About

Richard Laine is a professor in the Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from California State University (1969) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California (1973). His major research interests include the synthesis and processing of inorganic and organometallic hybrid polymers and nano-oxide powders. His research in the hybrid area emphasizes the synthesis and characterization of nanobuilding blocks based on polyfunctional octahedral and dodecahedral silsesquioxanes (POSS) and the development of nanocomposites with fully defined periodicity and ordering on a nanometer scale. These nanocomposites include both aliphatic and aromatic epoxy resins, imides, amides, esters, and simple hydrocarbon systems. Additionally, he works on synthesizing polyfunctional POSS with novel photonic or electronic properties. In the nano-oxide powder area, his research involves the direct synthesis of single and mixed-metal oxide nanopowders via flame spray pyrolysis of mixed-metal metallo-organics, with a focus on their structural, catalytic, and photonic applications, particularly energy conversion. His contributions have been recognized through several awards, including being named an American Chemical Society Fellow, receiving the 2015 Governor of Michigan Green Chemistry Award, and being an International Fellow of the Polymer Society of Japan. He is also a Fellow of the Polymer Division of the American Chemical Society and the American Ceramic Society.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Polymer chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Selected publications

• Sustainable piezo-photocatalysis of magnetoelectric Bi2WO6/CoFe2O4 composites with coherent interfaces

  Surfaces and Interfaces · 2025-04-09

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• σ–σ ^* conjugation Across Si─O─Si Bonds

  Macromolecular Rapid Communications · 2025-03-12 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Polysiloxanes and silsesquioxanes (SQs) are known to be insulating materials. We describe here polysiloxane copolymers where this is not the case. Thus,Me 2 VinylSi─O─SiMe 2 Vinyl/Br‐Ar‐Br copolymers exhibit conjugation via Si─O─Si bonds contrary to the widespread understanding that such linkages must be insulating. Here we describe the synthesis, characterization, and photophysical properties of [‐VinylSiMe 2 OMe 2 SiVinyl‐Ar]x copolymers; Ar = phenyl, terphenyl, stilbene, thiophene, etc. Con‐jugation is evidenced by redshifted emission λ max of copolymers vs model compounds, [(MeO) 2 SiMeVinyl‐Ar‐VinylMeSi(OMe) 2 ], electron transfer to F4TCNQ and MW (DP) depend‐ent emission red‐shifts (smaller bandgaps with increasing DP). Theoretical calculations targeting electronic structure, absorbance/emission λ max of model com‐pounds vs oligomers support conjugation via π‐dπ * orbital interactions. In the ground state, model compounds offer Si─O─Si bond angles of ≈110° on average. In the copolymers, bond angles change in the ground state averaging ≈ 140 ° and in the excited state approach 150 ° much closer to planarity, a result of conjugation. Here SiOSi bonds facilitate intersystem charge transfer (ICT) as seen in carbon based polymers. Thus, i.e, ICT in VySiOSiVycoPh likely leads to a much larger Stokes shift (≈115 nm) than in the silane model. Our findings provide the first detailed photophys‐ical studies of conjugation in polysiloxane‐chromophore copolymers.

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• Exploring high-performance magnesium-sulfur pouch cells using nitrogen-rich doped nano porous carbon

  Journal of Magnesium and Alloys · 2025-05-01 · 2 citations

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  • Pyridine N provides active sites for polysulfide adsorption. • The synergy between the ZIF8-NC and Cu plays a crucial role in Mg-S batteries. • The Cu not only acts as a catalyst but also participates in the electrode reaction. • Mg-S/ZIF8-NC pouch cells demonstrate excellent electrochemical performance. Magnesium-sulfur batteries (MSBs) are promising due to Mg's lower propensity to form dendrites, its natural abundance, and high volumetric energy densities for large-scale energy storage. Nonetheless, Mg 2+ ions have poor diffusion kinetics and the magnesium polysulfide (MgPS) shuttle effect present significant challenges for MSBs. Herein, a Mg-S pouch cell is designed using rich N-doped porous carbon (ZIF8-NC) and a Cu current collector. This architecture provides numerous benefits: i) ZIF8-NC offers a conductive skeleton that significantly enhances electron and Mg 2+ ion conduction, ii) zeolite imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8) derived N rich sites demonstrate superior MgPS anchoring capability, iii) the Cu collector not only accelerates conversion of anchored MgPS to MgS, but also participates in the electrode reaction and iv) the material is easy to synthesize on a large scale, facilitating its potential for practical applications. Mg-S/ZIF8-NC coin cells maintain ∼310 mAh·g -1 after 1000 cycles even at 1C. Furthermore, Mg-S/ZIF8-NC pouch cells achieve high cathodic energy densities of ∼120 Wh·kg -1 and ∼330 mAh·g -1 after 300 cycles at 1C, outperforming the state-of-the-art results in the literature. Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS) revealed that the initial catalytic reaction of Cu follows Cu 0 ↔Cu 2 S, and later Cu 2 S↔Cu x S. Theoretical calculations and experimental results reveal that pyridine nitrogen acts as catalytic site for polysulfide adsorption. Therefore, this work not only provides a facile method to prepare high-performance Mg-S pouch cells, but also proposes mechanisms whereby N active sites and Cu catalytic reactions promote all aspects of performance.

