Two separate projects are currently underway involving solid state inorganic chemistry. The first of these involves synthetic alunites. A research group from Germany claimed in a 2003 paper that they found a new hydrothermal synthesis that yields stoichiometric end-member alunites. We are trying to replicate this synthesis and then study both sodium and potassium alunite with X-ray diffraction and NMR.

The second project begins with the synthesis of lepidocrodite from the addition of phosphate to green rust. The final product will be analyzed with X-ray diffraction and NMR to try to understand how the phosphates bind to the iron (II) sulfate. A side project will also test other iron containing molecules such as iron chloride to see if the phosphate binds to those molecules, and if so how and where, also using x-ray diffraction and NMR.