Welcome to
The Slowing Group
​
at Iowa State University
​
and the Ames Laboratory
Where in the world do we come from?
PhD
Pranjali Naik
PhD 2021
Pranjali studied the non-innocent behavior of ceria based materials in catalytic hydrodeoxygenation and hydordehalogenation with H2 and with alcohols as sacrificial hydrogen donors. She explored the role of ceria surface termination on catalytic activity and developed hierarchical multicatalytic materials for tandem conversions.
After graduation Pranjali joined Isola group as a Senior Chemist.
13 Publications with the group: 55, 57, 59, 60, 74, 75, 82, 83, 84, 88, 89, 90, 92.
Dilini Singappuli-Arachchige
PhD 2019
Dilini developed methodology to control and measure local dielectric constants and pH at mesoporous silica-water interfaces, and used them to produce materials that enhance the performance of supported catalysts in aqueous media.
Dilini is now working as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Marit Nielsen-Hamilton doing molecular biology research.
7 Publications with the group: 44, 52, 56, 68, 72, 76, 79.
J. Sebastián Manzano
PhD 2018
Sebastián initiated our 3D printing program. He developed a family of bifunctional resins that yielded chemically active 3D printed architectures via stereolithography. He demonstrated that catalytic activity can be regulated by macroscale topology.
Sebastián joined the University of Glasgow, UK as a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on applications of 3D printing and artificial intelligence to chemistry.
14 Publications with the group: 43, 52, 54, 57, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 73, 78, 80, 82, 85.
Nicholas C. Nelson
PhD 2016
Nick developed high surface area ceria materials, investigated their structural properties, surface chemistry, vacancy formation and surface functionalization. He applied these materials to the hydrogenation of phenolics under mild reaction conditions.
Nick worked then as a Postdoc with Janos Szanyi at Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory, and is now a Senior Research Chemist at Clariant Corporation.
13 Publications with the group: 38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 46, 48, 53, 54, 55, 57, 60, 69.
Kapil Kandel
PhD 2013
Kapil worked in the mechanistic investigations of the heterogeneous aldol condensation catalyzed by amines on MSNs, and in the assembly of single pot tandem multicatalytic systems. He also investigated Ni, Fe and Cu supported within the pores of MSNs for hydrotreating fatty acids to produce chemicals and fuels.
Soon after graduation, Kapil was hired at ExxonMobil where he is currently a Senior Research Chemist.
13 Publications with the group: 17, 18, 26, 28, 31-35, 37-39, 41. 2 Patents: 2,3.
On the way to the PhD
Puranjan Chatterjee
Joined in November 2018, and upon group closure in 2022 transition to the Huang group to finalize his projects. Puranjan investigated the effects of surface ligands on the electronic properties and catalytic behavior of supported nanoparticles, and developed microporous materials for the selective adsorption of rare earths.
5 Publications with the group: 90, 91, 93, 94, 95.
MS
Bosky Parikh
MS 2017
Bosky synthesized Nitrogen-doped Ordered Mesoporous Carbons and periodic mesoporous organosilicas for use as catalyst supports and drug delivery systems.
Bosky works now as a senior research associate at Cabot Microelectronics Corporation.
1 Publication with the group: 68.
Umesh Chaudhary
MS 2016
Umesh synthesized and studied catalysts for fatty acid hydrotreatment, ordered mesoporous carbons via hard templation and development of solid matrices for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhanced solid state NMR.
Umesh works as an Inorganic Chemist at Sasol (Louisiana branch).
8 Publications with the group: 38, 39, 46, 48, 51, 58, 65, 66.
Chorthip "Chip" Peeraphatdit
MS 2010
Chip worked in the synthesis and characterization of superparamagnetic nanoparticles embedded within mesoporous materials, and their application to catalytic and biological problems.
2 Publications with the group: 17, 18.
She is currently a Chemistry Team Leader at Particle Technology Labs.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Yuchen Pei
2018 - 2019
Yuchen synthesized hierarchical nanostructures for studying controlled polymer deconstruction.
2 Publications with the group: 75, 87.
He is now working at Intel.
Dr. Shaojiang Chen
2020 - 2021
Shaojiang worked on developing approaches for controlling nanoparticle catalysts in porous media with the ultimate goal of deconstructing polymers.
1 Publication with the group: 90.
Dr. Hui Zhou
2017 - 2018
Hui developed catalytic methods for the degradation of raw lignin and conversion of its derivatives into KA oil under mild conditions.
2 Publications with the group: 81, 82.
He is now a professor at Tsingua University.
Dr. Naftali Opembe
2013 - 2015
Naftali worked in methods for synthesis of doped ordered mesoporous carbons, investigating structural evolution of the materials during their synthesis and their application in catalysis.
3 Publications with the group: 41, 66, 69.
Naftali works doing catalyst development at Nexceris, LLC.
Lindy Sherman
Spring 2015 - Summer 2016
Lindy, Chemistry major, worked with Dilini in controlling and measuring the local polarity of functionalized MSNs.
After graduating from ISU Lindy went for graduate school at Notre Dame University.
1 Publication with the group: 52.
Justin Farrell
Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Summer 2016
Justin, a Physics major, worked with Sebastián Manzano in developing high surface inks for 3D printing.
Amber Heintz
Summer 2016
Amber, a Chemistry major, worked with Younghun studying confinement effects on chemical reactions in nanopores.
Prof. Fengxiang "Frank" Han
Jackson State University
Summer 2014
Undergraduate Interns
Summer 2018
Bevan Whitehead
Vassar College.
Annie Zhang
University of Texas at Austin.
Spring 2018
Jamie John Mana-ay
Houston Area Community College
Summer 2017
Megan Schlinsog
Southern Adventist University
Summer 2016
Pearl Jean
Kennesaw State University
Nicolas De La Cruz
Marshalltown Community College
Summer 2015
Vanna Blasczak
Stetson University
Ishankumar Soni
Kutztown University
Fall 2014
Summer 2014
Jamie Nowalk
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania
Summer 2013
Jennifer Kurtz
Lake Forest College
Spring 2013
Summer 2012
Conerd K. Frederickson
Hendrix College
Lam Nguyen
Lansing Community College
Phuong MC "Lucy" Luong
Dartmouth College
Megan Jewell
West Virginia University
Undergraduate Students
Hsin Cindy Wang
Spring 2017 - Spring 2019
Cindy, B.S. in Chemistry with minor in Food Science worked with Sebastián on 3D printing of chemically active materials, studies of nanoparticle functionalization and gold catalysis.
5 Publications with the group: 78, 81, 82, 83, 85.
Trang Bui
Spring 2015
Trang, major in Chemistry, worked with Umesh in catalytic fatty acid hydrogenations.
Visiting Scholars
Prof. Shi Wei
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
2018 - 2019
Prof. Ma "Mager" Zhonghua
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
2014 - 2015
Dr. Jacqueline Pires Ruiz
University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
2014 - 2015
1 Publication with the group: 65.