Rod Ruoff and his research groups have made seminal contributions to developing new synthesis techniques and improving our understanding of properties of novel materials including nanostructures and 2D materials, especially novel carbon materials (graphene, diamond, nanotubes, sp3-sp2 hybrids, negative curvature carbon, carbon nanofoams,
boron nitride allotropes, fullerenes, etc.). Some examples of pioneering studies, among others, include:(i) of the mechanics of
C60, and of
nanotubes, including pullout of inner shell with respect to outer shell of the nanotube, and of a connection between mechanical deformation and structure on the one hand, and
chemical reactivity on the other;(ii) of solubility phenomena of
fullerenes,
nanotubes, and
graphene;(iii) of carbon-encapsulated metal
nanoparticles;(iv) of patterned graphite and thus micromechanically exfoliated graphene-like flakes;(v) of scaled growth of graphene on copper and copper-nickel foils;(vi) of isotopically labeled graphites (
graphite oxide) and graphene;(vii) of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide and composites and paper-like films composed of them;(viii) of the use of chemically modified graphene and graphite foam for electrode materials in electrical
energy storage;(ix) of graphene as a support film for biological
TEM;(x) of graphene as a
protective coating against oxidation (and corrosion) (please also note Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 052506 (2008) and Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 022509 (2008)). Ruoff provided some personal perspectives on
graphene and new carbon materials 'on the horizon' in 2012. As a graduate student at the University of Illinois-Urbana, Ruoff and colleagues published seminal papers on the structure of weakly bound clusters formed in supersonic jets, and of relaxation processes in supersonic jets. His predictions with A. L. Ruoff about the mechanical response of fullerite under high pressure, They reported growth of diamond and related phases in liquid metals, including ambient-pressure diamond synthesis, dissolution kinetics on Ni/Co, homoepitaxial diamond in liquid metal, and HF-CVD methods employing hot graphite plates. They also realized epitaxial single-crystal multilayer h‑BN on Ni(111). In porous and functional carbons, contributions include zeolite‑templated carbons, long‑range ordered carbons from C60, graphene‑oxide aerogels with radial/centrosymmetric structures, composites with liquid gallium, and stage‑1 cationic C60‑intercalated graphene‑oxide films. Chemical transformations and functionalization studies covered direct electrochemical modification dependent on Cu facets, reductive functionalization and fluorination toward diamond‑like phases (made and characterized F-diamane), covalent halide reactions, graphitization and thickness control of graphene oxide under pressure or heat, and the identification of graphenol (C6OH). Further advances include diamond‑like carbon nanofiber films, crystalline graphitic films with high stiffness and thermal conductivity, ultrathin‑graphite foams for phase‑change thermal storage, folding graphene films for Li‑ion batteries, carbon‑based electrical double‑layer capacitors, hybrid graphene–CNT films, studies of black phosphorus reactivity, and copper‑based MOFs. Conceptual and theoretical contributions included outlining objectives for carbon science and probing charge transfer in liquid gallium and diamondoids. In 2024, they introduced a novel method of
synthetic diamond creation at 1 atmosphere of pressure in around 150 minutes without needing seeds. Rod and his team continue to make contributions at the Institute for Basic Science Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials with a focus on carbon and related materials but also in some other research topics. He is inventor or co-inventor on 60 issued patents. == Positions ==