Graduate Students

SAFA KHAN
374 Rowland Hall 949-824-5776 (office) khanss@uci.edu B.S. Chemistry, University of Washington, 2008 B.S. Physiology, University of Washington, 2008 B.A. Near Eastern Studies: Languages and Civilizations, 2008

Safa’s project entails a multitude of techniques, such as Surface Tunneling Microscope (STM) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) to further understand the mechanistic details of heterogeneous catalyst reactions. Most recently, the thermal dehydrogenation of propylene and butylene adsorbed on Pt(111) has been studied under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions using STM.

Safa's Linkedin page

YONJOO (JAYDE) KWON
374 Rowland Hall 949-824-5776 (office) yonk@uci.edu M.S. Chemistry, University of Califonia, Irvine, 2009 B.S. Chemistry, University of Hawaii Manoa, 2008 B.A. French, B.A. Korean, 2008

Jayde grows iron oxide nanoparticles at the steps of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) using physical vapor deposition (PVD). She uses the nanoparticles as seeds to investigate the growth of pyrite thin films using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) setup located in the Law lab.

MARIJKE VAN SPYK
352 Rowland Hall 949-824-2738 (office) mvanspyk@uci.edu M.S. Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 2010 B.S. Chemical Biology, University of Calfornia, Berkeley, 2009

Marijke's research includes electron scattering studies of catalytic reaction mechanisms on platinum nanoparticles with oxide support using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). She also investigates the chemistry at the liquid/vapor interface of aqueous solutions relevant to atmospheric aerosols using a liquid jet and ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (LJ-XPS) technique.

Marijke's Linkedin page

YU LIU
352 Rowland Hall 949-824-2738 (office) liuy2@uci.edu B.S. Physics, National Tsing Hua University 2004 M.S. Physics, National Tsing Hua University 2006

My work is about using both in-lab and ambienet pressure synchrotron x-ray spectroscopies, such as x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), to study the surface and electronic structures of materials for energy and catalysis applications. Those materials include ordered TiO₂ nanoparticles and metals deposited on TiO₂ nanoparticles (Pt-TiO₂ and Au-TiO₂) for photocatalysis, pyrite thin film and flux grown single crystal for thin film solar cell, MnO₂ nanowires for electical energy storage, PbSe quantum dots for field-effect transistors, and CdTe nanowires for electroluminescence.

PAOLO REYES
370 Rowland Hall 949-824-5776 paolor@uci.edu B.S. Chemistry, University of Santa Cruz, 2011

Paolo is working on the co-photodeposition of platinum/gold onto titanium dioxide nanoparticles for surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. He is also developing an electrochemical cell to determine reaction mechanisms of our photodeposition and degrading organic substances, such as carbon dioxide or methylene blue, adsorbed on our titanium dioxide arrays.

MICHAEL JAMES MAKOWSKI
372 Rowland Hall 949-824-5776 mmakowski@uci.edu B.S. Chemistry, Temple University A.S. Science, Community College of Philadelphia

Mike investigates the interfacial regions of aqueous systems using MD simulations and is learning X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS).

ANTHONY BABORE
352 Rowland Hall 949-824-2738 ababore@uci.edu B.S. Chemistry, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 2012

Anthony is currently investigating the desorption behavior of D₂O on various metal oxides supported on HOPG using Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD).