The Manthiram Lab has moved to Caltech!
NEWS
Finishing up introducing our current research group, we want to highlight our summer undergrad, Erin McMurchie! Erin is a 4th year undergraduate at the University of Cambridge with interests in renewable energy generation and sustainable fuels.
This is a very late welcome, but we’re thrilled to have James Wang @jamesbwang1 join our group! James is a rising second-year in chemical engineering @CaltechCCE and comes to us with experience in both industry and academia.
We’re so excited to welcome Jason Adams @JasonSAdams to the group as a postdoc! During his PhD, Jason performed thorough studies on the rate and selectivity of oxygen reduction to H2O2 over noble metal nanoparticles under different conditions.
The group has been growing at a rapid pace, so many intros coming over the next week! First off, we're thrilled to welcome Wesley Chang @wesleykchang to the group. Wes comes from the @steingart lab, where he worked on lithium metal batteries for his PhD.
Looking forward to being a part of this excellent department, and to doing science together! I'll be looking for a few PhD students and a Postdoc to help startup my battery research lab. Join us 🙂 https://lnkd.in/gqbP9maJ
We surprised our amazing PI @KManthiram with some presents for his incoming little one! Best of luck to you and @AmritaSaigal, Karthish - you'll be fantastic parents ⚡️
We are so excited to welcome the two newest members of our group, MS student Florian Grass @florian_grass and postdoc Rachel Baker @racheljbaker17!!
Huge congrats to Aditya Limaye @adityal on successfully defending his thesis, “Physical Models and Statistical Methods for Understanding Electrochemical Kinetics"! We were incredibly fortunate to have him in the group and are excited to follow what is sure to be a stellar career.
Thrilled to have you here!

Unreal first few days as a postdoc @Caltech 😊 @ManthiramLab @CaltechCCE
Highlighting a very important member of our lab today: Dr. Pikachu (accompanied by Thu @thu_ton_2, a shining first-year star in our lab)
Just 1 week to go for our upcoming CRE webinar organized jointly with @aicheypc! Register NOW to learn more about @KManthiram's work in #electrification and #decarbonization of chemical synthesis! @ManthiramLab @CaltechCCE @Caltech
https://aiche.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c-uA7JqGSGeMXLu8oLXCrw
New preprint up at @ChemRxiv! @kjsteinb et al. (in collab w/ amazing group of @YuzhangLi at @UclaCBE) used a variety of surface techniques - most notably cryo-EM - to probe the mechanism of electrochemical nitrogen reduction to ammonia using lithium.
Pictured: our group all smiles after meeting so many fantastic prospective students! We’d say recruitment day round 2 with @CaltechCCE was a rousing success 🔥
We're rocking the first in-person recruitment day since 2019 at @CaltechCCE! Fantastic to meet so many talented prospective students🤩 #ComeForTheWeatherStayForTheScience
A hearty congratulations to Dr. Kindle Williams @ReadMeLikeANook on her successful thesis defense! Her work is titled “Overcoming challenges of fundamental electrochemical kinetic studies under dilute-reagent conditions.” #KineticsAreCool #PhDone ⚡️
The pre-prints keep coming! @ZJSchiffer et al. have a new work on @ChemRxiv demonstrating inner-sphere electrochemical reductive amination of benzaldehyde to benzyl amine. Check it out!
https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/620e9c9f0aec1a0d6a2143b2
We want to officially welcome our new G1's in Chemistry at Caltech: Channing (@radicalchem), Thu (@thu_ton_2), and Chenyu (@ChenyuJ98)! It's great to have you all on the team! Here's to fulfilling and productive PhD journeys! 😀⚡⚗️
We have a new paper up on @ChemRxiv! @ReadMeLikeANook et al. demonstrate a method for measuring species activity using headspace-GC and find that the water dependence of HER changes rather drastically as a result. #ItsHERTime #WaterYouUpTo
https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/620c2c75a6fb4d0896573463
Belated congratulations to Dr. Nathan Corbin on his successful thesis defense! His work is titled "Electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to value-added chemicals." ⚡#Electrocarboxylation #PhDone
Our new preprint (@ManthiramLab), with co-authors @adityal, Trent, @chung_minju, & @KManthiram, is now up on @ChemRxiv!
https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/620c2c75a6fb4d0896573463
We show the importance of accounting for thermodynamic nonidealities in electrochemical kinetic studies!
A tweetorial 🧵... 1/16
New Publication in @ACSCentSci from Scott Affiliated Faculty Venkat Viswanathan(@venkvis) and @ManthiramLab
on designing electrolytes for Li-mediated NH3.
