News

Linsey attended the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver, Colorado to accept the 2024 ACS Early Career Award in Catalysis. This award recognizes and encourages accomplishments and innovation of unusual merit by an individual in early stages of their career, emphasizing independence and creativity. Prof. Seitz’s accomplishments were celebrated during an awards symposium on August 20; invited speakers included Justin Notestein, Alex Bell, Lars Grabow, Sossina Haile, and Eranda Nikolla, in addition to a feature presentation by Linsey!

This shared first-author paper by Brianna and Robby, describes the superior performance of a series of boron and nitrogen doped carbon catalysts for hydrogen peroxide production via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), uniquely operating in neutral media. These catalysts are demonstrated in three different reactor geometries, spanning from fundamental studies in a rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) to more applied geometries using gas diffusion electrode (GDE) flow cell and a double membrane electrode assembly (MEA) solid electrolyte electrolyzer. In the latter two reactors, we demonstrate that these catalysts are capable of achieving 70-80% Faradaic efficiency and reaching final product concentrations that are directly relevant for disinfectant applications or for wastewater treatment (2-4+ wt%). A comprehensive spectroscopic analysis using x-ray photoelectron and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy at complementary B, N, C, and O edges complements the electrochemical and physical analyses to provide new insights for the underlying cause of the enhanced activity. Congratulations Brianna and Robby!

AJ’s paper demonstrates a liquid diffusion electrode (LDE) reactor that enables greater than 90% selective electrochemically-driven oxidation of cyclohexene to cyclohexene oxide through a chlorine-mediated pathway. This system enables Faradaic efficiencies of ~80% and ~65% at 50 and 100 mA/cm² respectively, with >90% selectivity in both cases. The LDE reactor geometry utilizes an engineered, porous electrode that separates the aqueous electrolyte from the pure-phase organic reactant, thereby avoiding mass transfer limitations and use of solvent that are typical disadvantages for the more common, mixed phase organic / aqueous electrosynthetic approaches. We use a non-precious metal catalyst, cobalt oxide, to electrochemically oxidize chloride ions, another abundant element, to in situ generate active chlorine species which interact with the cyclohexene throughout the pores of the electrode. We explore the effects of pH, halide identity/concentration, and current density on product selectivity, separation in aqueous vs. organic phases, and Faradaic efficiency. We also provide evidence via differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy and ion chromatography with conductivity detection to identify Cl₂ as the active chlorine species responsible for oxidation. Congratulations AJ!

Bing’s paper reports deep insights for the ubiquitous surface restructuring of iridium oxide catalysts upon use for electrochemical water oxidation towards production of green hydrogen. We use advanced x-ray and electron scattering as well as cutting-edge S/TEM techniques and establish a minimal-dose workflow to enable damage-free imaging and analysis of structural motifs present at the surface of these amorphized iridium oxide catalysts. Stability testing and in situ spectroscopy provide insights to the dynamic behavior of these surface structures, while density functional theory characterizes the predicted activity of each identified structural motif. Collectively, this work enables design and synthesis of paracrystalline iridium oxide catalysts with superior activity and durability requiring minimized iridium utilization for optimal application in sustainable electrocatalytic technologies and provides a roadmap for accurately characterizing these and other complex, dynamic material structures. Congratulations Bing and co-authors!!

Ruihan successfully presented and defended her PhD thesis work entitled, “Investigating the Degradation Mechanisms of Precious- vs. Non-precious Metal-based Catalysts for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media.” She is the fourth PhD student to graduate from the Seitz Lab. A heartfelt congratulations, Ruihan!!

After completing her research at Northwestern, Ruihan will join Honeywell UOP as an R&D Engineer Scientist working on catalyst product development and scale-up!

Matt’s paper challenges the conventional reporting of crystal symmetry in perovskite oxynitrides through exploration of the crystal structure of CaW(O,N)₃, which we synthesize for the first time. Traditional literature simplifies perovskite oxynitrides by using high-symmetry unit cells with fractional anion occupancy (e.g., sites comprised of 50% O and 50% N). While these models provide a convenient approximation, they can never accurately reflect the true nature of perovskite oxynitrides. We use complementary X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques and Reitveld refinement with numerous literature-derived and computationally-derived structures to bring unique insight into sources of disorder that are not captured within the traditional structural models. Congratulations Matt!

