Postdoctoral Scholars
Dr. Shujin Hou - 侯树金
Shujin received his Ph.D. in the Department of Physics at the Technical University of Munich, where he worked on the structural transformations in MOFs to design active oxygen evolution electrocatalysts with Prof. Aliaksandr Bandarenka and Prof. Roland A. Fischer.
In Berkeley, he is working on bipolar membrane structural innovations and understanding the evolution mechanisms of OER catalysts.
email: shujinhou@berkeley.edu
Dr. Jeonghoon Lim
Jeonghoon received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied nitrate reduction electrochemistry for applications in the water-energy nexus such as water purification and ammonia synthesis with Prof. Marta C. Hatzell and Prof. Seung Woo Lee. He earned his M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), where he focused on fuel cells under the guidance of Prof. EunAe Cho. At Berkeley, he is a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Prof. Bryan D. McCloskey and Prof. Shannon W. Boettcher. His research primarily focuses on electrochemical approaches for CO2 capture and the use of bipolar membranes (BPM) in electrolysis/electrodialysis systems.
email: jeonghoonlim@lbl.gov
Dr. Arunavo Chakraborty
Arun received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara working with Lior Sepunaru. At UC Berkeley, he will launch a new project targeting the development of intermediate temperature electrochemical platforms for decarbonization and fuel synthesis.
email: achakraborty2@berkeley.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunavo-chakraborty/
Dr. Andrew Pendergast
Andrew received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Utah working with Prof. Henry S. White on electrical double layer effects on electron-, proton-, and phase-transfer processes in electrochemistry. He is passionate about understanding complex electrode/electrolyte interfaces, connecting fundamental electrochemistry with operando nanoscale measurements to quantify and control electrochemical microenvironments. At UC Berkeley he will be working to understand multiscale/multiphase phenomena in electrolzyer systems.
email: adpendergast@berkeley.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adpendergast/
Dr. Yuta Inoue - 井上雄太
Yuta received his Ph.D. from the Kyoto University working with Prof. Takeshi Abe. At UC Berkeley, he is working on developing electrocatalysts with high efficiency and long-term durability for the anion exchange membrane water electrolysis.
email: yutainoue@berkeley.edu
Dr. Yang Zhao - 赵洋
Yang received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Oregon in May 2024 and is a graduate of the Boettcher group. Starting in August 2024, she continues her work in the Boettcher lab as a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. During her Ph.D., she focused on fundamentally investigating the kinetics of ion transfer processes and surface-modified Cu catalysts for CO2 reduction reactions, funded by the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA). Her postdoctoral research will focus on developing next-generation high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.
email: yangzhao0105@berkeley.edu
linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yang-zhao-83447a229/
Dr. Jin Wook Yang
Jin Wook received his Ph.D. from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, where he worked on the materials synthesis and designing (photo)electrocatalysts for energy conversion devices with Prof. Ho Won Jang. At UC Berkeley, his postdoctoral research will focus on artificial photosynthesis integrating biomass upgrading and green fuel production.
email: jwyang@berkeley.edu
Dr. Dong Su Kim
Dong Su Kim received his Ph.D. in 2023 from the Department of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering at SungKyunKwan University, where he worked on oxide semiconductor synthesis and designed photoelectrochemical cells for green hydrogen with Prof. Hyung Koun Cho. Currently, he is working in the Boettcher Lab as a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley. He will focus on continuing to research the fabrication of PEC devices based on earth-abundant constituents and scalable electrochemical deposition processing to realize efficient solar energy conversion.
email: dskim2846@berkeley.edu
Dr. Gwan Hyun Choi
Gwan Hyun received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) under Prof. Pil J. Yoo and later developed water electrolyzers as a postdoctoral associate at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) with Dr. Albert S. Lee. At UC Berkeley, his postdoctoral research will explore interfacial (electro)chemistry in bipolar membranes and an ammonia production system for sustainable energy conversion toward carbon neutrality.
email: gwanhchoi@berkeley.edu
Dr. Emma Kaeli
Emma earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, working on solid-state batteries and positive electrode materials under Prof. Will Chueh. She joined the Boettcher Lab in November 2024, focusing both on electrolysis research and electrochemistry education.
email: kaeli@berkeley.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmakaeli/
Graduate Students
Liam Twight
Currently at University of Oregon. Liam is a PhD student from Northern California studying the fundamentals water oxidation catalysis on Fe-containing metal oxides. He also is the group contact for the ICP-MS instrument.
