Rate My Professor Richard Sykora

Richard Sykora is a Professor in the Chemistry Department at the University of South Alabama. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Troy University in 1999 and his PhD from Auburn University in 2003. Sykora joined the University of South Alabama as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and was promoted to full Professor. In 2009, he received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, valued at $625,000 over five years (2009-2014), for his project titled 'CAREER: Exploring the Structures and Materials Applications of Lanthanide Cyanometallates.' This award supported research to develop new compounds from the 14 rare earth metallic elements (lanthanides), study their structures and chemical and physical properties, and investigate applications such as more efficient catalysts for fuel cells and luminescence properties for sensors. The project involved collaborations with colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and North Carolina A&T State University, with findings incorporated into educational programs including classes, seminars, workshops, professional journals, and the Science in Motion program.

Sykora's main area of research is synthetic inorganic chemistry, with particular interests in the structural chemistry of f-element compounds, including lanthanides (such as terbium and europium) and select actinides (such as uranium and thorium). His laboratory constructs functional f-element coordination polymers and studies light-harvesting ligands that enhance emission from lanthanide cations through energy transfer, enabling applications in fluoroimmunoassays, cellular imaging, chemosensors, optical communications, and optoelectronic devices. He supervises undergraduate research through Directed Studies (CH 394/494) at the University of South Alabama. Sykora has 18 publications documented in the university's Scholars@USA profile, including 'Emission, Raman spectroscopy, and structural characterization of actinide tetracyanometallates' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2013, with Branson A. Maynard et al.); 'Synthesis, crystal structures, and dual donor luminescence sensitization in novel terbium tetracyanoplatinates' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2012, with Philip A. Smith et al.); 'Solid-state photoluminescence sensitization of Tb3+ by novel Au2Pt2 and Au2Pt4 cyanide clusters' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2011, with LeAnn Ladner et al.); 'Actinide tetracyanoplatinates: synthesis and structural characterization with uncharacteristic Th-NC coordination and thorium fluorescence' (Chemical Communications, 2010, with Branson A. Maynard et al.); and 'Emission enhancement through dual donor sensitization: modulation of structural and spectroscopic properties in a series of europium tetracyanoplatinates' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2009, with Branson A. Maynard et al.).