Matt’s paper provides experimental evidence for the link between strain and oxygen vacancy formation in thin film perovskites, a topic that has been largely dominated by theory-based approaches. Thin films of the state-of-the-art oxygen evolution reaction catalyst SrIrO₃ were deposited on crystal substrates with varied atomic spacing to impose varied strain states in the films. Through in situ X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we show that tensile epitaxial strain makes oxygen vacancy formation more favorable and reveal the effect of strain on complete oxygen removal and full reduction from Ir⁴⁺ to Ir⁰. This work contributes to the understanding of the nature of oxygen vacancies within electrocatalysts, and ultimately, to the development of enhanced functional oxides. Congratulations Matt!

Jane successfully presented and defended her PhD thesis work entitled, “Probing Material Dynamics of Iridium-Based Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts for Acidic Water Electrolysis.” She is the third PhD student to graduate from the Seitz Lab. A heartfelt congratulations, Jane!!

After completing her research at Northwestern, Jane will join AbbVie as a Senior Scientist in the R&D Reaction Engineering Group to develop novel (electrochemical) pathways to products of interest!

Brianna’s and Robby’s co-first-author paper establishes key design parameters for a membrane electrode assembly solid electrolyte electrolyzer and their respective impacts on electrocatalytic performance for the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction to produce hydrogen peroxide at high operating currents. This reactor design utilizes two membranes sandwiching a solid electrolyte compartment that enables production of high concentration hydrogen peroxide, without added salts or other electrolyte components, thereby significantly simplifying downstream application. This study provides insights into how macroscale system properties of this reactor design impact the local reaction environment of the complex, porous electrode structures and provides into the optimization of these reactors not only for hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis, but for a broad range of electrochemical processes. Congratulations Brianna and Robby!

Ruihan’s paper reports on the dynamics of adsorption energetics of oxygenate reaction intermediate on the surface of a calcium iridium oxide catalyst over both short and long timescales for the oxygen evolution reaction in acidic conditions. This work brings fundamental understanding to a critical aspect of surface restructuring that is prevalent in a broad range of Ir-based materials which is directly related to long-term activity and stability outcomes. We employ a highly flexible material platform Ca2IrO4 to systematically tune catalyst properties and probe responses to well-controlled reaction conditions. We use a combination of rapid cyclic voltammetry as well as both in situ and ex situ characterization techniques to elucidate the impact of oxygen intermediates on the chemical properties of iridates and highlight the importance of understanding material dynamics over a catalyst’s lifetime. Congratulations Ruihan!

Linsey was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Early Career Award in Catalysis. This award recognizes and encourages accomplishments and innovation of unusual merit by an individual in early stages of their career, emphasizing independence and creativity. See the ChBE Departmental news story here.

Prof. Seitz’s accomplishments will be celebrated during an awards symposium to be held as part of the Fall 2024 American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, Colorado, August 18 – 22, 2024. We hope to see you there!

Ruihan’s paper describes a unique catalyst that contains no precious or platinum-group metals, as is most common for water oxidation in acid. Instead, Ruihan tunes the activity and stability of earth-abundant manganese oxides by incorporating chlorine to result in a heteroanionic material that exhibits excellent activity and stability for acidic oxygen evolution. Her work takes a deep dive into the structural and activity evolution, using a combination of ex situ and in situ surface and bulk-sensitive X-ray spectroscopy analyses. This study provides insights into the fundamental relationships between the chemical, electronic, and geometric properties of the catalysts and their electrocatalytic outcomes. Congratulations Ruihan!

AJ’s paper introduces and demonstrates use of a novel liquid diffusion electrode reactor design that enables the electrooxidation of pure cyclohexene, using water as the oxygen source. This design allows for the reaction of two immiscible liquids at an engineered electrode interface, forgoing the need for cosolvents that are necessary in single phase electroorganic reactions, as well as facilitating opportunities for enhanced product separation. Overall, this work demonstrates and characterizes the capabilities of a liquid diffusion electrode reactor that is applicable for a wide range of organic oxidation reactions, enabling a new paradigm of organic electrocatalysis. Congratulations AJ!

This publication was submitted in response to an invitation for inclusion in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Emerging Investigators Special Issue!

Matt successfully presented and defended his PhD thesis work entitled, “Support Materials and Anion Composition as Stimuli for Understanding the Structures, Properties, and Behavior of Electrocatalysts.” Matt is the second PhD student to graduate from the Seitz Lab. A heartfelt congratulations, Matt!!

After wrapping up his research at Northwestern, Matt will start as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Materials Group of Deborah Myers at Argonne National Lab.

