Operando spectroscopy for functional materials
Our Research
The Schlenker Group integrates synthetic chemistry, spectroscopy, and device engineering to reveal fundamental principles and advanced materials design concepts with technological relevance. Example targets include low-cost, high-efficiency solar photovoltaics, stable high-capacity rechargeable batteries, and scalable photocatalysts. Our unifying scientific goal is to more deeply understand electronic dynamics within heterogeneous condensed phases by measuring the system response under its native operating conditions using advanced spectroscopic techniques.
Our Tools
1) Our materials design strategies are informed by physical characterization, such as femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy, time-resolved luminescence, electrochemistry, time-resolved electrical measurements, in situ and ex situ structural characterization, and much more.
2) From surface chemistry to molecular semiconducting dyes to functional nanostructure composites, we make materials to test targeted, data-driven physical hypotheses.
C.W. SCHLENKER
Washington Research Foundation Innovation
Associate Professor of Chemistry & Clean Energy
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Department of Chemistry &
UW Clean Energy Institute
Bagley Hall
Seattle, WA 98195
schlenk [at] uw.edu
Emma Cave's Ion Pairing Dynamics Article Published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Oct 8, 2021
Emma Cave's article, "Ion-Pairing Dynamics Revealed by Kinetically Resolved In Situ FTIR Spectroelectrochemistry during Lithium-Ion Storage" is now available online from ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. Congratulations to Emma!
Dr. Doyk Hwang awarded Mistletoe Research Fellowship
Aug 10, 2021
Dr. Doyk Hwang has been named a 2021-2022 Mistletoe Research Fellow. This professional development program awards research grants to postdoctoral fellows and advanced PhD candidates as well as providing the opportunity to collaborate with startups with a high potential for social and humanitarian impact. Congratulations to Doyk!
Vanessa Zambrano wins “Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation” at the 2020 Duke University Energy Conference
Nov 10, 2020
Vanessa Zambrano joined the Schlenker lab for the summer through the Clean Energy Bridge to Research (CEBR) program. She was selected as a top five finalist to present the poster of her summer work, “Electrostatic Influence on the Electrode/Electrolyte Interface via Electrode Surface Modification”, at the Duke University Energy Conference. For her presentation, she was awarded “Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation”. Way to go Vanessa!
Research Areas
Physical Chemistry
Photophysics and Electrochemistry
Operando Spectroscopy
Solar Energy and Energy Storage
Solid State Devices
Organic and Hybrid Materials
Advanced Materials Chemistry