6/21/2024: Congratulations to Ishtiyak and Spencer on their paper published in Inorganic Chemistry: "Advancing Heteroanionicity in Zintl Phases: Crystal Structures, Thermoelectric and Magnetic Properties of Two Quaternary Semiconducting Arsenide Oxides, Eu8Zn2As6O and Eu14Zn5As12O" They did a great job studying two novel complex oxyarsenides! Check more using the link: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c01580
6/20/2024: Congratulations to Spencer and Lindsey on their paper published in Crystals. They did a great job discovering three novel unreported barium arsenides: Ba3As4, Ba5As4, and Ba16As11! Sometimes, even in 2024, we can still discover binary compounds, showcasing the brilliance of synthetic solid-state chemistry!
6/4/2024: High school student Beau Legnon from Episcopal High School joins the Lab for ESTAAR Summer program! Beau will work with Thimira on studying coordination complexes of rare-earth metals! Welcome aboard!
5/21/2024: Sviatoslav received a 2024 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award through the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). We are going to squeeze Zintl phases of diverse dimensionalities and explore their structures under high pressures.
5/15/2024: The Baranets Research Group received funding from the Louisiana Board of Regents Research Competitiveness Subprogram (RCS). We will focus on understanding the factors influencing the formation and design of novel heteroanionic narrow-gap salt-like semiconductors, performing comprehensive characterization, and thoroughly evaluating their suitability for thermoelectric applications. Thank you to the Louisiana Board of Regents!
5/2/2024: Our group grows! We almost doubled since spring 2024. Meet the great team of the Baranets Lab!
4/25/2024: Undergraduate students Larissa Najera and Jacko Xiao join the Lab! Welcome aboard!
4/19/2024: Once again, we hosted the team of 20 talented young scientists for the Baton Rouge Local Section Exam. 8 best students from 5 high schools were selected to compete in the 2024 US National Chemisty Olympiad Exam. Thank you, Gayomi, Spencer, Thimira, Olia, and Connor for help.
4/1/2024: Alyssa Greenwade received a Supervised Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Award! The award is sponsored by the NSF and the Louisiana Board of Regents and provides a one-year scholarship. Congratulations, Alyssa, on this great achievement.
3/17/2024: Strong representation of the group at the Spring 2024 ACS Meeting in New Orleans. Spencer, Thimira, and Gayomi are presenting posters, while Ishtiyak and Sviatoslav have oral talks.
3/8/2024: Congratulations to Gayomi, who won a national travel award from the Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society for the 2024 ACS Spring meeting in New Orleans!
3/6/2024: Our paper "M. Ishtiyak, S.M.G.K. Samarakoon, T. Kandabadage Don, S.R. Watts, S. Baranets. Novel Ternary Zintl Phosphide Halides Ba3P5X (X = Cl, Br) with 1D Helical Phosphorus Chains: Synthesis, Crystal and Electronic Structure" is published in Nanoscale. Paper is featured on the inside front cove and is part of the special issue "Nanoscale 2024 Emerging Investigators". Congratulations to the team!
1/22/2024: Gayomi and Spencer attended the 7th Fundamentals of Quantum Materials Winter School, held at the University of Maryland on January 15-19, 2024. It was focused on High Pressure Synthesis and Measurement, and included a combination of fundamental materials synthesis instruction as well as lectures on experimental techniques and practices from an impressive list of invited speakers.
12/20/2023: Our paper (collaborated with Prof. Bobev @UD) on novel 5-8 Zintl antimonide was published in Inorganics. Congratulations Gayomi with the first first-authored paper at LSU. Once again, it was featured on the journal cover.
01/2024: Undergraduate students Mykyta Skyba and Amiracle McMillian join the Lab! Welcome to the lab!
12/15/2023: Congratulations to Lindsey Wingate, who graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry. Lindsey contributed to the synthesis and characterization of the novel Ztinl pnictides and oxypnictides. She will join the Chemistry department at Oregon State University. Good luck in grad school!
12/13/2023: Welcome to the second cohort of graduate students: Connor Donnelly (Unversity of Delaware) and Olha Pokhvata (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine).
11/16/2023: Sviatoslav attended the 2023 Southwestern Regional Meeting and gave an oral presentation.
10/28/2023: Our group showcased the magic of solid-state and materials chemistry, spreading our love for science and engaging with the community.
8/15/2023: Undergraduate student Alyssa Greenwade joins the Lab! She will work alongside Thimira. Welcome aboard!
7/27/2023: Our paper on the discovery and characterization of the novel Zintl barium antimonides is published in ZAAC. It is also featured on the cover of the journal.
7/11/2023: Sviatoslav visited Oak Ridge National Lab.
5/23/2023: Sviatoslav attended the NSF Early Career Workshop
5/19/2023: Congratulations to Alex, who graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry. Good luck in your future endeavors!
Mohd Ishtiyak joins the Baranets Lab
4/24/2023: Sviatoslav received the Summer Stipend Award from the LSU Office of Research and Development. The award is a part of LSU Provost's Fund for Innovation in Research.
4/22/2023: It was a great pleasure to host the team of talented young chemists. 6 students from four high schools in Baton Rouge completed the 2023 US National Chemisty Olympiad Exam. Thank you Gayomi, Spencer, and Thimira for helping with organization of the event!
04/04/2023: Our first Group photo!
12/2022: Undergraduate students Alexandra Fields and Lindsey Wingate join the Lab! Welcome to the lab!
12/20/2022: Welcome to the first cohort of graduate students: Thimira Kandabadage Don (B.Sc. Institute of Chemistry Ceylon), Gayomi Samarakoon (B.Sc. University of Kelaniya), and Spencer Watts (B.Sc. Clemson University).
10/27/2022: Our paper (collaborated with Prof. Bobev @UD) on thermoelectric properties of rare-earth metal substituted 9-4-9 Zintl phases was published.
10/17/2022: Our paper (collaborated with Prof. Bobev @UD) on novel 3-1-3 Zintl phase was published.
8/17/2022: Our paper (collaborated with Prof. Bobev @UD) on novel 10-6-12 Zintl phases was published.
07/2022: Sviatoslav attended the 2022 Solid-State Chemistry Gordon Research Conference.
7/18/2022: Let's begin our journey!