Brianna’s paper describes her work investigating and optimizing a rotating ring-disk electrode coupled with a pH-sensing probe to track changes in proton concentration near electrocatalyst surfaces under well-defined mass transport conditions. This manuscript examines the limitations and describes methods for improving the robustness of this experimental platform which enables critical insights into relationships between local reaction environment conditions and catalytic performance. Congratulations on this nice work, Brianna!

This paper is published as part of The Journal of Physical Chemistry virtual special issue “Early-Career and Emerging Researchers in Physical Chemistry Volume 2!”

Brianna successfully presented and defended her PhD thesis work entitled, “Investigating Catalyst and Reaction Microenvironments for the Electrosynthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide via Two-Electron Oxygen Reduction Reaction.” Brianna was co-advised by Professor Justin Notestein and Professor Linsey Seitz. She is the first PhD student to graduate from the Seitz Lab. A heartfelt congratulations, Brianna!!

After wrapping up her research at Northwestern, Brianna will start at Shell as an Electrochemistry Researcher Project Lead!

Ruihan received the CATL-ChemCatBio Graduate Student Travel award from the Catalysis Science and Technology Division. At ACS, she will present her work on stabilizing and characterizing manganese‐based oxychloride catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction in acid.

Congratulations!!

Ruihan’s paper presents a holistic picture of catalyst electronic and geometric structure evolution under various applied potentials by probing electrochemically active surface area, metal dissolution, Ir valence, and surface morphology. Using a combination of electrochemical and spectroscopic tools, we provide fundamental insights to these material degradation processes to enable future catalyst design with balanced activity and long-term stability. Congratulations on this nice work, Ruihan!

This publication was submitted in response to a nomination and invitation for inclusion in the ACS Energy and Fuels Rising Star Issue!

NSF ERC CISTAR hosted a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program at Northwestern this summer where teachers were paired with faculty mentors and graduate students to gain hands-on research experience, develop new curriculum for their classrooms, and participate in personal/professional development workshops and seminars. Heidi Park from Mather High School (Chicago Public Schools) joined the Seitz lab this summer and worked with several students in the group to learn about electrocatalytic technologies and techniques for analyzing new catalyst materials. We enjoyed having Heidi join us for the summer and look forward to hearing about and participating in her newly developed modules for her chemistry course this year!

Thanks Heidi!

The ChBE Anti-Racism Diversity Equity and Inclusion (ARDEI) Committee just hosted the second, Northwestern Context, Connections, and Community Symposium (C3S). The purpose of C3S is to provide provide Northwestern PhD and postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented groups an opportunity to showcase their scientific accomplishments and meet and network with industrial representatives that have similar backgrounds. This event was open to all students from all departments, disciplines, and research areas.

Jane was one of four students selected to present at C3S, along with a vibrant poster session and two invited speakers (one from industry and one from academia).

Congratulations to Jane and Ruihan who presented their work at C3S. Also a huge congratulations to AJ for organizing and facilitating the entire Symposium!

Matt traveled to Nairobi to participate in the Joint Undertaking for an African Materials Institute, JUAMI, which is a virtual institute that offers intensive, two-weeklong live-in “schools” designed to immerse researchers in a worldwide community tackling the most pressing technical problems of our times. The JUAMI Schools feature presentations from leading materials researchers in classroom and seminar settings, engaging hands-on learning activities, and collaboration building that outlives the two-weeklong program. Matt presented a poster on his work, connected with possible collaborators, and had a fantastic immersive experience. Congratulations Matt!

You can read more about JUAMI here and the workshop in Nairobi here.

The Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience (CESR) at Northwestern hosted a 3 Minute Thesis competition where participants submitted a video recording of 3 minutes or less summarizing their thesis research for a non-specialist audience. Submissions were open to any current Northwestern Ph.D. student working in sustainability. You can check out their videos and more information about the event here.

The Mission Accessible program at Northwestern is a series of “challenges” for faculty to complete and in doing so, revamp their Canvas course content  pages to ensure that they are designed with accessibility in mind. Linsey is one of 31 faculty at NU to complete “Mission: Accessible” this past year. Check out the Mission: Accessible Wall of Fame.

Robby Lu is one of 87 new awardees across the nation for the 2022 DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program; this program will enable him to carry out part of his doctoral dissertation/thesis research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for six months. His project at LLNL will investigate electrochemical production of green cementitious material from silicates in tandem with water electrolysis and CO₂ capture with Dr. Jiaqi Li. Congratulations Robby! The Seitz Lab is looking forward to this new collaboration opportunity sponsored by DOE.

