Professor Paul E. Kruger

Principal Investigator

Materials for Energy Capture and Utilisation

Phone:

+64 3 364 2438

Fax:

+64 3 364 2110

Address:
Department of Chemistry
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140

• 
• paul.kruger@canterbury.ac.nz

Biography

Paul undertook his BSc (Hons) and PhD degrees at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), where his research was centred on the synthesis of multi-nuclear metal complexes in the quest to develop species of bio-mimetic relevance and as novel magnetic materials. He then spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, investigating the structural and functional aspects of metallo-macrocyclic complexes.

Paul was then appointed to a lectureship at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, rising through the ranks before moving to the University of Canterbury where he is Professor of Chemistry. Paul’s research interests are centred in Supramolecular Chemistry with an emphasis on investigating Metalorganic Frameworks (MOFs) for carbon capture and energy transduction.

Paul is also currently Deputy Director in Stakeholder Engagement in the MacDiarmid Institute.

Research interests

Paul's research interests touch upon all aspects of Supramolecular Chemistry and ranges from organic synthesis and coordination chemistry, through materials and structural chemistry, to host-guest and sensor chemistry.

This work is underpinned by structural analysis by single-crystal X-ray diffraction which is complimented by a range of spectroscopic techniques. In a series of endeavours the Kruger group are addressing the following research themes:

• Spin-switching materials that possess externally addressable spin-switching Fe(II) centres. Potential applications for these materials is as the active components in temperature, pressure or guest induced magnetic switches or molecular or ion detection.
• Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) that are permanently porous show promising applications in catalysis, separation, strategic gas storage and molecular recognition.
• Anion sensing through the development of molecules capable of acting as 'naked-eye' or fluorescent anion sensors for use in medical devices and environmental monitoring.
• Host-guest chemistry of metal-organic cages that possess geometrically and electronically predefined internal voids capable of binding guest molecules. These materials may find potential application as drug delivery vectors, sensor materials and as para-magnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer (PARACEST) magnetic-resonance contrast agents.