Chemistry Department Faculty

Matthias Waegele

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Photo of Matthias Waegele

Matthias Waegele

Ph.D.

Contact

Merkert Center 202

Telephone: 617-552-4312

Email: matthias.waegele@bc.edu

Education

  • B.S., Technical University Munich
  • Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Research

Our research team addresses current challenges in heterogeneous catalysis for the synthesis of renewable fuels. While the establishment of phenomenological correlations between catalytic activity and reaction conditions has been the principal driving force for catalyst discovery, a design process more deeply rooted in an understanding of the molecular events occurring at the catalytic interface is desired. To this end, we develop and employ transient spectroscopies uniquely suited to probe interfacial chemical and charge-transfer dynamics. Using these techniques, we carry out spectroscopic case studies on carefully designed model systems to discover the molecular origins underlying catalytic reactivity and selectivity. We are particularly interested in the rich chemistry exhibited by electrified interfaces suitable for (photo-)catalytic water oxidation or carbon dioxide reduction.

Selected Honors and Awards

  • 2019 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
  • The 2012 John G. Miller Award for Most Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in the Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
  • Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship, (2004 - 2005), Indiana University, Bloomington

Representative Key Publications

  • Jingyi Li, Xiang Li, Charuni M. Gunathunge, and Matthias M. Waegele; Hydrogen Bonding Steers the Product Selectivity of Electrocatalytic CO Reduction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2019, 116, 9220-9229.
  • Charuni M. Gunathunge, Vincent J. Ovalle, Yawei Li, Michael J. Janik, and Matthias M. Waegele; Existence of an Electrochemically Inert CO Population on Cu Electrodes in Alkaline pH. ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 7507-7516.
  • Charuni M. Gunathunge, Vincent J. Ovalle , and Matthias M. Waegele; Probing Promoting Effects of Alkali Cations on the Reduction of CO at the Aqueous Electrolyte/Copper Interface. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2017, 19, 30166-30172.
  • Charuni M. Gunathunge, Xiang Li, Jingyi Li, Robert P. Hicks, Vincent J. Ovalle , and Matthias M. Waegele; Spectroscopic Observation of Reversible Surface Reconstruction of Copper Electrodes under CO2 Reduction. J. Phys. Chem. C 2017, 121, 12337-12344.
  • M.M. Waegele, X. Chen, D. Herlihy, T. Cuk; 鈥淗ow Surface Potential Determines the Kinetics of the First Hole Transfer of Photocatalytic Water Oxidation.鈥澨�J. Am. Chem. Soc.听2014,听136,听10632-10639.
  • M.M. Waegele, H.Q. Doan, T. Cuk; 鈥淟ong-Lived Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics of d-d Excitations in Spinel Ordered Co3O4.鈥澨�J. Phys. Chem. C听2014,听118,听3426-3432.
  • M.M. Waegele, F. Gai; 鈥淐omputational Modeling of the Nitrile Stretching Vibration of 5-Cyanoindole in Water.鈥澨�J. Phys. Chem. Lett.2010,听1,听781-786.
  • M.M. Waegele, F. Gai; 鈥淚nfrared Study of the Folding Mechanism of a Helical Hairpin: Porcine PYY.鈥澨�Biochemistry听2010,听49,听7659-7664.

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