Linsey was delighted to present work from the group on “Tuning Dynamic Materials and Systems for Electrocatalytic Processes” to a group of industry representatives, professors, postdocs, and students with the Michigan Catalysis Society (Chapter of the North American Catalysis Society) in Livonia, Michigan! There were lots of great questions and discussions!

Linsey enjoyed visiting the University of Houston, meeting faculty, postdocs and students in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, and presenting research from the group! Thank you for being great hosts!

Kavi is moving to DC for 12 weeks for a full-time hands-on training and educational program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. With the Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program, she will learn about science and technology policy as well as the role that scientists and engineers play in advising the nation. Congratulations Kavi!

This perspective paper addresses the stability concerns for electrocatalyst materials used to drive oxidation reactions, particularly considering water oxidation in acidic environments as is relevant for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis technologies. This work compares degradation processes in both diagnostic aqueous media systems and more applied membrane electrode assembly devices and discusses the application of S-number as a metric by which to assess intrinsic material stability in both systems. Finally, we summarize and recommend approaches for standardizing electrocatalyst performance and intrinsic material stability assessments.

Kwaku, a junior in Chemical Engineering, joins the group! He will be investigating and optimizing electrode geometry and reactor design for electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide. Welcome to the group!

Congratulations to AJ! He successfully proposed work for his PhD dissertation project on selective, direct electrooxidations to his faculty committee. Excited to continue pursuing these exciting directions together!

Two new first year students from the Chemical Engineering PhD program have joined the group! Welcome!!

Simone is awarded an Academic Year Research Grant (AYURG) from Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Research! Her work will investigate modifications of catalyst ink preparation and electrode fabrication to improve durability for electrochemical water oxidation. Congrats Simone!

Brianna, Ruihan, AJ, Khantey, and Linsey traveled to Phoenix to give oral and poster presentations at AIChE. Senior undergraduate Khantey presented her work at both the AIChE Student Conference and the AIChE Annual Meeting! Congratulations to everyone on their hard work to collect and share these exciting results!

Jane’s collaborative paper with AJ highlights that glassy carbon, which is used ubiquitously as a substrate material for electrochemical water oxidation studies, is not electrochemically inert under relevant reaction conditions on the timescale of common stability tests. Critically, this can cause electrodes to exhibit performance losses that do not reflect the intrinsic stability of the actual catalyst material being investigated. In light of our findings, we underscore the usefulness of metrics, such as the S-number, to reflect intrinsic catalyst material stability.

Brianna’s paper reports on her work developing and applying a pH probe to assess local reaction environment conditions with performance metrics for a carbon catalyst driving oxygen reduction towards production of hydrogen peroxide.

Congratulations Brianna!

Brianna presented her work in the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (I&EC) Division Graduate Student Award Symposium and Jane received the CATL-ChemCatBio Graduate Student Travel Award from the Catalysis Science and Technology Division.

Congratulations Ladies!

Matt is co-first author with Dr. Kyu-Young Park of Professor Hersam’s group on a paper that shares an approach for improving durability and mitigating Pt loss from polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell cathodes. Graphene nanoplatelets suppress Pt dissolution and agglomeration, while providing defect sites for redeposition of Pt upon cycling to improve performance in accelerated stress tests operated in both diagnostic rotating disc electrode and applied membrane electrode assembly setups.

Congratulations Matt!

Bing’s paper reports on his work synthesizing a novel oxynitride perovskite material that overcomes significant challenges in stabilizing a late transition metal (Ir) in the presence of nitrogen and oxygen anions. This Ir-incorporated SrW(O,N)3 is also highly active for the hydrogen evolution reaction, surpassing the precious metal mass activity of Pt by 4.5x!

Congratulations Bing!

Simone, a rising sophomore in Chemical Engineering, joins the group! She will be investigating short- and long-term stability of various electrode supports under reaction conditions. Welcome and looking forward to a great summer!

Robby’s paper reports on his work investigating strontium copper oxide catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction that stabilize undercoordinated Cu sites under reductive, alkaline reaction conditions in a gas diffusion electrode flow cell and achieve 53% Faradaic efficiency towards products with two or more carbons at −0.83 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Congratulations Robby!

Ecstatic to share that Kenzie Sanroman, the first undergrad to join the Seitz Lab at Northwestern, will be graduating this spring and has just committed to pursue her PhD at Stanford. Kenzie is also a recent recipient of a well-deserved NSF GRFP! Congratulations Kenzie! We look forward to watching and supporting your exciting accomplishments ahead!!

