinged Nanorods – A Chemical Approach to Flexible Nanostructures, Nature Nanotechnology 2, 565-569.

The fabrication of multifunctional nanomaterials and their subsequent utilization for novel applications in various branches of nanotechnology has been intensifying. Particularly in the area of nanomechanics, the design of multicomponent nanostructures with integrated multi-functionality, would enable the construction of building blocks for nanoscale analogues of macroscopic objects. In this paper we introduce a new class of flexible nanostructures – metallic nanorods with polyelectrolyte hinges, which were synthesized by layer-by-layer electrostatic self-assembly of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes on barcode metal nanorods followed by segment selective chemical etching. Nanorods with hinges that consist of one polyelectrolyte bilayer display a considerable flexibility, but with an increased number of bilayers, the flexibility of the hinge is significantly reduced. Magnetically induced bending about the polymer hinge is illustrated through the incorporation of nickel segments into the barcodes and application of an external fluctuating magnetic field.

Puzzo, D., Arsenault, A.C., Manners, I., Ozin, G.A., 2007, Full Color Photonic Crystal Display, Nature Photonics 1, 468-472.

In our information rich world, it is becoming increasingly important to develop new technologies capable of displaying dynamic and changeable data, for reasons ranging from value-added advertising to environmental sustainability. There is an intense drive at the moment towards “paper-like” displays, devices having a high reflectivity and contrast to provide viewability in a variety of environments, particularly in sunlight where emissive or backlit devices perform very poorly. The list of possible technologies is extensive, including electrophoretic, cholesteric liquid crystalline, electrochromic, electrodewetting, interferometric and more. Despite tremendous advances, the key drawback of all these existing display options relates to color: As soon as an RGB color filter or spatially modulated color scheme is implemented, substantial light losses are inevitable even if the intrinsic reflectivity of the material is very good. In this work, we describe a reflective flat-panel display technology based on the electrical actuation of photonic crystals. These materials display non-bleachable structural color, reflecting narrow bands of wavelengths tuned throughout the entire visible spectrum by expansion and contraction of the photonic crystal lattice. The material is inherently bright in high light environments, has electrical bi-stability, low operational voltage, can be integrated onto flexible substrates, and is unique amongst all display technologies in that a continuous range of colors can be accessed without the need for color filters or optical elements.

Chen, J., von Freymann, G., Choi, S., Kitaev, V., Ozin, G.A. 2006, Amplified Photochemistry with Slow Photons, Adv. Mater., 18, 1915-19.

Seminal paper that demonstrates for the first time that the photo-activity of TiO2, when chemically fashioned as an inverse opal, can be dramatically enhanced by utilizing slow photons with energies close to the electronic band gap of the semiconductor. By optimizing the energy of the photonic stop gap with respect to the semiconductor electronic band gap, slow photons are effectively harvested in the dielectric part of the material, while suppressing unwanted reflectivity losses. The system is extremely tolerant to structural defects in the photonic lattice, which bodes well for their practical utility in real world applications. In a larger context, the ability to optically amplify photochemistry, by molding photoactive materials and composites in the form of photonic crystals is a universal paradigm that could profoundly advance diverse fields of science.

Arsenault, A.C., Clark, T.J, von Freyman, G., Cademartiri, L., Sapienza, R., Bertolotti, J., Vekris, E., Wong, S., Kitaev, V., Manners, I., Wang, R.Z., John, S., Wiersma, D., Ozin, G.A., 2006, Elastic Photonic Crystals: From Color Fingerprinting to Control of Photoluminescence, Nature Materials 5, 179-184 (front cover).

