Group Members
Omar Farha, PhD
Professor of Chemistry
Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professorship in Chemistry
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Courtesy Appointment)
International Institute for Nanotechnology
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University
2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208
Email: o-farha@northwestern.edu | omarkfarha@gmail.com
Cell: 310-968-0731 Office: 847-467-4934
Kent Kirlikovali, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Kent is a Research Assistant Professor in the Farha group, where he was previously an International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2022). He received a B.S. in Chemistry from USC in 2014, where he worked in the lab of Prof. Mark Thompson, and he obtained his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Alex Spokoyny. His research is focused on developing low-valent actinide complexes, actinide-based MOFs, and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs).
Selected Publication:
“An Electrically Conductive Tetrathiafulvalene-Based Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework,” Kirlikovali, K. O.; Goswami, S.; Mian, M. R.; Krzyaniak, M. D.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Hupp, J. T.; Li, P.; Farha, O. K. ACS Materials Lett. 2021, 4, 128–135.
“Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks for the Catalytic Hydrolysis of Organophosphorus Nerve Agents,” Kirlikovali, K. O.; Chen, Z.; Islamoglu, T.; Hupp, J. T.; Farha, O. K. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 14702-14720.
Neil Schweitzer, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, REACT Operations Director
Neil is a Research Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering. He obtained his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Toledo in 2004, then went on to receive his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2010. He was co-advised by Levi Thompson and Suljo Linic. Next, Neil spent two years as a post-doc at Argonne National Lab working with Jeff Miller and Chris Marshall. He started as the REACT (formerly CleanCat) lab manager in January of 2013.
Gregory J. Mandell
Program Coordinator
Greg joined the Farha group as a program assistant in July 2021. He previously worked for Northwestern in the CCM business office from 2003-2007. For the past 13 years, he worked in the hospitality industry as a barista, server, and bartender. Greg also performed at many Chicago venues as the lead singer in a rock band. He currently lives in Skokie with his loving wife and two young children.
Email | Phone: 847-467-7468
Researcher Associates
Haomiao Xie, PhD
Research Associate
Haomiao was born in Zhangzhou, China. He received his B.S. (2014) from Nanjing University under the supervision of Prof. Jing-Lin Zuo. Haomiao obtained his Ph.D. (2020) from Texas A&M University under the supervision of Prof. Kim Dunbar. He joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2021. His research interest is focused on synthesis of functional MOFs for guest-host interactions and gas capture.
Selected Publications:
“Systematic Investigation of Controlled Nanostructuring of Mn12 Single-Molecule Magnets Templated by Metal–Organic Frameworks.” Aulakh, D.; Xie, H.; Shen, Z.; Harley, A.; Zhang, X.; Yakovenko, A. A.; Dunbar, K. R.; Wriedt, M. Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56 (12), 6965-6972.
“Direct Imaging of Isolated Single-Molecule Magnets in Metal–Organic Frameworks”. Aulakh, D.; Liu, L.; Varghese, J. R.; Xie, H.; Islamoglu, T.; Duell, K.; Kung, C.-W.; Hsiung, C.-E.; Zhang, Y.; Drout, R. J.; Farha, O. K.; Dunbar, K. R.; Han, Y.; Wriedt, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141 (7), 2997-3005
Postdoctoral Researchers
Saptasree Bose, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Saptasree Bose was born in West Bengal, India. She received her Ph.D. from Jadavpur University under the supervision of Dr. Radhaballabh Debnath. She joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022. Before joining Prof. Omar Farha’s group, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley with Prof. Karen Lozano. Her current research interest is focused on the development of composite nano/microfibers using electrospinning and centrifugal spinning techniques.
Selected Publications:
“Efficient near infrared to visible light upconversion from Er/Yb codoped PVDF fibrous mats synthesized using a direct polymer doping technique”, Bose, S.; Summers, J. R.; Srivastava, B.; Padilla-Gainzaa, V.; Peredo, M.; Trevino De Leo, C M; Hoke, B.; Gupta, S. K.; Lozano, K. Opt. Mater., 2022, 123, 111866.
“A green luminescent MoS2–CdTe hybrid nanostructure synthesized through surface charge interaction”, Haldar, D.; Bose S.; Ghosh, A.; Saha, S. K. Nanoscale Adv., 2019, 1, 1853-1863.