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• σ–σ ^* conjugation Across Si─O─Si Bonds

  Macromolecular Rapid Communications · 2025-05-01

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• (Invited) Agricultural Waste Derived Anodes for Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries

  ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2024-11-22

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  Hard or turbostratic carbon anodes are most often derived from thermolysis of biomass in oxygen free environments and considerable data has been accrued to suggest that low specific surface area HC offers the most stable materials for lithiation and sodiation. As part of our efforts to valorize rice hull ash (RHA, 90 wt % SiO 2 /8 wt % C), produced in 150k ton/yr in the U.S. alone; we learned to first distillatively remove excess SiO 2 to produce silica depleted RHA or SDRHA 40-70 (40-70 wt.% SiO 2 ). 1 The resulting materials are nanocomposites of carbon and SiO 2 intermixed at nm length scales. 2 The SDRHA carbon can be used as a reductant, and because of the very small diffusion distances, SDRHA xx can be carbothermally reduced to electronics grade silicon (Si PV , 5’9’s purity) 3 or SiC (Ar) or Si 2 N 2 O (90N 2 /10H 2 ) or Si 3 N 4 (N 2 ) at much lower temperatures (1250°-1500 °C) 4 than those used to produce the same materials commercially and at higher purities. At certain ratios, HC is a coproduct also intimately mixed with the major silicon containing material. We have previously found that SiC/HC mixtures can serve as anode materials (coin cells) offering capacities of ≈ 950 mAh/g after long term cycling. This usually is with HC contents of just 10-15 wt. %. In this talk we explore increasing the ratio of HC:SiC via carbothermal reduction of lower wt. % SiO 2 :C ratios in SDRHA 40 to assess the effects on LIB capacity and rates of change and as time permits, sodium ion battery (NIB) properties. References (1) Laine, R. M.; Furgal, J. C.; Doan, P.; Pan, D.; Popova, V.; Zhang, X. Avoiding Carbothermal Reduction: Distillation of Alkoxysilanes from Biogenic, Green, and Sustainable Sources. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016 , 55 1065–1069. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201506838. (2) Mengjie Yu; Eleni Temeche; Richard M. Laine. M. Yu, E. Temeche, R. M. Laine, Methods of Adjusting Carbon and Silica Content in Rice Hull Ash (RHA) Byproducts to Control Carbothermal Reduction Forming Nanostructured Silicon Car-Bide, Silicon Nitride, Silicon Oxynitride Nanocomposites,” Provisional Patent Application Filed Sept. 5, 2020. (3) Marchal, J. C.; Krug III, D. J.; McDonnell, P.; Sun, K.; Laine, R. M. A Low Cost, Low Energy Route to Solar Grade Silicon from Rice Hull Ash (RHA), a Sustainable Source. Green Chem. 2015 , 17 (7), 3931–3940. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5GC00622H. (4) Temeche, Eleni; Yu, Mengjie; Laine, R. M. Silica Depleted Rice Hull Ash (SDRHA), an Agricultural Waste, as a High-Performance Hybrid Lithium-Ion Capacitor. Green Chemistry 2020 , 22 , 4656–4668.

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• Liquid-Feed Flame Spray Pyrolysis Enabled Synthesis of Li(Tm)Po4 (Tm=Fe, Mn, Ni) Nanopowders Via Metallo-Organic Precursors as Li-Ion Cathodes

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

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• Highly Reversible and Stable Sulfur‐Containing Cathodes for Magnesium Batteries with Two‐Plateau Redox Reactions Enabled by Kinetically Favored Mg─S Decomposition