Trendsetting paper that describes the development of large-area films of porous elastomeric photonic crystals (EPCs) that can be compressively-decompressively cycled, to reversibly shift the position of the photonic band structure over a large wavelength range. These porous EPC’s, with their low compressive threshold, have been used as imaging materials for obtaining high-accuracy, pressure- and time-dependent colour fingerprints. Further, the pores in EPC’s have been used as hosts for luminescent PbS quantum dots, in order to compressively shift the photonic stop-gap through the near-IR photoluminescence (PL) peak enabling a tunable modification of photophysical characteristics, including suppression and enhancement in emission and dynamic modification of luminescence lifetimes.

Kamp, U., Kitaev, V., von Freymann, G., Mabury, S., Ozin, G.A., 2005, Colloidal Crystal Capillary Columns: Towards an Optical Chromatography, Adv. Mater. 438-453.

First demonstration that very high structural quality colloidal crystal capillary columns can be produced by a pressure assisted microsphere assembly – these columns display excellent optical quality in the visible and near infrared spectral wavelength range that is invariant to rotation and translation over considerable length scales – such capillary monoliths and their inverse constructs may function as a next generation chromatography stationary phase and enable a novel form of photonic crystal-based optical chromatography.

Landskron, K., Ozin, G.A. 2004, Periodic Mesoporous Dendrisilicas (PMDs), Science 306, 1529-1523,

Integration of two of the most important classes of nanoscale materials, namely dendrimers and periodic mesoporous silicas, to create an entirely new class of nanocomposite materials. In this work the synthesis of “periodic mesoporous dendrisilicas” is described that consist of dendrimer building blocks having variable cores and generations with end-functionalization by siloxy groups, fashioned into a hierarchical structure with well-defined channel walls and ordered mesoporous channels. The synthesis is based upon the co-assembly of carbosilane dendrimer building blocks with a templating triblock copolymer mesophase. PMDs are expected to find utility as a new generation of controlled chemical and pharmaceutical storage and release materials.

Fournier-Bidoz, S., Arsenault, A., Manners, I., Ozin, G.A., 2004, Synthetic Self – Propelled Nanorotors J. Chem. Soc Chem. Commun. 416-417 (inside front cover).

First example of a chemically powered nanorotor – motion is achieved by catalytically decomposing hydrogen peroxide to oxygen at the nickel end of a gold-nickel nanorod the gold end of which is tethered to a silicon wafer – could enable the practical realization of on-chip nanorod and crossed nanorod rotors as actuators, switches, valves and power sources for integration into nanoscale electronic, optical, magnetic, mechanical and fluidic dynamic devices.

Wong, S., Kitaev, V, Ozin, G.A., 2003, Colloidal Crystal Film: Advances in Universality and Perfection, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 125, 15589-15598.

This work paved the way for other researchers to reliably prepare high-quality colloidal crystal films for various applications in diverse research areas. The paper demonstrated major advances in preparation of colloidal crystal films in two important directions: quality of microspheres, where monodispersity was improved to below 2%, and development of reliable universal procedure for preparation of high-quality films using arbitrary sizes of colloidal particles. Importantly, the developed procedure is really facile and versatile, since it uses only simple laboratory equipment, so it can be readily implemented in different research laboratories. Furthermore, the developed procedure features all the necessary elements to be relatively easily-industrially-scaleable.

Landskron, K., Hatton, B.D., Perovic, D., Ozin, G.A. 2003, 3-Rings of SiO2C2 Tetrahedra as Building Units of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas, Science 302, 266-269.

Novel class of nanocomposites comprised of Si3C3 3-ring building blocks – these nanocomposites have crystalline mesoporosity and a microporous framework, which makes them potentially useful as a low k microelectronic packaging material for smaller, higher density, faster computer chips.

Miguez, H., Yang, S.M., Ozin, G.A. 2002, Opal Circuits of Light – Planarized Microphotonic Crystal Chips, Adv. Funct. Mat. 12, 425-431 (front cover). Yang, S.M., Ozin, G. A. 2001, Race for the Photonic Chip, Opal-Patterned Chips, Adv. Funct. Mater. 11, 1-10. Yang, S.M., Ozin, G. A., 2000, Opal-Chips: Vectorial Growth of Colloidal Crystal Patterns Inside Silicon Wafers, Chem. Commun. 2507 (web front cover).