Read it here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.1c01151
Check out our latest paper! Nathan et al. show how to perform electrocarboxylation without sacrificial anodes by rational electrolyte design, a key milestone toward making the process sustainable and practical.
#MyFirstChemSci #OrganicElectrosynthesis
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/sc/d1sc02413b
NEW in @ChemicalScience 📣 Suppressing carboxylate nucleophilicity with inorganic salts enables selective electrocarboxylation without sacrificial anodes by Karthish Manthiram et al. at @ManthiramLab 😍
Read it here ➡️ http://ow.ly/j6l550FURJ4
We had a fun time this weekend hiking Mount Monadnock! Here we are at the very peak of the thermodynamic landscape of southern New Hampshire. #AllDownhillFromHere #HighEnergy #TransitionState #InsertWittyJokeAboutVolcanoPlots
.@manthiramlab’s @chung_minju & @Kmanthiram take inspiration from the use of operando x-ray spectroscopy to understand active sites in #MOFs for #electrocatalysis!
#MatterIssue26 Preview: https://bit.ly/3yJFsAT
@NatureEnergyJnl Research Article: https://go.nature.com/3lXTwTT
A huge congratulations to Zack Schiffer, the Manthiram Lab’s newly minted PhD! 🎓 Dr. Schiffer defended his thesis titled “Kinetic and Thermodynamic Aspects of Voltage as a Driving Force for Ammonia Activation” on Thursday.
Congratulations to Dr. Zack Schiffer on his thesis defense! Zack was a member of our 1st cohort of students - he established a clear vision for electrification of synthesis with a thermodynamic basis and new methods of generating C-N bonds, always blending theory and experiment.
Recently we had our fourth annual Manthiram Lab Candlepin Bowling Championship 🎳. @KManthiram had the high score - clearly he had been practicing at home during the pandemic! Wonderful to be able to restart this tradition in 2021!
Prof Karthish Manthiram named a 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar: http://ow.ly/z44c50Fa56G @KManthiram
It is a momentous occasion in the Manthiram Lab! We have minted our first-ever PhD! Congratulations to Dr. Nik Lazouski on successfully defending his thesis, "Development of a Lithium-Mediated Nitrogen Reduction Process."
Congratulations to Dr. Nik Lazouski on defending his thesis today! Nik, as a member of our 1st cohort of graduate students, established the area of lithium-mediated nitrogen reduction in our group, including achieving record-high rates of ammonia synthesis at ambient conditions.
Happy #InternationalWomensDay from the Manthiram Lab! We're here working toward sustainable chemical synthesis, advancing electrochemical fundamentals, making technoeconomic models, teaching, mentoring, and more, from UROPs all the way through 5th year PhD. #ILookLikeAnEngineer
Opening for a postdoc position (36 months) in our group! We are looking for someone with an electrochemistry/electrochemical engineering background to strengthen our #CO2 reduction efforts, more details in the add. RTs are appreciated! @Chemjobber @ElectrochemJobs @tudelft3mE https://twitter.com/AcademicTrnsfr/status/1364636230663757826
Postdoctoral researcher on electrochemical CO2 reduction to ethylene and ethanol https://www.academictransfer.com/298191/ @TUDelft
Now that all the dust has settled and everyone has safely returned to campus, we are excited to formally welcome all four of our new first-year grad students: Simar, Sayandeep, Trent, and Fang-Yu! Here's to the start of something great! #NotOurSnowman #ButStillSmiling #MaskedUp
Our paper on applying Bayesian statistics to Tafel data analysis is out in @NatureComms! You can read it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-20924-y
I’m going to attempt my first paper Tweetorial below: 1/11
Our work on the application of Bayesian statistics to Tafel Analysis in CO2 reduction is now peer-reviewed and in @NatureComms! @adityal crunched the numbers and found no preference for TS cardinality. Maybe you read it as a preprint? If not, check it out: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-20924-y
Great example of "office musings" yielding useful frameworks - Zack and @adityal take us another step toward understanding chemistry not as "either/or," EChem v. Thermochem, but as universally dependent upon multiple thermo variables. Out now in @Joule_CP! https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(20)30613-9
Online Now: Thermodynamic Discrimination between Energy Sources for Chemical Reactions from @ManthiramLab and @KManthiram http://dlvr.it/RqMYk5 #chemistry #energy #Joule #electrochemistry #thermodynamics
Huge congrats to Katie (@kjsteinb) for passing her thesis proposal! A bright future full of lithium chemistry awaits! #NitrogenReduction #BreakingBonds #TakingNames Pic credit may possibly go to Juniper the cat?? 🐱
We're stoked to welcome 3 new grad students to the team: Sayandeep, Simar, and Trent! Onboarding is not the same right now, but we're looking forward to learning and growing with you, & gradually ramping up research as public health measures allow! #VoltageBoost #LabExcitedState
This one has been a long time coming, but finally in the midst of #AIChE2020 it has arrived! @chung_minju demonstrates chlorine-mediated ethylene epoxidation in saline water. If you love high rates, high FEs, and industrially-relevant EChem, we got you: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acscatal.0c02810
We're at #AIChE2020! Come find us:
Mon: Carboxylation (Nathan)
Tue: O-atom Transfer (@KManthiram )
Wed: Thermodynamics of E Sources (Zack)
Thu: C-H Activation (@ReadMeLikeANook) & Amination (Zack)
Fri: CO2R Modeling (@js_zeng) & Bayesian Tafel Slope Analysis (@adityal)
We are hiring for the position of assistant professor; applications received before Dec. 1, 2020 will be giving priority. Find more info here: http://ow.ly/7LWa50CfXZQ
#Catalysis Club of Chicago 2020-21 Monthly speakers! #Theory and #Experiment, #Organometallics, #MOFs, #Zeolites, #Electrocatalysis—We've got it #all. Join us!
