Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung

Associate Professor

Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung

Ph.D.

Contact

Merkert Center 224

Telephone: 617-552-3605

Email: frank.tsung@bc.edu

Education

B.S., National Sun Yat-sen University
Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara

Group Research Website Curriculum Vitae

Research

The ultimate goal of our research program is to develop high-performance catalysts to respond to the current energy crisis. Our principal strategy is to precisely control the architecture and composition of the materials at the nanoscale by the means of wet chemistry and vapor-phase deposition techniques. The projects are categorized into two directions: energy conversion heterogeneous catalysis and sunlight-driven photocatalysis. The heterogeneous catalysis studies aim to improve the stability, activity, and selectivity of heterogeneous catalysts for important industrial-type catalytic reactions. The target reactions include syngas reactions, biomass reactions, and low-temperature PEM fuel cell reactions. We also perform thorough in-situ catalytic studies over our materials via lab-based and synchrotron-based techniques. The in-situ studies of the evolution of catalysts under the reaction conditions are crucial to understand the catalytic behaviors. The photocatalysis studies aim to establish new synthetic strategies of nano-photocatalysts for optimizing solar-to-chemical energy conversions.

Selected Honors and Awards

University of California at Santa Barbara President Work Study Award [2002-2006]
University of California at Santa Barbara International Student Award [2007]

Representative Key Publications

Shieh, F.-K.*; Wang, S.-C.; Yen, C.-I.; Wu, C.-C.; Dutta, S.; Chou, L.-Y.; Morabito, J. V.; Hu, P.; Hsu, M.-H.; Wu, K. C. W.*; Tsung, C.-K.*, Imparting Functionality to Biocatalysts via Embedding Enzymes into Nanoporous Materials by a de novo Approach: Size-Selective Sheltering of Catalase in Metal-Organic Framework Microcrystals. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137 , 4276.
Morabito, J.V.; Chou, L.Y.; Li, Z.; Manna, C.M.; Petroff, C.A.; Kyada, R.; Palomba, J.M.; Byers, J.A.; Tsung, C.-K. *, Molecular Encapsulation Beyond the Aperture Size Limit Through Dissociative Linker Exchange in Metal-Organic Framework Crystals. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 12540.
Hu, P.; Zhuang, J.; Chou, L.-Y.; Lee, H. K.; Ling, X. Y.; Chuang, Y.-C.; Tsung, C.-K. *, Surfactant-Directed Atomic to Mesoscale Alignment: Metal Nanocrystals Encased Individually in Single-Crystalline Porous Nanostructures. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 10561.
Sneed, B. T.; Brodsky, C. N.; Kuo, C. H.; Lamontagne L. K.; Jiang, Y.; Wang, Y.; Tsung, C.-K.*, Nanoscale-Phase-Separated Pd-Rh Boxes Synthesized via Metal Migration: An Archetype for Studying Lattice Strain Effects in Catalysis. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 14691.
Sneed, B. T.; Kuo, C. H.; Brodsky, C. N.; Tsung, C.-K.*, Iodide-Mediated Control of Rhodium Epitaxial Growth on Well-Defined Noble Metal Nanocrystals: Synthesis, Characterization, and Structure-Dependent Catalytic Properties. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 18417.
Kuo, C. H.; Tang, Y.; Chou, L. Y.; Sneed, B. T.; Brodsky, C. N.; Zhao, Z. P.; Tsung, C.-K.*, Yolk-Shell Nanocrystal@ZIF-8 Nanostructures for Gas-Phase Heterogeneous Catalysis with Selectivity Control. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 14345.