Akalanka Ekanayake’s research focuses on elucidating structure-property relationships in nanoscale materials using advanced Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques. Primary expertise includes AFM-based nanoindentation and force spectroscopy to probe the mechanical properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), and coordination polymers at the single-crystal and nanocrystal levels.

Current research investigates how crystal size, defect density, and solid-state transformations influence framework flexibility, stiffness, and phase behavior, with particular emphasis on size-dependent mechanical properties and single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) reactions. Additional research activities include the characterization of photoreactive materials and AFM-based studies of biological and soft material systems. This work integrates AFM with complementary techniques such as SEM-EDX, Raman spectroscopy, and diffraction methods to establish robust structure–mechanical property correlations.