Associate Professor
Research Areas: Inorganic, Materials
Email: saparov@ou.edu
Office: SLSRC 3190
Education:
Diploma in Chemistry, 2006, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Ph.D., 2011, University of Delware
Postdoc, 2011-2014, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Postdoc, 2014-2016, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Research Keywords:
solid state chemistry, materials chemistry, hybrid organic-inorganic materials, chalcogenides, photovoltaics, magnetism
Solid State Materials for Energy Applications
Energy problems are some of the most pressing issues of modern society. Our interdisciplinary research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of compounds with potential applications as energy materials including photovoltaic (PV) and photocatalytic materials, materials for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and magnetic materials. Our group bridges chemistry, crystallography and synthesis with physics, engineering, and application of functional materials. To carry out such a broad range of research, collaboration is key for our research group.
All-Inorganic and Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Halides: Recently, hybrid organic-inorganic metal halides, particularly perovskites, have attracted global interest due to the outstanding optoelectronic properties of CH3NH3PbI3 and its derivatives. In our group, we focus on rational design of hybrid organic-inorganic and all-inorganic metal halides (not necessarily perovskites) beyond CH3NH3PbI3 with primary interest in their semiconducting, luminescence, transport, and magnetic properties. Specific research projects include investigations of the solution chemistry of metal halides, light emission properties of Cu(I) and Ag(I) halides, response of multinary halides to high energy irradiation (e.g., X-rays), and development of methods to control structural dimensionality, energy band alignment and excitonic properties of hybrid metal halides.
Multinary Chalcogenides: The ongoing interest in multinary chalcogenides stems in part from their remarkable thermoelectric (Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3, SnSe, PbTe etc.) and photovoltaic (CdTe, CIGS, CZTS etc.) properties. Using DFT calculations and solid-state chemistry concepts, we focus on preparation of new families of earth-abundant and low cost chalcogenides with prospective applications in solar energy harvesting.