Xiaoliang Wang, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Xiaoliang Wang was born in Anhui and raised in Tianjin, China. He earned his B.S. from Shantou University in 2015 and Ph.D. from University of South Florida in 2021 under the supervision of Prof. Shengqian Ma. He joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022. His current research is related to CO2 direct air capture (DAC), as well as the construction of novel biohybrid systems for improving their performance.
Milad Khoshooei, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Milad was born and raised in Iran. After obtaining his B.Sc. in chemical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2010, he moved to Canada and studied chemical engineering as an M.Sc. student at the University of Alberta. After his graduation in 2013, he worked as a chemical engineer for the Canadian energy industry for a few years. Later, Milad pursued his academic journey by joining the University of Calgary, where during his PhD studies (2022), he worked on heterogenous catalysis with application to production of energy and fuels in a more economical and environmental-friendly manner. He joined Prof. Farha’s group in 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher under the Canadian National Science & Engineering Research Council (NSERC)’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program, where his research will focus on catalysis using MOFs.
Palak Garg, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Palak Garg was born and raised in India. She completed her master’s degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneshwar (IITbbs) before pursuing her Ph.D. at Monash University in Australia. She obtained her PhD in July 2021, focusing on the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity studies of low oxidation state main group element complexes under the guidance of Prof. Cameron Jones. Prior to joining Prof. Omar K. Farha’s group, Palak worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Drasko Vidovic at Monash University. Following this, she contributed as an SDS expert and scientist at Chemwatch in Australia. Her current research within the Farhagroup focuses on the synthesis and reactivity of low-valent uranium complexes and MOFs.
Xianhui Tang, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Xianhui Tang was born in 1989 in Anhui, China. He received his B.S. (2011) from Anhui Agriculture University and M.S. (2014) from Soochow University in China under the supervision of Prof. Yonggang, Yang, and Ph.D. (2021) from Shanghai JiaoTong University under the supervision of Prof. Yong Cui. He joined Professor Omar K. Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a visiting postdoctoral researcher in September 2022. His current research interest is related to the synthesis and application of crystalline porous materials.
Debabrata Sengupta, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Debabrata Sengupta was born in West Bengal, India. He received his Ph.D. from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) under the supervision of Prof. Sreebrata Goswami. He joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2021. Before joining Prof. Omar Farha’s group, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Texas at El Paso with Prof. Skye Fortier and Texas A&M University with Prof. David Powers. His current research interest is related to design and discovery of materials for reversible hydrogen storage.
Xiang-Jing Kong, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Xiang-Jing was born in Shandong, China. She received her Ph.D. (2020) from Beijing University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Jian-Rong Li. In 2021, she joined Prof. Michael Zaworotko’s Crystal Engineering Research Group at University of Limerick (Ireland) as a postdoctoral researcher. She then joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher in 2023. Her research interest is focused on the design and synthesis of novel MOFs and their applications in adsorption, catalysis, etc.
Mohammad Shehab, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Mohammad (Mo) was born in the United Arab Emirates, then moved and grew up in Irbid, Jordan. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry with distinction from Yarmouk University, Jordan. He worked as a chemistry laboratory instructor at The American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) for eight years and gained a wide teaching experience and laboratory techniques in different chemistry practical courses. In May 2023, Mo received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from Virginia Commonwealth University under the direction and supervision of Professor Hani M. El-Kaderi. Mo’s research focused on synthesizing and characterizing aza and polyimide-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for sodium batteries as well as supporting metal nanoparticles on porous carbon to advance catalytic cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Mo has good experience modeling 2D and 3D Covalent and Metal-Organic frameworks (COFs & MOFs) using material studio and crystal maker software to simulate theoretical data such as AA and AB stackings, surface area, powder refinement, and expected XRD patterns. Mo Also has a great experience with different advanced cutting-edge instruments. After earning his Ph.D., Mo joined Professor Omar Farha’s group as a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University in July 2023. His research primarily focuses on synthesizing and developing new Quinone-based MOFs for the capture and electrocatalytic conversion of CO2.
Selected Publications:
“Exceptional sodium-ion storage by an aza-covalent organic framework for high energy and power density sodium-ion batteries” Mohammad K. Shehab, K. Shamara Weeraratne, Tony Huang, Ka Un Lao, Hani M. El-Kaderi* ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 15083–15091.
