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Faculty Spotlight Research in the Bejger lab is focused on the design, synthesis, and assembly of molecular clusters for energy applications. The chemical and electronic structures of molecular clusters can be modified synthetically; this allows us to tune their physical properties and create new materials with nanoscale control. We synthesize these custom-made cluster building blocks […]

Professor Christopher Bejger has received an NSF CAREER Award from the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in the Division of Materials Research to develop a new class of redox-active metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) comprising transition metal chalcogenide (TMC) molecular clusters. TMC clusters exhibit rich electrochemical behavior and have a propensity to undergo reversible, multi-electron transfer […]

“The goal of this NIH-funded project is the development of highly fluorescent thiazolothiazole (TTz) materials as molecular sensors for tracking cell membrane potentials. Tracking the changes in cell membrane potential offers the potential to gain a deep understanding of complex and rapidly changing cellular physiology. Fluorescent, small molecule voltage sensitive dyes (VSDs) have greatly impacted […]

Margaret Kocherga, a fourth-year student in the Nanoscale Science Ph.D. program in the Schmedake Research Lab and a UNC Charlotte alum (B.S. Chemistry) recently won First Place in the Innovate Carolina 2020 Student Innovation Competition sponsored by the Product Development and Management Association. Conratulations Margaret!

Margaret Kocherga, a fourth-year student in the Nanoscale Science Ph.D. program in the Schmedake Research Lab and a UNC Charlotte alum (B.S. Chemistry) was named as one of six new innovators selected to join Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), the entrepreneurship program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory, as part of the […]

The NSF Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms-B Program of the Chemistry Division has awarded a grant (#1955619) to Professor Christopher Bejger at UNC Charlotte to develop hexasubstituted [3]radialene molecules for use in organic aqueous redox-flow batteries. This project is important for developing low cost and environmentally friendly energy storage devices. The Bejger Lab will collaborate […]

The Bejger lab has recently published an article title “Desymmetrized hexasubstituted [3]radialene anions as aqueous organic catholytes for redox flow batteries” in the Journal of Chemical Communications. The article may be found here. Here is an abstract of the published work: “Negatively substituted trimethylenecyclopropane dianions, a subclass of hexasubstituted [3]radialenes, are candidates for use as […]

Congratulations to Abhsipa Sahu for recieving an EPA P3 Phase 1 fundding for her grant “Green & Sustainable Water Purification Membranes”! Abhispa is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Jordan Polers lab. To read more about the awarded grant, click here. To read more about Dr. Poler’s lab, click here.

Congratulations to Margaret Kocherga and Morgan Chandler for tying for first place at the Poster 2.0 Competition! This competition is inspired by the #betterposter revolution that is drastically changing the way scientific research is presented at conferences. Morgan works in the Afonin lab. Margaret works in the Schmedake lab. Congratulations Morgan and Margaret!

Chronic liver dysfunction often begins with hepatic fibrosis. A pivotal event in the progression of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis is hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and secretion of extracellular matrix proteins, including tenascin-C (TnC). TnC is often chosen as a therapeutic target for treatment of liver disease. TnC is minimally detected in healthy tissue, but […]