Professor Rusinek is interested in electroanalytical chemistry, sensor development, and materials technology. This includes development in both biological and environmental sensing where applications in neurochemical detection, wearable sensors, and environmental monitoring coalesce for tangible impact on society. Prof. Rusinek is also interested in electrochemical methods for fundamental understanding of molten salt chemistry. In Prof. Rusinek’s group, students are exposed to a multi-disciplinary environment, pulling from knowledge in chemistry, electrochemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science.
Shichun Huang
I study the elemental and isotopic compositions of basalts, peridotites, meteorites, and samples returned by NASA missions, and use them to understand the origins and the evolution of the solid Earth and the early Solar System.
Pradip Bhowmik
My interests focus on organic and polymer synthesis in general. More specifically, we are interested in developing novel light-emitting and liquid-crystalline polymers for their multitude applications in modern technology including biosensors. In another project, we are developing ionic liquids based on the concept of green chemistry, and liquid-crystalline and light-emitting organic salts to make them functional materials. Carbon nanotube-based composite materials based on ionic polymers are of significant interest in our group. In recent years, we are also actively pursuing for the development of cisplatin analogs for the development cancer therapy.
Erica Marti
Dr. Erica Marti’s main research interests are in water and wastewater treatment, especially in the area of transforming wastewater for a beneficial reuse (drinking water, irrigation water, etc.). Past work has included understanding the formation of unregulated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and investigating different methods to prevent their formation. DBPs are created when water is disinfected with chemical oxidants like different forms of chlorine and ozone. We use the chemicals to inactivate pathogens (bacteria, viruses, etc.) but the chemicals can react with other dissolved organics and inorganics to create unwanted byproducts, some of which are toxic. Therefore, water treatment professionals must work carefully to provide the right amount of oxidant for disinfection while minimizing DBPs.
Future research topics include remediation of polluted groundwater, adsorption of heavy metals from wastewater using biochar made from agricultural waste products, uptake of DBPs in plants grown using treated wastewater, and optimizing toxicity assays for DBPs.
Dr. Marti also conducts research in the area of STEM education and has led several Teacher Professional Development programs for integrated STEM lessons and engineering design.
Samuel Odoh
My research interests are in theoretical/computational chemistry approaches to explain the properties of materials and to predict materials with better performance. I have experience using density functional theory approaches (DFT), ab initio quantum-chemical methods as well as molecular dynamics (MD) approaches . Examples of materials that I have worked on in the past are: proteins, porous materials (like zeolites and metal-organic frameworks), solids (like Mott insulators, metal oxides, metal oxide surfaces), liquids and
heavy elements.
Scott McCoy
My research draws from both Earth science and engineering to formulate and test mechanistic, predictive models that quantitatively describe the behavior of surface processes such as floods, landslides, and debris flows. On event or decadal times scales, many surface processes can devastate communities or pose geologic hazards. On geologic time scales, surface processes transport mass and energy across the Earth’s surface to shape the landscapes we live in.
Wendy Calvin
My research specialty is the optical and infrared spectroscopy of minerals and ices, using remote sensing data sets and laboratory analysis to identify and map the surface composition of solid planets in the solar system.
Dong-Chan Lee
My research interest covers a broad interdisciplinary area including materials chemistry and self-assembly. Current research focuses on the development of new electron-deficient semiconductors which can self-assemble into well-defined high aspect ratio clusters (such as nanofibers, nanobelts, etc.) for future electro-optical applications. We are especially interested in developing pi-organogelators which can produce nanofibers through organogelation in select organic solvents, simply and reproducibly.
David Hatchett
Dr. Hatchett’s research focuses on the dissolution, coordination, and solubility of f-element species dissolved into ionic liquids. Ionic liquids (ILs) are chemically stable purely ionic solutions at room temperature and they are composed of cation/anion pairs that can be exploited to provide a wide range of tunable physical and chemical properties. Ionic liquids also provide unique solution environments for electrochemical deposition of actinides because traditional side-reactions associated with common working electrodes in aqueous solution are eliminated. The potential windows associated with GC, Pt, and Au working electrodes in IL, ([Me3BuN] [TFSI] trimethyl-n-butylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide provide an absolute potential window of approximately 4.5 V for Pt, 5.0 V for Au, and 6.0 V for GC, which encompass the thermodynamic potentials associated with the oxidation/reduction of actinide species to metal. The electrochemical deposition and formation of actinide thin films at electrode interfaces is the primary goal. The methods that are utilized include the synthesis of actinide TFSI complexes that can be directly dissolved into the ionic liquid [Me3BuN] [TFSI] trimethyl-n-butylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. The goal of the research is to increase the ultimate solubility and to facilitate the in-situ formation of stable, coordinated actinide complexes to provide a more systematic and comprehensive approach to the electrochemical deposition of actinides films. To date we have successfully demonstrated the deposition of U metal from ionic liquid using electrochemical methods. Similar results have been obtained for more electropositive lanthanide species.
Zoe Harrold
Dr. Zoe Harrold has a Ph.D. in Geomicrobiology with 10 years of experience working in a laboratory setting, designing and executing experiments that quantify the thermodynamics of geochemical and biogeochemical processes occurring in microbe-water-rock systems, including microbe-metal surface adsorption and biogeochemical sulfur, iron and nitrogen cycling. She is passionate about teaching science and strive to create collaborative work environments where students can thrive.
Her research interests include:
Geomicrobiology, low-temperature aqueous geochemistry, microbially mediated mineral dissolution, biogeochemical cycling, heavy metal adsorption and speciation, and metabolic efficiency