Welcome to Cargnello Group, founded by Matteo Cargnello, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University.
The Cargnello Group at Stanford tackles big challenges using small pieces of matter: nanocrystals and nanostructures. We are interested in a variety of materials and applications, but in particular in those related to energy and the environment.
We design, synthesize, characterize and test materials for heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis.
Our focus is on reactions revolving around energy and environmental themes, with emphasis on the chemistry of small building blocks that are at the heart of past, present and future history: hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, water, nitrogen..
The starting point for our studies are well-defined nanocrystals and nanostructures, and we tune and tailor their architecture at the atomic level to understand how a specific structure influences the final properties of the system.
01.
We prepare and study our materials
by using state-of-the-art synthetic and characterization techniques that include colloidal and supramolecular chemistry, advanced microscopy, x-ray-based spectroscopies and functional testing in our ~1600 sq ft brand new lab in the Shriram center and, more in general, using the great facilities located at Stanford and in the nearby SLAC national laboratory.
02.
Our goal is to help the planet transition to a cleaner and sustainable futures
where resources are available to a larger part of the population and the economic growth is accompanied by an improvement in the living conditions and in the quality of the environment. We are motivated by big challenges that mankind has to face, and we want to contribute in our own way: using small, tiny particles, or nanocrystals, to speed-up chemical reactions that can provide sustainable fuels and chemicals and reduce pollution.
03.
Like a piece of a puzzle
Each of us in the group has her/his own independent project, yet connected to the bigger picture, like a piece of the puzzle. We believe that only team work, motivation and dedication can indeed advance science and provide us with solutions. If you share our values, join us in this exciting journey!
Research
Active and stable catalysts
We are studying synthetic ways to make catalysts not only more active, but also more selective and more stable by exploiting confinement effects.
Precise nanocrystals
We study nanostructures that have a precise sizes or crystallographic structures and use them to answer fundamental questions that will allow us to prepare even better catalytic systems.
Photocatalysis
We envision materials that can use light as an energy input and transform it into chemical work, so that reactions that would normally require high temperatures could be run more sustainably