“Templated Synthesis of 2D Polyimide Covalent Organic Framework for Rechargeable Sodium-Ion Batteries” Mohammad K. Shehab, K. Shamara Weeraratne, Oussama M. El-Kadri, Vamsi K. Yadavalli, and Hani M. El-Kaderi* Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2023, 44, 2200782.
Yunsung Yoo, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Yunsung was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. He received his B.S. in 2016 and went on to earn his Ph.D. in 2020 in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Yonsei University, South Korea under the guidance of Prof. Jinwon Park. Following his doctorate, Yunsung worked as a postdoctoral researcher and subsequently as a research professor at Yonsei University. During this period, his research predominantly centered on the development and improvement of Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology. He introduced a novel seawater-based mineral carbonation process, tailored the properties of metal carbonates obtained from this procedure, and developed a cutting-edge generation of absorbents termed Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs). After his time at Yonsei, Yunsung took up a position as a visiting fellow at Princeton University working alongside Prof. Christos Maravelias. In September 2023, he joined Prof. Farha’s research group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral scholar. His ongoing research endeavors focus on evolving MOF-based methods for efficient CO2 capture and catalytic conversion.
Selected Publications:
“A Novel Approach based on Detailed Structural and Molar Free Volume Analyses to Characteristics of Deep Eutectic Solvents Specialized for CO2 absorption”, Yoo, Y. Chem. Eng. J., 2023, 461, 141802.
“Synthesis of Nano-sized Calcium Carbonates Employing Molecular Effect on CO2 Conversion via Biodegradable Chelating-system”, Moulay, I., Park, J., Yoo, Y. Chem. Eng. J., 2023, 474, 145281.
Bang Hou, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Bang Hou was born in 1994 in Henan, China. He received his B.S. (2015) from China Agricultural University and Ph.D. (2022) from Shanghai JiaoTong University in China under the supervision of Prof. Yong Cui and Prof. Yan Liu. He joined Professor Omar K. Farha’s group at Northwestern University as a visiting postdoctoral researcher in July 2023. His current research interest is focusing on the synthesis and application of crystalline porous materials.
Zi-Ming Ye, PhD
Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher
Zi-Ming was born in Hubei, China. He received his B.S. in materials chemistry (2015) and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry (2022) from Sun Yat-Sen University in Prof. Jie-Peng Zhang and Xiao-Ming Chen’s Lab under the supervision of Prof. Jie-Peng Zhang where he worked on the flexibility of MOFs and their application towards adsorptive separation. Zi-Ming then began a position as a joint postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Banglin Chen at Fujian Normal University and Prof. Omar K. Farha at Northwestern University in 2023. His research interest is focused on functional crystalline porous materials and their application towards adsorption, separation, and capture.
Zhihua Cheng, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zhihua was born and raised in Huangshan, Anhui province of China. He received his B.S. and master’s degrees from Beijing Institute of Technology, where he gained basic science training in nanoscience. In 2022, Zhihua obtained his PhD degree from Rice University and continued his postdoctoral research under the supervision of Professor Matthew R. Jones, where he worked on low-symmetric superlattices from self-assembly of anisotropic building blocks. In his PhD training, he obtained abundant training in nanoparticle design, synthesis, functionalization and characterizations and understanding their collective behaviors during the crystallization process. After completing his research at Rice, Zhihua joined Professor Omar K. Farha’s lab at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral fellow in January 2024. His current research interest lies in encapsulating functional nanocrystals into MOFs to achieve super-diffusive motion, which can be used as mobile catalysts towards detoxification of chemical warfare agents.
Selected Publications
1. “Separation of Nanoparticle Seed Pseudoisomers via Amplification of Their Crystallographic Differences”, Cheng, Z.; Jones, M. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023. 145, 27702–27707.
2. “Assembly of Planar Chiral Superlattices from Achiral Building Blocks”, Cheng, Z.; Jones, M. R. Nat. Commun., 2022, 13, 4207.
