College of Science » Chemistry-Seminars

The Giddings Lectures at the University of Utah
with Pat Unwin, University of Warwick

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: The Long and Winding Road to Nanoscale Electrochemistry

by Pat Unwin, University of Warwick
 

From the earliest days, electrochemists sought to visualise processes at electrochemical interfaces, and this remains true today; there is an increasing variety of microscopy techniques that have been developed to investigate electrodes and electrified interfaces in-situ and operando. In this lecture, I will describe how and why I became interested in scanned electrochemical probe microscopes, and how my lab developed scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) and a general platform for electrochemical imaging. I will discuss the highs and lows, some of the challenges – technological, scientific and cultural – and the path that eventually led to a versatile and robust platform and workflows that are now used in dozens of labs around the world. Key discoveries from SECCM in fundamental electrochemistry, (electro)catalysis, corrosion, and charge storage will be highlighted, and I shall outline future directions for this technique and its role in a new era of high throughput nanoscale electrochemistry.

The Giddings Lecture at the University of Utah
with Pat Unwin, University of Warwick

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: Tales of the Unexpected: The Continuing Story of Electrochemistry at Carbon Electrodes
by Pat Unwin, University of Warwick

Abstract:

A wide variety of carbon materials are used in electrochemistry, with diverse applications that include (bio)electroanalysis and sensors, batteries and fuel cells, and membranes. The family of carbon materials is broad, spanning sp² and sp³ materials, and includes 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene (and non-carbon analogues) and 3D graphite and conducting diamond, along with amorphous carbon and various composites. The electronic properties of each of these materials are further influenced by local structure and defects, method of preparation, and (for 1-D and 2-D materials) the conducting support, the number of layers, and their arrangement. Ultimately, all of these factors can influence interfacial charge transfer and electrochemistry.

In this lecture, I shall discuss our work in this area, which has provided significant new insights into structure-activity across a wide range of carbon materials and electrochemical processes. We combine high resolution electrochemical imaging data with information from other microscopy and spectroscopy techniques applied to the same area of an electrode surface, in a correlative-electrochemical microscopy approach, to produce highly resolved and unambiguous pictures of electrode activity at the nanoscale. The new models of electrochemistry offer surprises, overturn longstanding dogma, unify observations across length scales, and provide a foundation for future rational applications of carbon electrodes.

Host: Long Luo

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Andrew McNally, Colorado State University

In-person seminar
4630 TBBC 
4th floor Thatcher

Title: Chemistry for Medicinal Chemistry
with Andrew McNally, Colorado State University 

Abstract: Pyridines and diazines are ubiquitous in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, yet there are limits in synthetic methods that can directly functionalize the C–H bonds in these structures. We will show three distinct approaches, using phosphorus, ring-opened intermediates and deconstruction-reconstruction, that enable selective functionalization of these heterocycles into a range of valuable derivatives. A range of C–C and C–Heteroatom bond formations are viable, and the chemistry functions on structures typically encountered in drug discovery programs. Our lab has also performed mechanistic and computational studies of the regioselectivity of these reactions and the phosphorus ligand-coupling processes involved.

Host: Qilei Zhu

RPT Chemistry Seminar
with Connor Bischak, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Connor Bischak, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

Host: Aurora Clark

Physical/ Analytical Chemistry Seminar
with Martin Edwards, University of Arkansas

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Martin Edwards

Abstract: TBA

Host: Henry S. White

TFR Chemistry Seminar
with Ming Hammond, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Ming Hammond, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

Host: Aurora Clark

TFR Chemistry Seminar
with Ryan Looper, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Ryan Looper, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

Host: Aurora Clark