Portfolio of simple, quick, reproducible and inexpensive methods for making planarized microphotonic crystal chips with potential applications in optical chip technologies. Methods combine colloidal assembly and soft lithography, to achieve vectorial control of thickness, area, orientation and registry of patterned colloidal photonic crystals in wafers with demonstrated high optical quality and optical functionality.

Blanco, A., Chomski, E., Grabtchak, S., Ibisate, M., John, S., Leonard, S. L., Lopez, C., Meseguer, F., Mondia, J. P., Ozin, G. A., Toader, O., Van Driel, H. M. 2000, Self-Assembly of a Silicon Photonic Bandgap Material with a Complete Three-Dimensional Gap at 1.5 Microns, Nature 405, 437-440 (ISI top 20 Photonics).

Synthesis of the world’s first silicon-based inverse-opal material with a complete photonic band gap centered at a wavelength of 1.5 microns. This was previously considered unattainable, or impossible, by many leading research groups around the world – its reduction to practice is now recognized as a monumental achievement by the international scientific community. By combining detailed theoretical design and innovative materials chemistry, this breakthrough has opened the door to efficient, accurate, and large scale synthesis of not only the silicon inverse opal material, but also a variety of other novel photonic band gap (PBG) architectures, capable of micro-molding the flow of light at 1.5 microns, the wavelength of choice for telecommunications. This has important applications in the fundamental understanding of light-matter interactions and in the use of light signals for processing information.

Asefa, T., MacLachlan, M. J., Coombs, N., Ozin, G. A. 1999, Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas with Organic Groups Inside the Channel Walls, Nature 402, 867-871.

Fusion of the power of organic synthesis with the strength of inorganic solid-state chemistry to create a new class of nanocomposites having molecule scale control of the interface between the organic and inorganic parts. Such hybrid materials offer unique opportunities for innovation and invention because the organic function and the inorganic framework can be tailored through chemistry to tune their mechanical, electrical, optical, catalytic, separation and chemical reactivity properties.

MacLachlan, M. J., Coombs, N., Ozin, G. A. 1999, Non-Aqueous Supramolecular Assembly of Metal Germanium Sulfide Mesostructures from Ge4S104- Clusters, Nature 397, 681-684

Shows for the first time how modular-assembly of well-defined metal-sulfide cluster precursors can form periodic mesostructured metal sulfides to create a new class of mesoscale open-frameworks with structure, based upon linkage of M2+ or metal-metal bonded M22+ units and adamantanoid Ge4S104- building blocks. Modular mesostructures of this genre are potentially useful as heavy metal sponges for environmental cleanup.

Bedard, R. L., Bowes, C. L., Coombs, N., Dag, O., Jiang, T., Lough, A., Petrov, S., Sokolov, I., Verma, A., Vovk, G., Young, D., Ozin, G. A., 1997, Effect of Microgravity on the Crystallization of a Self-Assembling Layered Material, Nature 388, 857-860. Bedard, R. L., Bowes, C. L., Coombs, N., Dag, O., Jiang, T., Lough, A., Petrov, S., Sokolov, I., Verma, A., Vovk, G., Young, D., Ozin, G. A. 1997, Self-Assembly of Nanoporous Tin(IV) Sulfides in Microgravity, Feature Article, Adv. Mater. 9, 1133-1149.

Space-based (NASA Space Shuttle Flight STS 77) and earth-based (CSA) study that demonstrated for the first time materials self-assembly is under the influence of microgravity.

Yang, H., Coombs, N., Ozin, G.A. 1997, Morphogenesis of Shapes and Surface Patterns in Mesoporous Silica, Nature 386, 692-695 (front cover).

