RESEARCH AREA

"Excellence is an art won by training and habitation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

Aristotle (384BC - 322 BC)

Bonjour et bienvenue! We are working in the interface of chemistry and energy. Our main research goal is to develop well-defined molecular compounds, mostly transition metal complexes, for catalytic and electrocatalytic transformations that are related to synthesis, energy, and sustainability. Towards this goal, we currently focus on (electro)catalytic water splitting, activation of small molecules such as CO₂, H₂, O₂, and alkanes, as well as the development of new sustainable catalytic systems for organic synthesis.

Our research is highly interdisciplinary. Each individual project often involves three or more of the following areas:  synthetic methodology development, homogeneous catalysis, coordination chemistry, bio-inorganic chemistry, reaction mechanism, spectroscopy, surface chemistry, and electrochemistry. Current research topics include (i) fine chemical synthesis by base metal catalysts; (ii) electrocatalytic H₂ production and water oxidation; and (iii) bio-inspired H₂ activation.

Students and postdocs are expected to engage heavily in organic, inorganic, and organometallic syntheses, exploit a multitude of spectroscopic tools such as multinuclear NMR, IR, UV-Vis, EPR, Mössbauer, magnetism, electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and crystallography, and become proficient in the theory and application of electrochemistry.

Project I: Fine Chemical Synthesis by Defined Base Metal Catalysts

Project II: Bio-inspired and Bio-mimetic Small Molecule Activation

Project III: Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution and Water Oxidation

Collaboration: Powering the Planet Center for Chemical Innovation (CCI solar).