Rachel Woods-Robinson
Rachel Woods-Robinson (she/her) is a CEI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, with a collaborative appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Dr. Woods-Robinson’s research focuses on assessing environmental and human impacts of scaling solar photovoltaic (PV) materials and other emerging technologies to address the climate crisis. Her research interests span from the nanoscale, such as sustainable materials discovery of new crystals for renewable energy, to the terawatt scale, such as strategies to scale photovoltaics to 2050 net-zero goals. She is mentored by Alberta “Birdie” Carpenter at NREL, is hosted at the UW by David Ginger, and collaborates with industrial partners. Dr. Woods-Robinson received her Ph.D. in...
Douglas A. Reed
Assistant Professor of Chemistry The Reed lab makes microporous materials - solids with molecule-sized pores and atomically thin walls that result in very high surface areas. While typical microporous materials are made with rigid and insulating walls, our group utilizes new types of chemical bonds that are flexible or conductive, making the resultant structures amenable for efficient greenhouse gas capture, water purification, energy storage, or alternative energy production. Email | Website...
Juan Antonio Vazquez Marquez
My current research in professor Al Nelson’s lab is focused on utilizing photoinitiated base-catalyzed polymerizations in vat photopolymerizations. Photobase generators could enable the use of a broader scope of monomers in vat photopolymerization. The resin I am currently developing uses an ionic liquid as the diluent which imparts the printed object ionic conductivity. This ionic conductivity allows for the material to function as a separation membrane in batteries. In the future, I plan to incorporate lithium salts to use this material in a semi-solid lithium battery. Developing new energy storage systems is important for the transition towards a clean energy grid....
Morgan Skala
Morgan is a third-year chemistry graduate student working in the Golder lab. Her work currently focuses on mechanochemical upcycling of polystyrene (PS) waste into trifluoromethylated PS and sulfonated PS for applications in OFETs and PEDOT:PSS organic conductors. Outside of lab, she likes to explore coffee shops in Seattle, crochet, and go to concerts....
Devin Rollins
I am a third year Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry. I study hybrid organic-inorganic materials in the lab of Professor Dianne Xiao where my research is focused on templating acid–base bifunctional sites in metal–organic framework (MOF) pores for cooperative catalysis, and ultimately developing robust catalysts for applications in biomass upgrading. I currently serve on the Chemistry Diversity and Equity Steering Committee, and hope to expand my outreach efforts with the Clean Energy Institute....
Robert Love
I am a third-year graduate student in the Velian lab, were my research focuses on utilizing atomically-precise inorganic clusters, M3Co6Se8L6 (M = transition metal, L = Ph2PN(-)Tol) for the synthesis of site-differentiated clusters with different edge metals and as superatomic building blocks for the self-assembly of materials. The different edge metal identities on the site-differentiated cluster, M3-xM’xCo6Se8L6, will be leveraged for differential reactivity, such as for cascading catalysis. The self-assembly of materials using these clusters can be achieved by using polytopic organic and inorganic linkers to link the clusters together, and by utilizing two different clusters to form binary charge-transfer solids....
Can Liao
I am a 4th year chemistry Ph.D. student at the University of Washington working under Xiaosong Li. My research focuses on developing fast and accurate computational models to study molecular systems using quantum mechanics and special relativity. I use these models to aid the design of solar cells by improving conversion efficiency. Outside of academic life, I am a US Army Reserve Civil Affairs Officer acting as a liaison between civilian and military authorities in the Asia-Pacific region....
Helen Larson
Precise synthesis of quantum dots, rods, and wires with tunable light emission enables energy efficient optoelectronic technologies, and indium phosphide (InP) is a promising replacement for highly toxic cadmium- or lead-containing semiconductors. My research as a fourth year graduate student in the Cossairt Lab focuses on mechanistic understanding of InP nanocrystal synthesis with less toxic precursors and lower energy input. I am investigating my recent discovery of a new synthesis for InP nanorods requiring lower energy input and fewer precursors than existing syntheses. I aim to establish design rules to grow nanorods with diameters around 5 and 500 nanometers to study their exciting photoluminescence...
Jessica Kline
I graduated from Michigan State University in 2021 with a BS in Chemistry. I am currently a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry working in David Ginger's lab. My research focuses on studying the surface chemistry of perovskite quantum dots using single-particle microscopy. In my spare time I enjoy reading, biking and hiking....
Grant Dixon
My name is Grant Dixon and I am a third year chemistry graduate student working in the lab of Dr. Brandi Cossairt. My research utilizes synthetic chemistry to study the photophysical behavior of colloidal nanocrystals as a function of chemical transformations on surfaces and across interfaces. Colloidal nanocrystals are of interest for next-generation, high-efficiency lighting technologies due to their size-dependent and surface-sensitive optical properties. Realizing these technologies at scale requires precise, deterministic synthetic developments that afford desired photophysical outcomes, which are historically lacking. I am approaching this problem through the synthesis of atomically-precise nanocrystal molecules with rigid ligand networks to resolve the influence of ligand dynamics and diffusion with high atomic-fidelity, and...
Connor Dalton
My research is broadly focused on synthetic methods of introducing porosity to semiconducting or magnetically ordered materials. More specifically I focus on the incorporation of silsesquioxane 'pillars' between layers of two-dimensional perovskites. Introducing porosity into perovskites increases surface area for applications in energy storage and catalysis and allows for post-synthetic modification through intercalation of small molecules. Advisor: Doug Reed — Chemistry...
Rachel Tenney
I am studying perovskite-type chromium compounds that show intrinsic two-dimensional magnetism and exhibit unique absorption properties for applications including magnetic storage, spintronics, quantum computing, and magnetic switching. My project involves the synthesis of the hybrid organic/inorganic compounds, post-synthetic modification of these compounds through anion exchange, optical measurements that focus on variable-temperature absorption, and exfoliation with the goal of building novel heterostructures. Advisor: Daniel Gamelin - Chemistry...