email: liamt@uoregon.edu
Aaron Kaufman
Aaron is a PhD student studying fundamentals of semiconductor/catalyst interfaces using potential sensing atomic force microscopy and other photoelectrochemical techniques. He joined the Boettcher laboratory in the Summer of 2020 after completing his MS degree in the industrial masters internship program in Semiconductor Science at the University of Oregon. He is currently working at UC Berkeley in collaboration with Ethan Crumlin at the Advanced Light Source to apply ambient pressure XPS techniques to understand electric potential distibutions in operating photoelectrodes.
email: ajkaufman@lbl.gov
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-kaufman-9b024b107/
Kira Thurman
Currently at University of Oregon. Kira is a PhD student working as part of the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA) and co-advised by the Kempler group. She is studying fundamental aspects of corrosion reaction kinetics using well defined monolayers on single crystal surfaces. Kira is a graduate of the University of Oregon Master’s internship program in polymer science and has also worked as a researcher at NREL prior to arriving at Oregon in 2021 to continue her PhD studies.
email: kthurman@uoregon.edu'
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirathurman/
Nick D'Antona
Nick graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with degrees in chemistry and applied physics. In the Boettcher lab he is studying the kinetics and mechanism of ion transfer at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES), primarily using nanopipette voltammetry.
email: ndantona@berkeley.edu
Minkyoung Kwak
Minkyoung received her B.S. in Chemistry at Yonsei University. In the Boettcher group she studies the kinetics of ion transfer at the liquid-liquid interface, and anion exchange membrane water electrolysis focusing on catalyst-ionomer layer.
email: mkwak@berkeley.edu
Olivia Vulpin
Currently at University of Oregon. Olivia received dual majors in Marine Science and Chemistry from Eckerd College before pursuing a PhD in Chemistry. She joined the Boettcher lab in 2021 and studies bipolar membranes electrodialysis.
email: opt@uoregon.edu
Kam Yun "Kelvin" Li
Kelvin is a PhD student working jointly with Gregory Su at LBNL Advanced Light Source (ALS) and the Boettcher group in studying ionomer nanocomposites and their structure properties relation. He is currently working on morphological impacts of incorporating metal-oxide nanoparticles in perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomers.
email: kelvinkyli@lbl.gov
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kam-yun-li-6195a5153/
Manasa Rajeev
Currently at the University of Oregon. Manasa Rajeev graduated from University of Kerala with a degree in Chemistry. At UO, in collaboration with the Kempler group and Hgen, she is interested in improving efficiencies of low-cost alkaline water electrolyzers by studying integrated electrode-membrane architectures built for gas bubble management. Currently, she is investigating catalyst degradation during hydrogen generation from intermittent electricity sourced from wind and solar energy.
email: mrajeev@uoregon.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manasa-rajeev-3a34a6252/
Nicole Sagui
Nicole grew up in northern Italy, where she received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Milano-Bicocca. Before moving to Oregon, she lived in Sweden for a couple of years and completed the Chemistry for Renewable Energy MS program at Uppsala University. She joined the Boettcher lab in summer 2022 and will be studying fundamentals of water oxidation catalysis and applications in anion exchange membrane electrolyzers.
email: nsagui@berkeley.edu
Francisco "Kiko" Galang
Kiko is a PhD Candidate with Prof. Alexis T. Bell at UC Berkeley and Dr. Adam Z. Weber at LBNL and collaborates regularly with the Boettcher Lab. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in 2022. He works on the study of, theory development, and computational modelling of electrochemical systems in particular Bipolar Membranes for electrochemical devices. As a modeller, he collaborates with the experimentalists of the Boettcher Lab.
email: kgalang@berkeley.edu
Rika Sato
Rika is a chemistry PhD student working jointly with Adam Weber at LBNL and the Boettcher group studying fundamental aspects of ionomers in electrolyzers.
email: kaolu24@berkeley.edu
Raj Shekhar
Currently at the University of Oregon. Raj is a PhD student studying the fundamentals of the electro-reduction of iron from its ores in collaboration with the Kempler group. He joined the Boettcher Lab in January 2023 after completing his MS from Paris-Saclay University in 2022. Previously, he graduated from NIT Rourkela with an integrated master’s in chemistry in 2021.
email: rajs@uoregon.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-shekhar-149b1a134/
Nathan Stovall
Nathan graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in chemistry in 2022. He is now a PhD student with Dr. Adam Weber at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. In collaboration with the Boettcher group, Nathan studies charge transfer reactions at polarized interfaces in bipolar membranes and other electrochemical interfaces.