Linsey presented on climate change mitigation and electrochemistry-based clean energy technologies for WISER’s Winter Discussion Social.

WISER (Women in Science and Engineering Research) is a graduate student organization at Northwestern that helps to build community among graduate women in STEM fields. Check out their website and other great events here!

Linsey appreciates the invitation and always enjoys interacting with women and allies in STEM.

Several members of the Seitz group presented an overview of renewable energy technologies driven by electrochemistry, demonstrated a fuel cell remote control car, and worked with visiting high school students to try their own electrochemistry experiment during the annual Career Day for Girls outreach event at Northwestern. This is the largest on-campus outreach event for Northwestern’s SWE (Society of Women Engineers); it hosts >300 middle / high school students from Chicagoland for engineering activities, speakers, and lab tours.

Check out the website for Northwestern’s undergraduate chapter of SWE to learn more about their other events and initiatives!

Linsey is honored and grateful to share that she received an NSF CAREER award from ENG/CBET/Catalysis to support research into new catalyst materials that enable use of renewable energy for sustainable hydrogen production. She is thrilled to be doing this work with her fantastic team of postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers and is feeling very appreciative of those who have supported her along her journey!

Check out the highlight article in Northwestern’s Engineering News.

We are always happy to celebrate and lift up individuals with marginalized identities in STEM. Proud of the Seitz Lab ladies and their accomplishments – past, present, and future!

Congratulations to Robby! He successfully proposed work for his PhD dissertation project on exploring new materials, tuned electrode structures, and novel chemistries involving CO2 reduction to his faculty committee. Excited to continue pursuing these exciting directions together!

Linsey presented work from the group focusing on “Tuning Dynamic Materials and Systems for Electrocatalytic Processes” to the Catalysis Club of Chicago, a Member of the North American Catalysis Society.

Khantey is awarded an Academic Year Research Grant (AYURG) from Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Research! Her work will investigate modifications of gas diffusion electrodes to optimize performance and durability for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. Congrats Khantey!

Jane presents her recent work at the inaugural Catalysis Club of Chicago Young Scientist Symposium, a meeting that highlights research performed by students and postdoctoral researchers in the CCC Geographic area. Her talk focused on glassy carbon substrate degradation under acidic OER conditions and its impact on benchmarked stability testing of Ir-based OER catalysts.

Congratulations to Ruihan! She successfully proposed work for her PhD dissertation project on modifying metal oxide catalysts and exploring their dynamic responses and degradation mechanisms under reaction conditions for acidic water oxidation. Excited to continue pursuing these exciting directions together!

Congratulations to Kavi! She successfully proposed work for her PhD dissertation project on co-electroreduction of COx with small carbon species to make use of combined waste streams and produce novel products. Excited to continue pursuing these exciting directions together!

Brianna, Kavi, Ruihan, Jane, and Linsey were able to travel to Boston for the in person week of AIChE to give their oral presentations. Robby will participate in the virtual week of AIChE to give his oral presentation. Congratulations to everyone on their hard work to collect and share these exciting results!

The Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (CRE) Division of AIChE has established a new awards session of invited talks for early career scientists and researchers. This inaugural session recognized five early career pioneers working in CRE and invited them to give talks on their work and experiences.

Scialogs are “Science Dialogs” hosted by RCSA and Sloan Foundation. The initiative challenges invited participants to explore how to advance fundamental science in the design of novel approaches for removing and utilizing or sequestering greenhouse gases. These meetings always spark great conversations and fun ideas to explore with other early career scientists! See more info here!

After completing a successful research project working collaboratively in Prof. Dunn’s and our groups through the Northwestern Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP), Elizabeth Wall presented her work at the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium at Rice University and was awarded “Best Presentation Environmental.” Congratulations Elizabeth!!

Jane characterized an oxide derived cobalt catalyst that exhibits 11% solar-to-fuel efficiency for electrochemical ammonia synthesis from nitrate. Prof. Meenesh Singh (UIC) led this newly published work in collaboration with Prof. Joseph Gauthier (Texas Tech), Dr. Aayush Singh (Dow Chemical Company), the Seitz group, and others!

Jane’s paper reports on her work of tuning iridate perovskites to probe electronic and geometric structure changes along with degradation mechanisms for electrochemical water oxidation in acid. Congratulations Jane!

Khantey and Elias join the group. Both of their majors are chemical engineering. Khantey is a rising 3rd year undergrad student; Elias is a rising 2nd year.