Chuanhui Huang, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Chuanhui was born in Longyan, China. He received his Ph.D. in 2019 from a joint education program at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Fuzhou University under the supervision of Prof. Tie Wang and Prof. Zhenyu Lin. In 2020, he joined Prof. Xinliang Feng’s group at Technische Universität Dresden (Germany) as a Humboldt Fellow. In 2024, he moved to Northwestern University (USA) and worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Ted Sargent and Prof. Omar Farha. His research interest focuses on the design and synthesis of novel MOFs/COFs for sensing and carbon capture.
Graduate Students
Fanrui Sha
Graduate Student
Fanrui grew up in Dalian, China. She received her B.S. in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in 2019 and was a visiting student in chemistry and materials science at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University in Spring 2018. At HMC, she did her undergraduate research with Prof. Adam Johnson on asymmetric hydroamination catalysis with titanium and tantalum complexes. She joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern in Fall of 2019, and her research focuses on enzyme@MOF.
Kira Fahy
Graduate Student
Kira was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She graduated from Santa Clara University in 2020 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A. in Spanish Studies. At SCU, she worked under the supervision of Prof. Korin Wheeler studying silver nanoparticle interactions with biomolecules for environmental and human health concerns. She joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group in Fall 2020 where she uses isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to study binding thermodynamics of MOF-adsorbate interactions.
Madeleine Gaidimas
Graduate Student
Madeleine Gaidimas grew up in New Jersey and received her B.A. in Chemistry from Vassar College in 2020. While at Vassar, she studied fullerene synthesis with Prof. Christopher Smart. She joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern in the fall of 2020. Her research interests include the design and synthesis of metal organic frameworks.
Shengyi (Tony) Su
Graduate Student
Tony grew up in Shanghai, China. He received his B.A. in Chemistry and Computer Science from Grinnell College in 2020. While at Grinnell College, he studied ion transport of fluorinated organosilyl electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries using diffusion NMR under Prof. Leslie Lyons. He conducted off-campus research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developing self-healing polymers under Prof. Tomonori Saito. He became a joint student under the mentorship of Prof. Omar Farha and Prof. Nathan Gianneschi at Northwestern University in 2020. His research interest is in developing and studying porous MOF-based composite materials.
Michael Barsoum
Graduate Student
Mike is from South New Jersey. He received a joint B.S./M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel university in 2021, where he worked in the lab of Prof. Ekaterina Pomerantseva studying battery materials for water remediation. He joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group in 2021 as a graduate student and Ryan Fellow, and his research is focused on the in-situ study of metal organic frameworks MOFs for direct air capture (DAC) of CO2.
Seryeong Lee
Graduate Student
Seryeong Lee grew up in Los Angeles, California and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, she worked under the supervision of Professor Holly Goodson, developing olfactory-based yeast biosensors, or “scentsors”. She then studied local molecular structures and stretching frequencies at nanocrystal surfaces under Professor Emily Tsui. In Fall 2021, Seryeong joined Professor Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern, focusing on the design and synthesis of metal—organic frameworks in catalysis applications.
Courtney Smoljan
Graduate Student
Courtney Smoljan grew up near Boulder, Colorado and received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2021. Under the mentorship of Professor Moises Carreon at Mines, Courtney’s undergraduate research involved non-noble metal catalysts for upgrading olefins to biodiesel. She also studied the durability of nuclear waste glasses and the porous transport layer in water electrolyzers during her internships at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, respectively. Courtney began her graduate studies at Northwestern in September 2021 and is coadvised by Professor Omar Farha and Professor Randall Snurr (Dept. of Chemical Engineering). Her research interests include metal organic frameworks with 3D linkers for separations applications.
Owen Bailey
Graduate Student
Owen grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Bates College in 2022 with a B.S. in Chemistry. At Bates, he worked under Prof. Geneva Laurita studying solid-state materials for electronic applications. Owen also studied lattice dynamics of hybrid vacancy-ordered double halide perovskites under Dr. Hayden Evans at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for Neutron Research. In the fall of 2022, he joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern University. Owen’s research interests include the design, synthesis, and characterization of MOFs for the direct air capture (DAC) of water.
Dawson Grimes
Graduate Student
Dawson grew up near Dallas, TX and received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. During his time at UT Austin, he performed research with Professor Emily Que studying metal-loaded perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions as enhanced 19F magnetic resonance and nuclear imaging agents. He joined the Farha and Notestein groups at Northwestern University in the Fall of 2022. His research interests include the design, synthesis and modification of MOFs for applications in environmental remediation-related catalysis.
