In Situ Vibrational Spectroscopy of Catalytic Interfaces
Our research team engages in spectroscopic investigation of catalytic interfaces that show potential for the synthesis of renewable fuels and high-value commodity chemicals. Our aim is to facilitate the development of efficient catalysts by elucidating how interfacial properties give rise to observed catalytic activity. To this end, we combine surface-enhanced infrared and Raman spectroscopies with mass spectrometric approaches. We are particularly interested in the rich chemistry exhibited by electrified interfaces suitable for (photo-) catalytic carbon dioxide reduction, methane activation, and water oxidation.
Group News
December 28th, 2023
Hongna and Boqiang publish their work on the detection of oxo and superoxo intermediates in the cycle of an Ir-dimer in JACS! Great job everyone. Check out the article here.
December 12th, 2023
Our team welcomes two new members. Sammi and Milan join the team as graduate students!
October 15th, 2023
Hongna finishes her postdoctoral time with us and returns to China. We will miss her!
May 26th, 2023
Hongna publishes her work on the effects of the catalyst support on photocatalytic water oxidation Chem. Sci.! Great job everyone. Check out the article here.
July 22th, 2022
Vincent publishes his collaborative work on cation effects with Prof. Michael Janik in Nat. Catal.! Great job everyone. Check out the article here.
May 1st, 2022
Our collaborative research with the Bao (Boston College) and Ismail (UMass Boston) laboratories on steering proton-coupled electron transfer processes for energy conversion at the metal electrode/porous 3D material interface is funded by the NSF!
January 1st, 2022
Tharani Rathnayake and Boqiang Chen join the research team as graduate students. Boqiang will be co-advised by Prof. Wang.
December 28th, 2021
Jingyi publishes her perspective article on water oxidation in Current Opinion in Electrochemistry! Check out the article here.
November 12th, 2021
Vincent defended his thesis - the first "in-person" PhD defense of our team! Congratulations, Dr. Ovalle! Fantastic job! Vincent will join Nanoscience Instruments as an Application Scientist.
August 18th, 2021
Vincent publishes his perspective article on pH effects in electrocatalysis in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C! Check out the article here.
May 22nd, 2021
Our team and Professor Burch's group at BC Physics receive a joint internal grant from Boston College's Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. The grant will support our project on "Plasmonic Nanoantenna Electrodes for Probing Solar Fuel Catalysis".
April 14th, 2021
Jingyi publishes her collaborative work on water oxidation with Profs. Dunwei Wang, Victor Batista, and Gary Brudvig in Chem! Great job everyone. Check out the article here.
March 25th, 2021
Xiang and Jingyi successfully defended their PhD Theses! Congratulations Dr. Xiang Li and Dr. Jingyi Li! Xiang will assume a postdoctoral position at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and work on X-ray spectroscopy of water oxidation catalysts. Jingyi will join DuPont as a Research Scientist.
January 1st, 2021
Yu-Shen Hsu joins the research team as a graduate student. Hongna Zhang joins the team as a joint postdoctoral scholar with the Wang lab. Welcome Yu-Shen and Hongna!
September 10th, 2020
Charuni successfully defended her PhD Thesis and is ready to assume her new position as a Battery Engineer at Gru Energy Lab in California! Congratulations Dr. Gunathunge!
September 10th, 2020
Charuni, Jingyi , and Xiang publish their Invited Viewpoint article in ACS Catalysis! Check it out here.
August 27th, 2020
Matthias gave a talk as part of the CatTheory Webinar Series. Watch the presentation here.
June 12th, 2020
Vincent publishes his work on the effects of anions on CO adsorption on Cu in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C! Check out the article here.
June 1st, 2020
Xiang and Charuni publish their collaborative work with Prof. Michael Janik's research group in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society! Check out the article here.
May 26th, 2020
Charuni, Jingyi, Xiang, and Julie publish their manuscript on the determination of the predominant surface facets of rough metal electrodes in ACS Catalysis! Check out the article here.
January 6th, 2020
Xiang, Charuni, and Vincent presented posters on their recent studies at the Electrochemistry Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, California. Great job everyone!
January 1st, 2020
Connor joins the research team! Connor will be co-advised by Professor Tsung and will spearhead our collaborative efforts.
December 5th, 2019
Vincent gave a terrific talk at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston. Well done, Vincent!
October 29th, 2019
Our invited perspective article on the effects of cations on the electric double layer and the rates and selectivity of electrocatalytic processes is published in the Journal Chemical Physics! Check out the article here.
October 1st, 2019
Our collaborative research with the Wang laboratory on probing water oxidation mechanisms on heterogeneous catalysts with atomically defined structure is funded by the Department of Energy's Solar Photochemistry Program!
September 17th, 2019
Vincent publishes his paper on the effects of pyridinium additives on the catalytic properties of the Cu/electrolyte interface in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C! Check out the article here.
August 22nd, 2019
Our collaborative research with the Wang laboratory on highly selective photocatalysis on titanium dioxide with atomically dispersed active centers is funded by the NSF!
June 10th, 2019
The group receives two out of three poster awards at the New England Energy Research Forum at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute! Congratulations, Vincent and Charuni, for earning the first- and third-place prizes!
Jingyi gave an awesome talk about our recent work! Well done!
April 19th, 2019
Jingyi's, Xiang's, and Charuni's article entitled "Hydrogen Bonding Steers the Product Selectivity of Electrocatalytic CO Reduction" is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences! Check out the article here.
February 5th, 2019
Matthias receives an NSF CAREER Award! The award will support the team’s research on how the molecular properties of an electrocatalytic interface control catalytic selectivity. In addition, the award will support related educational efforts. Read the BC News article here.
December 11th, 2018
Jingchen joins the research team!
November 30th, 2018
Charuni gave an awesome talk at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston. Well done, Charuni!
October 29th, 2018
Matthias receives a Doctoral New Investigator Award from the ACS Petroleum Fund. The award will support our mechanistic work on metallaphotocatalysis.
August 25th, 2018
Julie joins the research team!
July 6th, 2018
Charuni and Vincent publish their collaborative work with Prof. Michael Janik's research group in ACS Catalysis! Check out the article here.
May 6th, 2018
The group co-hosted an outreach event for 60 high-school students and their parents. Take a look at the pictures.
April 26th, 2018
Xiang's and Jingyi's collaborative work with Prof. Dunwei Wang's research group is published in ACS Central Science! Read the article here.
November 6th, 2017
Charuni and Vincent publish their work on cation effects in PCCP! Read the article here.
May 26th, 2017
The team's first paper is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C! Read the article here.
January 1st, 2017
Paul and Vincent join the research team!
May 1st, 2016
First External Funding! Matthias receives an NSF grant. The award will support the team’s research efforts on the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide.
January 1st, 2016
The first graduate students join the lab. Welcome Charuni, Jingyi, and Xiang!
July 1st, 2015
Matthias joins Boston College!