Advanced Functional Materials Made Smart for a "Spectrum" of Energy, Environmental, and Biomedical Applications
Mohammad A. Omary, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Mechanical & Energy Engineering
Faculty Director, Bio/Nano-Photonics Research Cluster
University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA
E-mail: omary@unt.edu
URL: http://www.chem.unt.edu/faculty/omary.htm
Dr. Omary is a materials chemist and spectroscopist specializing in the design of metal-organic materials for energy-related and biomedical applications based on advances in fundamental sciences. His research includes phosphorescent materials for energy-saving lighting, video display, and selective imaging of cancer cells; photovoltaic materials for solar energy harvesting; molecular semiconductors for electronic devices; metal-organic frameworks for energy and environmental applications; and non-toxic coinage metal nanoparticles for photothermal therapy of cancer and drug delivery. He has received several prestigious awards including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2004) and the I-APS Young Investigator Award of the Inter-American Photochemical Society (2006, sole awardee among all organic and inorganic photochemists in North and South America). Dr. Omary has been a lead investigator on proposals valued at more than $8.3 million grants and contracts mostly from the U. S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, State of Texas, and Welch Foundation. His work has resulted in 108 papers and patents (87 peer-reviewed publications and 21 U.S. and international patent disclosures), 200 conference proceedings, and 80 invited seminars/colloquia. His h-index is currently 33 with 9 publications receiving over 100 citations and total citations of over 2800 times. Dr. Omary earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maine (advisor: Howard H. Patterson) specializing in inorganic spectroscopy, then became a faculty fellow at Colby College, followed by post-doctoral training at Texas A&M University (advisor: John P. Fackler, Jr.) before starting his independent career at UNT in 2001.
Research
The Omary group research conducts research in three major areas: (1) fundamental spectroscopic and structural studies of luminescent transition metal and lanthanide complexes, (2) molecular electronic devices, and (3) metal-organic framework for adsorption of hydrogen and other gases.