N. Aaron Deskins

An article has been accepted on Mn3O4 pseudocapactive materials. doi:10.1002/cssc.201300027

The meeting in Pittsburgh was very good despite the hurricane! Several presentations were made based on work from the group. Juan received a Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division Travel Award (which included a very nice meal). He also gave a great talk at the meeting.

Prof. Deskins has been awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation, along with colleagues Drs. Xiaowei Teng of the University of New Hampshire and Anatoly Frenkel of Yeshiva University. The work will study Pd- and Ir-based alloys as potential ethanol oxidation catalysts in direct ethanol fuel cells.

Another publication has been accepted in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces entitled “Immobilization Mechanisms of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) to Hafnium Dioxide (HfO2) Surfaces for Biosensing Applications”. This study examines how DNA may bind to different HfO2 surfaces through phosphate interactions and is available at dx.doi.org/10.1021/am3013032

Thanks to Juan’s efforts, a new paper is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C. Juan examined electron transfer to adsorbed molecules over surfaces of ZrO2, HfO2, and TiO2. His work is important for understanding and predicting the surface chemistry over these metal oxides, especially how the surface reduction state can change surface processes. [...]

Recently the group attended the Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis in New London, NH. Juan, Elli, and Julien all presented posters on their research. We stuffed ourselves with food and enjoyed the scenic Colby-Sawyer campus while listening to leaders in the field of catalysis.    

Juan recently received the American Institute of Chemists graduate student award at Brandeis University. This is a prestigious award given to students “who demonstrate an outstanding record of achievement, ability, leadership, and character” (NEIC). Way to go Juan!  

A paper has recently been published by Professor Deskins in collaboration with his experimental colleagues (Xiaowei Teng at the University of New Hampshire and Dong Su at the Brookhaven National Laboratory). The paper reports on new Ir-Ru nanoparticle alloys for fuel cell anode catalysts. You can read the article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cs3002308 .