Catalysis research aims to characterize and control chemical transformations that are of critical importance for benefitting society. Since a catalyst is any substance that accelerates a chemical reaction, without itself being consumed in the process, a wide range of our faculty with diverse skills and interests participate in catalysis research. From synthesizing new molecules and materials for a variety of applications to developing new catalysts that speed up known reactions or make new reactions possible, teams of researchers in UW Chemistry are pushing the boundaries of catalytic discovery. The ability to synthesize new compounds at will enables numerous applications across physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and medicine, such as the detailed study of biological systems, the development of new drugs and systems for drug delivery, cheaper and cleaner methods for harvesting, storing and transporting energy, and more powerful modes of data storage and computing. Workforce demand in the public and private sectors continues to be a compelling motivation for training in the interdisciplinary area of catalysis. To learn more about what our Department is contributing to the future of catalysis research and how you can get involved, please explore the faculty profiles and research resources presented below.
Research Strengths
- Bioinspired Catalysis (Gelb, Kovacs, Maly, Nelson, Spiro, Xiao, Zalatan)
- Electrocatalysis (Campbell, Cossairt, Schlenker, Xiao, Zhang)
- Heterogeneous Catalysis (Campbell, Golder, Nelson, Schlenker, Velian, Xiao, Zhang)
- Photocatalysis (Cossairt, Gamelin, Schlenker)
- Reaction discovery and Mechanisms (Campbell, Chatterjee, Gelb, Golder, Kovacs, Lalic, Michael, Velian, Xiao, Zalatan)
Highlighted Resources
- PNNL Institute for Integrated Catalysis and Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis
- Institute for Protein Design (IPD)
- Clean Energy Institute (CEI)
- Molecular Analysis Facility (MAF)
- Hyak Shared Scalable Compute Cluster for Research
- Departmental facilities for EPR, Mass Spectrometry, NMR, and X-ray Crystallography
