清华大学材料科学与工程研究院《材料科学论坛》学术报告

题目：Novel Inorganic Pigments with Transition Metal Chromophores at Trigonal Bipyramidal Coordination: YInMn Blues and Beyond

报告人：Professor Mas Subramanian（Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Milton Harris Chair of Materials Science，Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University）

日期：2019年10月17日（周四） 上午10:00

联系人：汪长安老师（62785488）

报告地点：清华大学逸夫技术科学楼A205学术报告厅

Abstract：

   Turning a scientific discovery in an academic laboratory into successful commercial products is never an easy task.   To maximize the success, new functional materials discovery research is frequently driven by ‘materials by design’ concepts in the quest for finding better, safer and more efficient materials. Occasionally this approach leads to unexpected discovery of materials with properties that are unprecedented and find them very useful in other unrelated areas.  Through much of recorded human history, civilizations around the world have sought inorganic pigments to paint things blue, often with limited success and most had environmental and/or durability issues.  Cobalt blue (CoAl₂O₄ spinel), the last durable blue  inorganic pigment discovered in 1802,is durable but contains cobalt that is classified as carcinogen. This talk will describe the discovery of a durable brilliant blue pigment based on transition metal oxides where manganese cations occupying an unusual trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) geometry in the crystal structure that we were exploring for applications in magneto-electronics. We have now leveraged this discovery to rationally design advanced inorganic oxide based pigments exhibiting varying colors in the visible spectrum.   Introducing transition metal cations Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺/Ti⁴⁺ and Mn³⁺/Zn²⁺/Ti⁴⁺ into the TBP sites in YInO₃ has produced various durable color pigments from orange, green to purple. The observed increased UV absorbance, and high near IR-reflectivity (heat) find them useful as highly durable ‘cool’ pigments for energy saving coatings.  These pigments are now commercialized by coating and artistic color industries.  This talk will also highlight the importance of serendipity in discovery science and such ‘happy accidental’ discoveries do require intellectual effort and are not simply a question of luck.

Biography：

  Professor Mas Subramanian received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from University of Madras, India and a Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1982. Subsequently, he was a NSF postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M University.     From 1984 to 2006 he was employed as Research scientist at DuPont Company (USA). In 2006, he joined Oregon State University as a Milton Harris Chair Professor of Materials Science.  He is also a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Professor Subramanian’s research focuses on designing new inorganic solid state functional materials for emerging applications in electronics, energy conversion and environment.   He is internationally recognized for several scientific breakthrough discoveries in the field of superconductors, dielectrics, magnetism, catalysis, thermoelectrics and inorganic pigments.   In 2009 he discovered a family of blue pigments, now called, YInMn blue, have been featured in leading international and national press including The New York Times, Time, National Geographic, Bloomberg Business Week, The New Yorker, National Public Radio, BBC News, CNN, Sydney Morning Herald, and Times of India.  Shepherd Color Company has licensed the YInMn blue technology from Oregon State University for commercial applications such a durable industrial coatings including energy saving cool coatings for buildings and automobiles. YInMn Blue, the first discovery of a new blue pigment since cobalt blue was discovered in 1802.

  Subramanian has authored 340 research publications and holds 57 patents. His publications have received >27,000 citations (h-index: 70). He is the Editor of two international journals (Solid State Sciences and Progress in Solid State Chemistry) and is a member of the Editorial Board in several international journals devoted to materials chemistry. Subramanian has given several public lectures on YInMn Blue all over the world including two prestigious TED talks.

Professor Subramanian has received several awards and honors including

• Charles Pedersen Medal from DuPont Company for Excellence in Scientific and Technical Achievement (2004)

• US National Science Foundation Creativity Award (2012)

• Chemical Research Society of India International Medal (2012),

• F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Award from Oregon State University for Distinguished Scholarship in Science (2014)

• Outstanding Scientist Award from Oregon Academy of Science (2016)

• Speaker at two TED Conferences

• Distinguished Alumni Award from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras  (2018)

• Perkin Medal from Society of Dyers and Colorists (SDC)  (2019)