2024 SERC Conference (Past)
Useful Links (2024 Conference has finished)
Abstract Submission
Abstract submission is closed for this year’s conference.
Conference Registration
Registration is closed for this year’s conference.
Any questions? Reach out to us at SERC2024@unc.edu and someone from our organizing committee will get back to you!
Plenary Speakers
Jillian Dempsey
Solar to Fuels Keynote
Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor – Department of Chemistry
UNC Chapel Hill
Dunwei Wang
Electricity to Fuels Keynote
Professor and Margaret A. and Thomas A. ’53 Vanderslice Chair in Chemistry – Chemistry Department
Boston College
Dan Nocera
Ammonia and Bio-based Fuels Keynote
Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy – Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
Hemali Rathnayake
Batteries Keynote
Professor of Nanoscience, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
UNC Greensboro
Invited Speakers
Milad Abolhasani
Solar to Fuels Session
ALCOA Professor – Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
North Carolina State University
Veronica Augustyn
Electricity to Fuels Session
Jake & Jennifer Hooks Distinguished Scholar, Associate Professor – Department of Materials Science and Engineering
North Carolina State University
Caroline Saouma
Electricity to Fuels Session
Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry – Department of Chemistry
Virginia Tech
Shabnam Hematian
Ammonia and Bio-based Fuels
Associate Professor and Bernard-Glickman Dean’s Professor – Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
UNC Greensboro
John Peters
Ammonia and Bio-based Fuels
Presidential Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry – – Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
The University of Oklahoma
Miaofang Chi
Batteries Session
Professor – Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Duke University
Early Career Researcher Speakers
Emmanuel Adu Fosu
Solar to Fuels Session
Graduate Student – Jakubikova Lab
North Carolina State University
Ana Sonea
Electricity to Fuels Session
Postdoctoral Researcher – Dempsey Lab
UNC Chapel Hill
Joseph Kuchta III
Ammonia and Bio-based Fuels Session
Graduate Student – Vannuchi Lab
University of South Carolina
Deyang Yu
Batteries Session
Postdoctoral Researcher – McCloskey Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Schedule of Events
Monday November 11, 2024
| 8:00 – 9:00 am | Registration Open |
| 9:00 – 9:25 am | Welcome and Introductions |
| Solar to Fuels Session 9:25 – 11:00 am (15 minute break included) | Emmanuel Adu Fosu – "Fullerene promotes CO2 reduction to methanol by a cobalt(II) phthalocyanine catalyst" (9:25 - 9:35 am) Break (9:40 - 9:55 am) Milad Abolhasani – “Accelerated Materials and Molecular Discovery with Self-Driving Labs” (9:55 - 10:15 am) Jillian Dempsey (Keynote) – “Light-driven proton-coupled electron transfer reactions at passivated silicon photoelectrodes for solar fuel production” (10:20 - 10:50 am) |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Poster Session 1 |
| 12:00 – 1:00 pm | Lunch (Provided at Conference Venue) |
| 1:00 – 2:00 pm | Vendor Exposition |
| Electricity to Fuels Session 2:00 – 4:00 pm (15 minute break included) | Veronica Augustyn – “Proton-coupled Electrochemistry of Metal Oxides: From Insertion to Interfacial Phenomena” (2:00 - 2:20 pm) Ana Sonea – Understanding the Interplay of the Brønsted Acidity of Catalyst Ancillary Groups and the Solution Components in Iron-porphyrin-Mediated Carbon Dioxide Reduction (2:25 - 2:35 pm) Break (2:40 - 2:55 pm) Caroline Saouma – “Thermodynamics pertinent to CO2 reduction” (2:55 - 3:15 pm) Dunwei Wang (Keynote) – “Controlling Chemical Reactions at the Molecular Level on (Photo)Electrode Surfaces” (3:20 - 3:50 pm) |
| 4:00 – 5:00 pm | Scientific Communications and Careers (Early Career Researcher Workshop, for students and postdocs) Dr. Eric Piechota – Senior Editor – Nature Communications Dr. Matthew Kita – Principal Research Chemist - Eastman |
Tuesday November 12, 2024
| Ammonia and Bio-Based Fuels Session 9:00 – 11:00 am (15 minute break included) | Shabnam Hematian – “Nature-Derived Organic Electrode Materials for Energy Storage” (9:00 - 9:20 am) Joseph Kuchta III – "Tunable MOx-Ester Hybrid Catalysts for Selective Hydrogen Activation and Biofuel Production" (9:25 - 9:35 am) Break (9:40 - 9:55 am) John Peters – “Light-driven dinitrogen reduction by CdS quantum dot:nitrogenase MoFe protein biohybrids” (9:55 - 10:15 am) Dan Nocera (Keynote) – “Nitrogen Fixation at Scale: Sustainable Farming with Prodigious Carbon Mitigation” (10:20 - 10:50 am) |
| 11:00 – 12:00 pm | Poster Session (Vendor Exposition Booths will be open) |
| 12:00 – 1:00 pm | Lunch (Provided at Conference Venue) |
| Batteries Session 1:00 – 3:30 pm (20 minute break included) | Scott Warren – “Electrode design for fluoride-ion batteries” (1:00 - 1:20 pm) Miaofang Chi – “Deciphering Interface Challenges in Solid-State Batteries through Advanced Electron Microscopy” (1:25 - 1:45 pm) Deyang Yu – "Lithium-ion transport in hybrid electrolytes composed of inorganic electrolyte particles and high-concentration liquid electrolytes" (1:50 - 2:00 pm) Break (2:05 - 2:25 pm) Lou Madsen – “A Solid Composite Electrolyte Platform Based on a Charged Double Helical Polymer” (2:25 - 2:45 pm) Hemali Rathnayake (Keynote) – “Insight to Battery Critical Materials Supply Chain Circularity from Upstream to Downstream” (2:50 - 3:20 pm) |
| 3:30 – 4:30 pm | Battery Research and Technology in North Carolina Panel - Moderated by Frank Leibfarth Shelby Pillai - Battery Scientist and Project-X Team Lead, Urbix Inc. Lin Ma - Element Investigator, UNC Charlotte BATT CAVE Research Center Hemali Rathnayake - Founder and Scientific Advisor, Minerva Lithium Jeff Warren - Executive Director, NC Collaboratory |
| 4:30 – 5:00 pm | Closing Remarks |