Group News

2025

November

• Check out our most recent paper in ACS Applied Mater. Interfaces, "Potential-controlled deposition of multilayer CO2 reduction catalyst films on silicon photoelectrodes demonstrate thickness-dependent catalytic rates". Congrats to Taylor, Tre, David, Andre and Alexis!

October

• Congrats to David on his successful research seminar presentation on "Enhancing hybrid photoelectrodes with optically transparent carbon".

• Congrats to Rayshell on her successful research seminar presentation on "Assessing Toxicological Effects of PFAS Exposure on In Vitro Liver Models".

August

• Welcome to our newest lab members, Donovan and Kalon!

July

• Congratulations Dr. Orr on a successful Ph.D. defense!

• Damaris completed her summer research project in the lab, thanks to support from the NIH-funded EDGE Program in Genomics!

June

• Check out Andre’s latest paper in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. This work was part of the CHASE Center and in collaboration with the Castellano and Cahoon Labs. Congrats Andre and Taylor on our newest paper!

May

• Matt’s scientific journey was highlighted in Annual Reviews of Analytical Chemistry, in "Roots of Innovation in Analytical Chemistry". A warm thank you to the authors of this article for including our lab in this list of awe-inspiring Analytical Chemistry faculty.  

• We are excited to celebrate the graduation of Anna, Ociel, and the Carolina Class of 2025!  

• Damaris is awarded the Jackson-Chapel Research Fellowship and will continue working on her research project over the summer. Congrats!​

April

• Congrats to Tre and David on completing their (successful) literature seminars!

• Congrats to Ryan on passing his oral exam!

• Congrats to Anna on the successful defense of her Honors thesis (she will receive highest honors at graduation)!!!

March 

• Congrats to Ryan and former lab members Abel, Ian, and Pearl on their latest paper in Toxicological Sciences!

• Check out our latest collaborative work in JACS with the Cahoon Lab (as part of CHASE).  Congrats to Taylor on this recent publication!

• Labapalooza for the surfaces side of the lab at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego with:

  • Alexis and Andre presented talks!​

  • Anna, David, and Tre presented posters!

• Tre presents "Electrochemical Performance of Hybrid Photoelectrode Architectures Prepared by Electrografting Mono- or Multilayer Aryl Diazonium Films onto Silicon Surfaces"  at the Critical Materials Symposium at UNC Greensboro

February

• Congrats to Rayshell on a successful literature seminar, "Incorporation of Microchips for the DNA Damage Detection of Genotoxic Chemicals".

• Congrats to Jose on passing his qualifying exam!!

• The lab participated in a Cancer and the Environment Workshop organized by CEHS for North Carolina High School Teachers.

January

• Alexis presented "Probing the Interface: Work Function Mapping of Molecular Films on Silicon Photoelectrodes for CO2 Reduction" as part of the Carolina Chemistry Student Seminar Series.    

• Welcome to our newest lab members Landon and Ociel

​December

• Andre presented two talks at the African MRS Conference at the University of Rwanda in Kigali!

November

• Welcome to our newest lab member, Evan!

• Congratulations to David for passing his qualifying exam!

October

• Alexis presented a poster on her work "Spatially resolved surface potential measurements of electrografted diazonium films on silicon photoelectrodes" at the Celebration of Women+ in Chemistry  event on campus . 

• ​​David presented "Quantifying sp(2) content in carbon-based optically transparent electrodes using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy" at the Kratos XPS User's Meeting. 

September

• Check out this article in UNC Endeavors featuring Anna and her summer research experience at Eastman! She will be giving autographs at a later date.

• Welcome to our newest lab member, Damaris!

August

• Congrats to Talyor, Alexis, and Andre on their latest CHASE collaborative paper in Langmuir!

• Check out Abel’s new collaborative work with the Oldenburg Lab, which was published in Biomed. Optics Express. 

July

• Three new papers this month, thanks to the hard work of former members Zack, Lisa K. Abel, Tom, and Tyler! Check out our new papers in Hardware X, Lab on a Chip, and Analyst. 

June

• Tre helped train future electrochemists at the CV Bootcamp that Profs. Dempsey and Jackson organize each summer. Details on the program can be found here (link). 

• We are sad to see Taylor go, but are excited for her next adventure as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Vassar College.  Congrats on your new position, Taylor! 

May

• Congratulations to Tre for passing his orals exam! 

April

• Congratulations to Rayshell for passing her orals exam! 

• ​​Congratulations to Rayshell, who received an honorable mention for her NSF GRFP application! The UNC Chemistry students recognized this year can be found here (link).

March

• Congratulations to Sarina for passing her orals exam! 

• Anna relaunched the ACS Student Affiliates chapter at Carolina!

• Congratulations to Andre on his successful talk at the ACS National Meeting in New Orleans!

February

• Alexis, Andre, Tre, and Taylor present posters on their latest research and collaborations at the CHASE All Hands Meeting. 

• Congrats to Andre on completing his fourth-year research talk, entitled "Assessing the Performance and Stability of Nitrocyclocondensation Reactions on Silicon Electrodes".