Binghamton University Chemistry Department - Chemistry

Professor Whittingham Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Distinguished Professor M. Stanley Whittingham and two others awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for development of lithium-ion batteries.

The undergraduate program in chemistry offers BA and BS degrees with a BS/American Chemical Society certification option and with BS/emphases in biological and materials chemistry. The graduate program offers MA, MS and PhD degrees for students who are innovative, competitive and highly motivated in the traditional areas of analytical, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry, as well as other relevant interdisciplinary subjects.

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Image: Professor Eriks Rozners — Professor Eriks Rozners

Eriks Rozners wins the 2021 Melville L. Wolfrom Award

Eriks Rozners, Professor and Chair of Chemistry has been selected to receive the 2021 Melville L. Wolfrom Award from the Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry, American Chemical Society. The Melville L. Wolfrom Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry and the field of carbohydrate chemistry. Professor Rozners will receive the award during the ACS National Meeting next March in San Antonio.

Dr. Hao Liu's group, in collaboration with Dr. Louis Piper and Dr. Manuel Smeu groups from Physics Department, has received a three-year NSF award (CBET-2028722, $605,209 in total) . This award, entitled "Rational Design of Oxide Cathode Coatings for High Performance Li-ion Batteries", will investigate the fundamental role of surface coating layers in battery electrodes. Surface coating is widely used as a practical method to improve the performance of Li-ion battery electrode, yet its impact on Li-ion transport and electrode-electrolyte interface stability is not well understood. The research will provide insight into atomic-level processes in order to guide the development of robust coating layers that can be scaled up into manufacturing-grade testing.

Dan Ciulla, first recipient of the prestigious John Eisch Summer Fellowship.

Congratulations to Dan Ciulla, 2nd year PhD student (Callahan Group), as the first recipient of the prestigious John Eisch Summer Fellowship. Following the example set forth by Professor Eisch, Dan is a dedicated scholar, tireless worker and fearless experimentalist. Dan fully embodies the theme of the John Eisch Summer Fellowship: Chemical Research Beyond Expectation.

Despite a relatively short time in our Chemistry PhD program, Dan already has 5 peer-reviewed publications, a list that includes two first-author publications, one in JACS and one in ChemComm, and a co-first author publication, also in JACS. Dan’s first-author paper in JACS was selected by the journal editors as the cover feature!

In his most recent work, Dan is applying the revolutionary CRISPR/Cas gene editing technology as a means toward discovering new and more effective cancer therapies. Dan’s newly created research tools have paved the way for an exciting collaboration focused on cancer drug discovery involving the Callahan lab and the National Institutes of Health.

Image: Maureen Kitheka — Maureen Kitheka

Chemistry Ph.D. student receives Frontera Computational Science Fellowship

Maureen Kitheka, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Goyal group, has been awarded a Frontera Computational Science Fellowship for 2020-2021 by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) in order to carry out research on charge transport in organic battery materials. As part of this fellowship, Maureen will receive 50,000 node-hours on Frontera, paid summer residence at TACC, training on the latest tools in advanced computing, and collaboration/networking opportunities. She will also receive an annual stipend of $34,000 and support for travel to a Frontera user community event and/or professional conference. For more information or department news, click here.

Image: Christof Grewer — Christof Grewer

Grewer Laboratory receives major NIGMS grant

Dr. Grewer's laboratory has been awarded a NIH grant (1 R15 GM135843-01, $450,480, three years) with the title "How to Combat Glutamate Release by Reverse Transport: Mechanistic Studies and Development of Selective Efflux Inhibitors." For more information, click here.

FEATURED PUBLICATION

Image: Applied Catalysis B — Applied Catalysis B

Dimitrov Group

The Dimitrov group reported on the development and application of all-electrochemically synthesized nanoporous (np) Au-Cu-Pt alloy thin film as catalysts for formic acid oxidation (FAO) reaction. The work emphasizes a pursuit of most efficient catalytic routes for the production of clean energy like by smart materials design at atomic level, involving controlled alloy electrodeposition followed by oxidative copper removal. For more information, click here.