Congrats @ReadMeLikeANook and all of this year's CRE award winners!

We congratulate all twenty CRE Division #AIChE2020 meeting grant #Award winners!
We continue working on confinement to promote catalysis! Here, super talented faculty candidate @DiIorioCatalyst shows how ordered alcohol solvent networks confined in hydrophobic zeolite pores stabilize transition states. #zeolites @J_A_C_S https://twitter.com/DiIorioCatalyst/status/1321444121832267776
Check out our latest paper in @J_A_C_S! We show that hydrophobic zeolites order confined H-bonded alcohol networks and catalyze transfer hydrogenations faster than their hydrophilic counterparts. @Blake_Johnson39 @yuriy_roman http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.0c09825
Congrats to everyone on AIChE's 35 under 35, including our very own @KManthiram!
Learn about the work and lives of these 35 high-achieving chemical and biological engineers https://bit.ly/3iOyLpk #AIChE35Under35
Please RT. We are looking for #postdocs, who are interested in synthetic chemistry, #maingroupchemistry and luminescent materials. Email me (dtyang@nwpu.edu.cn) if interested.
pls RT: Registration is now open for the MIT ACCESS Program, a weekend-long symposium aimed to expose underrepresented minority students to the benefits of a graduate education in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science! http://access.mit.edu/
Honoured to be chairing the 1st @ChemPhysChem virtual symposium on CO2 reduction, on 29 September, especially with such an exciting lineup. Please sign up! @MariaEscEsc @KManthiram @fhi_mpg_de https://www.chemistryviews.org/details/event/11257056/1st_ChemPhysChem_Virtual_Symposium_on_CO2_Reduction.html
Our first ever preprint is now up on @ChemRxiv! @adityal re-examined several Tafel datasets from the CO2 reduction literature using Bayesian data analysis. Our takeaway: let's rethink how we use Tafel data in electrochemical mechanistic analysis! https://chemrxiv.org/articles/preprint/Bayesian_Data_Analysis_Reveals_No_Preference_for_Cardinal_Tafel_Slopes_in_CO2_Reduction_Electrocatalysis/12844715
Join our team! Interested in batteries for EVs and aircraft? Our @ARPAE IONICS battery postdoc position description and application portal is now live. Awardees include @24M_Tech @venkvis and @SepionTech https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=90919
We have 10 postdoctoral positions immediately available in multiple sites @NSF_CSOE https://cci.utah.edu.
Please share to anyone interested in highly collaborative research in synthetic organic electrochemistry.
Two postdoc openings in my group @NTUsg are now online! Come join us in Singapore! #compchem
We use a suite of computational modelling methods to understand and engineer catalysts at the atomic scale.
RTs are appreciated.
1. http://tiny.cc/17rksz
2. http://tiny.cc/u6rksz
Join our team! We have postdoc positions open for electrochemists to further develop these lithium metal batteries for EVs and eVTOL with @venkvis @24M_Tech @ARPAE . Battery and electrolyte expertise required. DM me if interested. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/07/20/battery-electric-planes-cars/
🎉Congratulations to J-WAFS PI @KManthiram of @MITChemE who has been selected for the Department of @ENERGY's 2020 Early Career Research Program! His research will find more #sustainable methods for chemical #synthesis of everyday materials. @ManthiramLab https://bit.ly/394C2N6
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Karthish (PI): 626-395-3140 / karthish@caltech.edu / Spalding 225
Martha (Admin): 626-395-2423 / martha@cheme.caltech.edu / Spalding 208
Caltech | Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering