Colloquium Series: Catalysis for Renewable Fuels (Dr. Jenny Yang, University of California – Irvine)

Join us on Zoom for our Colloquium Series. Dr. Jenny Yang from the University of California – Irvine will be joining us to present “Catalysis for Renewable Fuels.”

Abstract: My group is focused on developing molecular catalysts for energy conversion (redox) reactions. The thermochemistry for key bond-making and -cleavage steps for H+ reduction to H2 and CO2 reduction to HCO2-, and how to apply these properties to elicit product selectivity will be discussed. Our recent work in this area has led to the discovery of a catalyst that reversibly catalyzes CO2 reduction and HCO2- oxidation. Reversible reactivity is a property that had previously only been observed in the formate dehydrogenase enzymes, and indicates the catalyst is operating near the thermodynamic potential, or very low overpotential.

Biography: Jenny Yang received her BS at UC Berkeley (research with Professor Jeffrey R. Long) and completed her doctoral studies at MIT under the guidance of Professor Daniel G. Nocera. After her postdoctoral position with Dr Daniel L. Dubois at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, she was hired as a research scientist in the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis. After a subsequent position as a scientist at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, she started her current position as a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine. She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2019 and Professor in 2021.

To register, please contact Melissa Gammon at mkgammon@email.UNC.edu.