Minjung Kim
Graduate Student
Minjung grew up in Houston, TX and received her B.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering with a Bioengineering specialization and a B.A. in Chemistry from Rice University. At Rice, she worked with Professor Matthew Jones in identifying and understanding the role of Au32 nanocluster species in creating uniform plasmonic nanorods. Minjung also studied PFOA and PFOS degradation using UV-irradiated boron nitride under the mentorship of Professor Michael Wong. Minjung joined Northwestern’s Chemistry program in Fall 2022 and is currently co-advised by Professors Omar Farha and Dayne Swearer. Her research interests include using metal-organic frameworks and photocatalysts for environmental remediation applications.
Alyson Plaman
Graduate Student
Alyson grew up in Minnesota and graduated from Amherst College in 2021 with a B.A. in Chemistry and Spanish. At Amherst, she conducted research in Prof. Christopher Durr’s group studying the synthesis of small molecule inorganic catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters. Alyson joined Prof. Omar Farha’s group at Northwestern in November 2022 and her research interests include the synthesis and study of actinide-based metal- organic frameworks.
Christine Yu
Graduate Student
Christine grew up and attended undergrad (BS Chemistry, USC) in California, so she is and always will be adjusting to Chicago weather. She worked at USC with Prof. Surya Prakash, Prof Chi Mak, and Prof Smaranda Marinescu on hetero/homogeneous catalysts (and DNA simulations). Christine also worked off campus at Sandia National Laboratories under Dr. Vitalie Stavila and Dr. Mark Allendorf on thermocatalysis and MOFs for hydrogen storage. She joined the groups of Prof Omar Farha and Prof Ted Sargent in the fall of 2022 with a focus on MOF materials for electrocatalysis
Sammer Marzouk
Graduate Student; Medical Scientist Training Program; Feinberg School of Medicine
Sammer is from Chicago, Illinois and recently graduated from Harvard University with a BA/MA in Chemistry. He joined the Farha Group in the summer of 2023. His current research focuses on CO2 recapture with mentoring from postdoc Xiaoliang Wang.
Haley Wellman
Graduate Student
Haley, a native of Chicago, IL, earned her B.A. in Chemistry from Northwestern University in 2022. During her undergraduate years, she conducted research under the guidance of Professor Samuel Stupp, focusing on the exploration and synthesis of novel peptide amphiphiles with applications in neuronal regeneration. Additionally, she gained international research experience during a summer at ETH Zurich in the Wennemers Group, funded by Think Swiss. There, she contributed to modifying their supramolecular triaxial weave to enhance its affinity toward specific small molecules. After graduating with Honors, Haley joined NuMat Technologies where she worked on the discovery and scale-up of metal organic frameworks. She became a graduate student at Northwestern under the mentorship of Prof. Omar Farha in 2023 and her current research focuses on the design and synthesis of MOFs for diverse applications.
Julian Magdalenski
Graduate Student
Julian grew up just north of San Francisco in Sebastopol, California and received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 2023. While at Berkeley, he worked under Professor John Arnold on the design and synthesis of novel transition metal complexes, particularly low-valent rhenium metalates, for applications in small molecule activation and functionalization. Julian joined Professor Omar Farha’s group in Fall 2023, and his research interests include the design, synthesis, and characterization of metal-organic frameworks for the direct air capture of carbon dioxide.
Undergraduate Researchers
Tim Li
Undergraduate Researcher
Tim comes from his sweet home Wuhan, China, where the skies are so blue and the mountain ranges are as rugged as his passion for MOFs. He is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Chemistry at Northwestern University. In high school Tim researched zirconium-based MOFs with Prof. Zirong Tang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He started his career as an undergraduate researcher with Prof. Sir Fraser Stoddart, working on the synthesis of novel MOF ligands from October 2022 to August 2023. Tim joined the Farha Group as an undergraduate researcher in September 2023. His current research focuses on constructing porous functional materials through unconventional ligands. Tim is mentored by Dr. Xianhui Tang.
Zahra Nathani
Undergraduate Researcher
Zahra is a first-year chemical engineering major from Niles, Illinois. She joined the Farha Lab in January of 2024, and is mentored by Courtney Smoljan. Zahra’s research focuses on the stability of MOFs with 3D linkers.