Welcome to Khantey and Elias!

Brianna gave an oral presentation of her work today at the Catalysis Club of Chicago 2021 Symposium! Her talk was titled “Probing Relationship Between Bulk and Local Environments to Understand Impacts on Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Reaction”.

Jane, Kavi, Matt, and Robby also presented posters during this 2-day event.

Matt celebrated Earth Day by presenting his work on SrIrO3 thin films as an oral talk at the MRS Spring Meeting. This is his first presentation at a national conference!

Congratulations to Matt for successfully passing his qualifying exam and defending his proposed work before his faculty committee! With him, all members of the inaugural class of Seitz Lab members have achieved this milestone!

With the new year, we welcome Bing to the Seitz Lab! Bing joins us as a postdoctoral researcher after completing his PhD at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Today we celebrated the holidays virtually! Festivities included COVID-safe secret santa gift exchange (see gifts below) and the web game Among Us. Hopefully with mask-wearing and vaccinations (when available) we can celebrate the holidays in person next year!

Congratulations for Brianna for passing her qualifying exam! She proposed her PhD dissertation project to her faculty committee and successfully handled their tough questions!

Welcome to AJ and Haifeng! AJ is first year PhD student in Chemical Engineering, and Haifeng comes to us from the University of Illinois at Chicago as a postdoctoral researcher.

Congratulations to Jane! She successfully proposed work for her PhD dissertation project to her faculty committee on Monday, becoming the first Seitz Lab member to earn the title of PhD Candidate.  After a well-deserved break, she’ll have a lot of work to do!

The CATALYSIS CLUB OF CHICAGO held its annual symposium in a virtual format this year. The Seitz group was proud to contribute four presentations over the course of the two-day symposium. Jane Edgington gave an oral presentation and a poster on her work with doping strontium iridates for the oxygen evolution reaction in acid. Brianna Ruggiero presented a poster on tandem reactors for electrochemical peroxide production towards selective oxidation reactions. Kenzie Sanroman presented a poster on direct electro-oxidation of alcohols to value-added products.

Congrats to Matt for being awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship through the Army Research Office at the Department of Defense! He was also named an honorable mention for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

Professor Seitz presented her research at the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science Seminar on campus in March. The center is part of the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern.

Brianna, Jane, Kavi, and Kenzie joined Professor Seitz in the lab during Northwestern’s 49th annual Career Day for Girls. One hundred thirty-nine girls from local middle and high schools took part in the activity, sponsored by Northwestern’s SWE chapter, where they learned about electrochemistry in the Seitz Lab by electrodepositing nickel and copper onto pennies and nickels.

Kavi Chintam and Robby Lu have joined the group! Welcome!!

The Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) has funded our research seed proposal for stabilizing novel perovskite oxynitrides. We are looking forward to delving into this exciting project in collaboration with MRSEC faculty!

A seed grant with co-PI Niall Mangan funded by Northwestern’s Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience was featured on their blog! Check out their latest post titled, “CESR Seed funding supports new collaboration to study sustainable chemistry in electrocatalytic reactors” at

https://www.engineeringsustainability.northwestern.edu/news-events/blog.html

Jane visited the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Labs to conduct Extended X-Ray Adsorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) measurements on a set of her catalyst samples.

Ruihan Li, a Master’s student in Chemical and Biological Engineering, has joined the group! Welcome, Ruihan!

Kenzie Sanroman, a sophomore in Chemical and Biological Engineering, has joined the group! Welcome, Kenzie!

Prof. Seitz attended the ACS conference in San Diego to give an invited talk on “Iridate Perovskites as
Highly Active Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Conditions.” Prof. Seitz also co-organized a successful symposium on “Electrocatalysis for Energy Generation and Storage” in the Division of Catalysis Science and Technology.

The entire group attended NAM26 in Chicago, where Prof. Seitz presented her work on “Iridate Perovskites as Highly Active Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Splitting in Acidic Conditions.” Prof. Seitz was also part of the conference planning committee, serving as co-chair for the Poster Program which took place over three evenings and included presentation of over 650 posters.

Congratulations to Jane for her selection as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow!

The group had our first beamtime at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab. We used EXAFS to investigate the structure of some of our newest catalyst materials.

In December 2018, Brianna Ruggiero, Jane Edgington, and Matt Sweers joined the group, becoming Prof. Seitz’s first students!

Renovation on the lab space is complete! Now it’s time to fill it up with equipment and researchers!