First reported synthesis of periodic mesoporous silica with fiber, discoid, gyroid, toroid and sphere shapes – understanding the origin of growth and form, and gaining control over the morphology of highly curved mesoporous silica shapes is fundamental to developing the science and technology of this novel class of materials while at the same time providing an insight into the morphogenesis of Nature’s biosilicified forms.

Ozin, G. A. 1997, Morphogenesis of Biomineral and Morphosynthesis of Biomimetic Forms, Acc. Chem. Res. 30, 17-27. Mann, S., Ozin, G.A. 1996, Synthesis of Inorganic Materials with Complex Form, Nature 382, 313-318.

Two papers that expounded a biomimetic synthetic chemistry vision to new classes of inorganic-organic hybrid materials with hierarchical architectures and curved morphologies that may resemble those found in the natural world.

Yang, H., Coombs, N., Kuperman, A., Mamiche-Afara, S., Ozin, G. A. 1996, Synthesis of Oriented Mesoporous Silica Film on Mica, Nature 379, 703-705. Yang, H., Coombs, N., Ozin, G. A. 1996, Free-Standing and Oriented Mesoporous Silica Films Grown at the Interface Between Air and Water, Nature 381, 589-592.

Papers that showed for the first time periodic mesoporous silica could be synthesized as oriented supported film and oriented freestanding film – these papers spawned global activity on periodic mesoporous silica film and laid the foundation for development of mesoporous silica as membranes for large molecule catalysis, separation and sensing, templates for the assembly of nanostructures, masks for high-resolution lithography, coatings for bone implants, controlled release of chemicals and pharmaceuticals and low dielectric constant films for smaller, dense, faster computer chips.

Oliver, S., Coombs, N., Kuperman, A., Lough, A., Ozin, G. A. 1995, Lamellar Aluminophosphates that Mimic Radiolaria and Diatom Skeletons, Nature 378, 47-51.

Paper that presented for the first time a biomimetic chemistry approach to inorganic materials with complex form, that bear a striking similarity to those existing in the natural world – in this case structures are synthesized that are facsimiles of the lace-like siliceous microskeletons of radiolaria and diatoms first described by Ernst Haekel in his HMS Challenger historic expedition.

Nadimi, S.; Kuperman, A.; Garces, J.; Olken, M.M., Ozin, G.A. 1993, Non-Aqueous Synthesis of Giant Crystals of Zeolites and Molecular Sieves, Nature 365, 239-42

Novel solution to the long-standing problem of how to synthesize periodic microporous materials in the form of very large single crystals – this work overcame a major problem that had plagued the field of zeolite and molecular sieve science for more than half a century – the availability of zeolites in large single crystal form enabled accurate single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of the framework structure and extra-framework constituents of a number of key zeolites, quantitative molecule diffusion studies in single crystal zeolites, as well as kinetic and mechanistic investigations of intrazeolite chemical and catalytic reactions.

Ozin, G.A. 1992, Nanochemistry: Synthesis in Diminshing Dimensions, Adv. Mater. 4, 612-649. (ISI top 20 Nanotechnology, most highly cited paper in fifteen years of publications in the top materials chemistry journal Advanced Materials).

A futuristic vision for nanochemistry in the field of nanoscience and the potential impact that a chemistry approach to nanomaterials could have on nanotechnology – this paper is considered by the materials science community to have inspired a generation of materials chemists to rise to the challenges of nanochemistry.

Stein, A. and Kuperman, A.; Ozin, G.A.; 1989, Advanced Zeolite Materials Science, Invited Paper, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 28, 359-376

This paper is considered to have changed the prevailing view of the field of zeolite science from its traditional focus on size and shape selective catalysis and separation science to one that instead treated them as a unique class of solid state materials whose lattice was permeated with a regular array of microscopic holes and whose structure, property, function relations could be orchestrated for use as battery, fuel, solar cell, nonlinear optical, reprographic, quantum electronic, optical and laser materials.

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