email: nstovall@berkeley.edu
Louka Moutarlier
Currently at the University of Oregon. Louka graduated from the University of Oregon in 2019 with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, before working as a high school Chemistry/Physics teacher for two years. In 2022, Louka earned an M.A. in Chemistry with an emphasis in Chemical Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He then returned to UO to join the Electrochemistry Masters Internship Program (class of 2023) where he interned with EnZinc studying advanced anodes for secondary zinc batteries. As a Ph.D. student he is researching metal oxide/metal conversion reactions in alkaline zinc anodes for grid-scale energy storage in collaboration with the Kempler group and EnZinc.
email: loukam@uoregon.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louka-moutarlier-88a669239/
Ethan Shi
Ethan is a chemistry PhD student. His undergraduate degree is from UCLA where he worked with Rich Kaner. In Berkeley, he is working to understand the role of solid state electrochemistry in thermochemical catalytic processes.
email: shingethan@berkeley.edu
Duha Syar
Duha received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023. Her general research goals are to develop technologies for efficient and sustainable energy production. In the Boettcher lab, she currently wants to develop and characterize catalysts for water electrolysis.
email: duhasyar@berkeley.edu
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/duhasyar
Catherine Wallace
Catherine is a PhD student studying fundamental ion transfer kinetics and mechanisms at the interfacial layer, with a current focus on copper corrosion. They completed their chemistry and mathematics B.S. degrees at Syracuse University where they conducted research with Timothy Korter. They are a proud cat mom to Tin (right) and Plutonium (left)!
email: cswallace@berkeley.edu
Yifan Wu - 吴一凡
Yifan received his B.S. in Chemistry at Wuhan University. In the Boettcher group, he studies the catalysts for water dissociation in bipolar membranes. Currently, he is excited about learning different characterization techniques. He is a crazy fictional map creator. Please reach out if you want to discuss map art with him!
email: yifan-wu@berkeley.edu
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yifan-ivan-wu-542982226/
Yiwen Sun
Yiwen graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 2024. Her research is centered on promoting green technology. Currently, in the Boettcher Lab, she is focused on enhancing the durability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and exploring the fundamental aspects of ionomers in electrolyzers.
email: yiwen_sun74@berkeley.edu
Jihan Zhang
Jihan received his BS in Chemistry from Peking University, where he worked on heterogeneous catalysis for hydrogen production with Prof. Ding Ma and Prof. Wulin Yang. He also spent a summer at Johns Hopkins, working with Prof. Yayuan Liu, focusing on electrochemical metal recovery and direct air CO2 capture. In Berkeley, he will keep working on catalysis and related characterization.
email: jihan_zhang@berkeley.edu
Visiting Scientists
Yun-Seok Kang
Yun-Seok is a Ph.D. student in Energy Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) in Jungki's group. His research has focused on manipulating bubbles in water electrolysis systems by managing wetting properties and analyzing fluid flow and mass transport. Currently, he is a visiting scholar at the Boettcher lab, studying the interactions between electrocatalysts and ionomers for durable water electrolysis.
email: flyingkang@berkeley.edu
Mariel Tecson
Mariel is a PhD student from National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan under Prof. Chun-Hu Chen. Her research in Taiwan mainly involves tritium enrichment through electrolysis and electrolyzing seawater using CoMnOH catalysts. At Berkeley, she will be working on bipolar membranes and their application in different systems. Her passtimes include swimming, watching sunsets at the beach, reading manga, and dancing while doing experiments.
email: Uymariel1995@lbl.gov
Bingxuan He
Bingxuan is a visiting undergrad researcher from University of Science and Technology of China, majoring in physical chemistry and minoring in computer science. He is working on developing integrated electrochemical and thermocatalytic reactor for ammonia fuel production.
email: bingxuanhe@berkeley.edu
Master's Students
Bernard Wang
Bernard is a chemical engineering M.S. student studying the fundamental material descriptors of water dissociation and recombination catalysts in the bipolar membrane junction. He received his B.S in earth and environmental engineering from Columbia University.
Undergraduate Students
Sara Alkhamees
Sara is an undergraduate majoring in chemical engineering studying OER catalysts for anion exchange membrane electrolysis.
email: skalkhamees@berkeley.edu
Nikhil Jagota
Nikhil Jagota is an undergraduate researcher majoring in chemical engineering studying anion exchange membrane electrolysis.
email: nikhilj1326@berkeley.edu
Katherine Li
Katherine is an undergrad researcher majoring in Chemical Engineering studying OER catalysts.
email: katherine.li8@berkeley.edu
Jason Prachar
Jason is an undergraduate researcher majoring in Chemical Engineering studying ion transfer kinetics.
email: jprachar996@berkeley.edu
Joshua Wright
Joshua is an undergraduate chemical engineering student studying water dissociation catalysts in bipolar membranes.
email: jwright123@berkeley.edu
