A fascinating member of superatomic clusters is phosphine-ligated metal clusters. Here, a primary focus is synthesis of gold and mixed-gold clusters. The common ones are Au8, Au9, Au11, Au101, Au6Pd, Au8Pd and Au8Ag3. Of great interest is to study the reactivity of these clusters with addition of some ligands or etching reagents. Consequences of this reactivity study is formation of novel clusters via intercluster conversion or ligand exchange reaction. Recently, we are exploring chiral superatoms . 

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are an alternative to graphene. These 2D materials display unique and thickness-dependent electronic, optical and mechanical properties. They display tunable band gap and emission properties by varying the thickness. We explore the synthesis and surface chemistry of MoS2, SnS2 and gCN nanosheets.

While TiO2 is the most popular photocatalyst, it has severe limitations. We study the photocatalytic activity of WO3, gCN, and their composites. Surface properties are modified by chemical treatment with acid, base, overlayer deposition or doping. Moreover, addition of co-catalyst such as metal clusters significantly improve the photocatalytic performance in dye degradation, photooxidation and photoreduction. 

A small, bench-scale photocatalytic reaction involving generation of small molecules/compounds such as H2O2 or HOCl or transformation of raw materials into high-added values such as alcohol or amine oxidation.