  Advanced Energy Materials · 2024-06-11 · 21 citations

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  Abstract Rechargeable magnesium sulfur batteries (MSBs) face issues like polysulfide shuttling, sluggish redox kinetics, and high cost, leading to dissatisfied practical demonstrations. Herein, simple battery configurations utilizing 100% sulfur are proposed on nine collectors and a low‐cost phenolate‐based magnesium complex (PMC) electrolyte to address these problems. Comprehensive studies indicate that the Cu collector is the most conducive to improving battery performance, not only facilitating the generation of magnesium sulfides during discharging but also effectively dissociating Mg─S bonds during charging. Moreover, Cu surfaces can effectively adsorb magnesium polysulfides (MgS x ) and induce an insulator‐to‐metal transition of MgS, leading to a more effective suppression of the shuttle effect and the transfer of electrons. MXene interlayers are further introduced between electrodes to inhibit MgS x shuttling and enhance the interfacial electronic conductivity, as reflected by the reinforced high discharge voltage plateau at ≈1.7 V and stable long discharge voltage plateau at ≈1.2 V. The assembled MSBs exhibit the highest reported capacity of 1260 mAh g −1 S and an energy density of 1230 Wh kg −1 S with a cycle life of over 1000 cycles. This research contributes to the fundamental understanding of rechargeable MSBs and marks a significant advancement in optimizing cell designs for better performance.

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• Organic Heterophase Composites Induced Sulfur Vacancies and Internal Electric Field Enhancement for Advanced Magnesium Storage of Copper Sulfide Cathodes

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2024-09-23 · 19 citations

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  Abstract Rechargeable magnesium‐ion batteries (MIBs) hold significant promise for safe and efficient large‐scale energy storage, but the lack of high‐performance cathodes hinders their development for practical applications. In this work, a series of nanocomposites consisting of π‐conjugated perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride annealed at 450 °C and copper sulfide (CuSP) are synthesized solvothermally to explore their utility as a host for Mg 2+ storage in MIBs. The carbonyl organics in the hybrid materials modify the predominant CuS phase, expanding interlayer spacing and enriching sulfur vacancies through modifications of the internal electric field. This synergistic interaction enhances magnesium storage performance and accelerates reaction kinetics. Using chlorine‐free Mg[B(hfip) 4 ] 2 /DME electrolytes, the CuSP91 cathode containing an appropriate organic content displays a remarkably high reversible capacity of 285 mAh g −1 at 50 mA g −1 , and demonstrates a stable capacity of 220 mAh g −1 at 100 mA g −1 , surpassing pure CuS cathode in terms of shorter activation time. The CuSP91 cathode maintains a discharge capacity of 55 mAh g −1 over 1000 cycles at 500 mA g −1 . A co‐redox mechanism is revealed through in/ex situ investigations and analyses. Overall, this research contributes valuable insights targeting the development of advanced organic–inorganic hybrid composite cathode materials in next‐generation energy storage systems.

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• Conjugation through Si–O–Si bonds, silsesquioxane (SQ) half cage copolymers, extended examples <i>via</i> SiO_0.5/SiO_1.5 units: multiple emissive states in violation of Kasha's rule

  Dalton Transactions · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  red-shifts as another indication of conjugation. Further, one- and two-photon absorption and emission spectroscopy reveals multiple excited fluorescence-emitting states in a violation of Kasha's rule wherein emission occurs only from the lowest excited state. Traditional modeling studies again find HOMO LUMO energy levels residing only on the aromatic co-monomers rather than through Si-O-Si bonds as recently found in related polymers.

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• Probing the effect of Se doping in S cathode for high performance Mg-S batteries

  Chemical Engineering Journal · 2024-10-13 · 7 citations

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Recent grants

• Gas Phase Combustion Synthesis of Nanopowders, Modeling and Processing Duplex Microstructures

  NSF · $780k · 2011–2015

• Synthesis and Photophysics of Silsequioxane Macromonomers and Polymers

  NSF · $280k · 2016–2020

• Collaborative Research: Semiconducting Behavior in Silsesquioxane Macromonomers and Polymers

  NSF · $540k · 2021–2024

• SGER: Highly Functionalized Highly Symmetrical Nano Building Blocks From Silsesquioxanes

  NSF · $200k · 2007–2009

• Polymer Precursors for Interfaces, Binders and Adhesives for Ceramic Solid-State Battery Components

  NSF · $508k · 2019–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Florence Babonneau

  Sorbonne Université

  94 shared

• Jeffrey A. Rahn

  80 shared

• Kurt F. Waldner

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  60 shared

• Amanda Laine

  University of Washington

  49 shared

• Sovan Sarkar

  University of Birmingham

  49 shared

• C Viney Join

  Bridge University

  49 shared

• Gregory J. Exarhos

  42 shared

• T. Hinklin

  41 shared

Education

• Ph.D

  University of Southern California

  1974

Awards & honors

• American Chemical Society Fellow
• 2015 Governor of Michigan Green Chemistry Award
• International Fellow of the Polymer Society of Japan
• Fellow of the Polymer Division of the American Chemical Soci…
• Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (2012)