My research group in inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry currently works in four main projects:
1) Electrocatalysis for Water Splitting and Artificial Photosynthesis
2) Amperometric Biosensors
3) Vapochromic Materials
4) Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery Systems using Nanoparticles
For all of these projects, we use layered inorganic nanomaterials and study the photophysics and photochemistry of luminescent metal complexes incorporated into them and their electron transfer reactions. In 2011 we joined the National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation at Caltech and we were involved in its outreach efforts as the Caribbean Brigade of the CCI Solar Army http://thesolararmy.org doing workshops for teachers and students about solar energy. We are continuing those efforts now as Co-PI of the NSF PREM CIE2M project http://prem-cie2m.upr.edu. So far, we have impacted over 5,000 students.
Some or our recent publications include:
1. Santiago, M. B.; Daniel, G. A.; David, A.; Casañas, B.; Hernández, G.; Guadalupe, A. R.; Colón, J. L. “Effect of enzyme and cofactor immobilization on the response of ethanol amperometric biosensors modified with layered zirconium phosphate”, Electroanalysis 2010, 22, 1097-1105.
2. “Photophysical characterization of Tris(2-2’-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) Directly Ion-Exchanged within Zirconium Phosphate”, Martí, A. A.; Colón, J. L., Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 7298-7303.
3. “Nanoencapsulation of Insulin into Zirconium Phosphate for Oral Delivery Applications”, Agustín Díaz; Amanda David; Riviam Pérez; Millie L. González; Adriana Báez; Stacey E. Wark; Paul Zhang; Abraham Clearfield; Jorge L. Colón, Biomacromolecules 2010, 11, 2465-2470.
4. "Vapochromic and Vapoluminescence Response of Materials based on Platinum(II) Complexes Interncaltaed into Layered Zirconium Phosphates", Eladio J. Rivera, Cindy Barbosa, Rafael Torres, Levi Grove, Stephen Taylor, William Connick, Abraham Clearfield, Jorge L. Colón, J. Mater. Chem, 2011, 21, 15899-15902.
5. "Zirconium phosphate nano-platelets: a novel platform for drug delivery in cancer therapy", Agustín Díaz, Vipin Saxena, Julissa González, Amanda David, Barbara Casañas, James D. Batteas, Jorge L. Colón, Abraham Clearfield, M. Delwar Hussain, Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 1754-1755.
6. “Direct Intercalation of Bis-2,2’,2”,6-terpyridyl Cobalt (III) into Zirconium Phosphate Layers for Biosensing Applications”, Mitk’El B. Santiago-Berríos, Chasterie Declet-Flores, Amanda David, Solmarie Borrero, Meredith M. Vélez, Agustín Díaz-Díaz, Ana R. Guadalupe and Jorge L. Colón, Langmuir 2012, 28, 4447-4452
7. “Luminescence Rigidochromism and Redox Chemistry of Pyrazolate-Bridged Binuclear Platinum(II) Diimine Complex Intercalated into Zirconium Phosphate Layers”, Eladio J. Rivera, Cindy Barbosa, Rafael Torres, Harry Rivera, Estevao R. Fachini, Tyler W. Green, and William B. Connick, and Jorge L. Colón, Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 2777-2784
8. “Direct Intercalation of Cisplatin into Zirconium Phosphate Nanoplatelets for Potential Cancer Nanotherapy”, Agustín Díaz, Riviam J. Pérez, Amanda David, Millie L. González, Adriana Báez Tiffany B. Kinnibrugh, Paul Zhang, Abraham Clearfield, and Jorge L. Colón, Nanoscale 2013, 5, 11456-11463
9. “Drug Carriers Based on Zirconium Phosphate Nanoparticles”, Colón, J. L.; Casañas, B. in Tailored Organic-Inorganic Materials, Brunet, E.; Colón, J. L.; Clearfield, A. Eds., Wiley: Hoboken, 2015 pp 395-437
10. “Molybdocene dichloride intercalation into zirconium phosphate nanoparticles”, Casañas-Montes, B.; Díaz, A.; Barbosa, C.; Ramos, C.; Collazo, C.; Meléndez, E.; Queffelec, C.; Fayon, F.; Clearfield, A.; Bujoli, B.; Colón, J. L., J. Organomet. Chem. 2015, 791, 34-40
11. “Science for Haiti: International Collaborations to Advance Haitian Science and Science Education Capacity and Innovation”, Colón, J. L. in Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise, Chen, H. N.; Wu, M. L.; Miller, B. D. Eds., ACS Symposium Series Vol. 1195, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015
12. “Puerto Rico’s Future at Stake”, Colón, J. L. Science 2015, 349, 1145. September 11, 2015
13. “Zirconium Phosphate Nanoplatelet Potential for Anticancer Drug Delivery Applications”, González, M. L.; Ortiz, M.; Hernández, C.; Cabán, J.; Rodríguez, A.; Colón, J. L.; Báez, A. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 2016, 16, 117-129.
14. Colón, J. The Solar Army: Harry Gray’s Legacy to the Children of the World. Chem. Int. 2016, 38, 12-15. https://doi.org/10.1515/ci-2016-0606.
15. Bakhmutov, V. I., Kan, Y., Sheikh, J. A., González-Villegas, J., Colón, J. L., andClearfield, A. Modification and Intercalation of Layered Zirconium Phosphates: Asolid state NMR Monitoring. Mag. Reson. Chem. 2017, 55, 648-654. DOI: 10.1002/mrc.4568.
16. Sánchez, J.; Ramos-Garcés, M. V.; Narkeviciute, I.; Colón, J. L.; Jaramillo, T. F. Transition Metal-Modified Zirconium Phosphate Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction. Catalysts 2017, 7, 132. http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/7/5/132.This article made the cover of that issue of the journal.
17. González-Villegas, J.; Kan, Y.; Bahkmutov, V.; García-Vargas, A.; Martínez, M.; Colón, J.L.; Clearfield, A. Poly(ethylene glycol)-modified zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets for improved doxorubicin delivery. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2017, 468, 270-279. doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2017.05.057.
18. Massol-Deyá, A.; Stephens, J. C.; Colón, J. L. Renewable energy for Puerto Rico. Science 2018, 362, 7. Publication Date (Web): October 5, 2018. DOI: 10.1126/science.aav5576.
19. Ramos-Garcés, M.; Sanchez, J.; Del Toro-Pedrosa, D. E.; Barraza Alvarez, I; Wu, Y; Valle, E.; Villagran, D.; Jaramillo, T. F.; Colón, J. L.Transition metal-modified exfoliated zirconium phosphate as a electrocatalyst for the oxygen-evolution reaction. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2019, 2, 3561-3567. DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.9b00299.
20. Ramos-Garcés, M.; Sanchez, J.; Barraza Alvarez, I; Wu, Y; Villagran, D.; Jaramillo, T. F.; Colón, J. L.Water splitting electrocatalysis within layered inorganic nanomaterials. In Water Splitting, Eyvaz, M. Ed.; Intech Open: London, 2019.
