Alexis Grimaud, Boston College "Empowering Energy Storage with New Chemistries" Abstract: Imparting materials and liquid electrolytes with novel (electro)chemical functionalities lies at the forefront of advances of energy storage and conversion devices, including rechargeable batteries and electrolyzers. However, translating novel materials into practical devices requires precise control over chemical reactions at the solid/liquid interface, interface which is inherently dynamic in time, space and applied potential. We recently demonstrated that, through an electrolyte engineering approach, transition metal halides previously deemed too […]

Mercedes Taylor, University of Maryland College Park "Designing Confinement: Cages, Networks, and Frameworks" Abstract: Intensifying water scarcity and climate change demand new approaches to aqueous separations, particularly the separation of trace contaminants from drinking water and the capture of 'critical metals' from wastewater sources. The Taylor lab at the University of Maryland uses the tools of supramolecular […]

Abraham Nitzan, University of Pennsylvania "Dynamical implications of transport in chiral environments" Abstract: In molecular and condensed matter physics, chirality is defined as the lack of some symmetries in the molecular equilibrium structure (most simply described as the inability to overlap a structure with its mirror image). Manifestations in dynamical phenomena, long known in spectroscopy, […]

Hai Yang, University of California Santa Barbara "An Enzymatic Lens on natural product biosynthesis and biocatalysis" Abstract: Natural product biosynthetic enzymes occupy an inherently generalist and highly evolvable catalytic landscape, making them uniquely powerful platforms for discovering new chemistry. In this seminar, I will highlight our recent work elucidating the biosynthetic pathways of fungal izidine alkaloids, including swainsonine and loline, which reveal […]