People
Dr. Greg M. Swain
Greg Swain is a Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University. Research in the group is interdisciplinary and collaborative. The group studies electrochemical reaction kinetics, mechanisms, and interfacial capacitance at various types of carbon electrodes. These electrodes serve as platforms for electrochemical sensing and immunosensing assays being developed for biomarkers of respiratory disease in novel liquid biopsy specimens, exhaled breath condensate (EBC). These are electrodes are also being used in electrosynthesis for the production of value-added chemicals from pollutants and process by-products. Finally, the group also studies the preparation, mechanical properties and electrochemical/corrosion behavior of additively manufactured metal alloys (aluminum and titanium) and the use of coating systems and other surface treatments for corrosion control and mitigation. A variety of analytical tools are employed in the research including electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods of analysis, HPLC, electron and optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, optical profilometry, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.
Rosemary Augustine
Rosemary is a 5th year Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. She is investigating the mechanisms and kinetics of aryl diazonium admolecule formation on carbon surfaces using electrochemically assisted and spontaneous formation processes in non-aqueous solution. The blocking effects of these adlayers on electrochemical reaction kinetics (e.g., ferri/ferrocyanide and oxygen reduction) are being investigating as a function of diazonium admolecule type, concentration and immersion time. The surface pretreatment (cathodic inhibition) is being developed for carbon fiber composite materials to mitigate galvanic corrosion effects on aluminum alloys when mechanically joined with the composites in aerospace structures. Oxygen reduction occurs at the exposed carbon fibers in the composite and by reducing the rate of this reaction, the rate of galvanic corrosion on nearby aluminum alloys is suppressed.
Stevie Adams
Stevie is a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry. She is investigating the mechanisms and kinetics of aryl diazonium admolecule formation on carbon surfaces using electrochemically assisted and spontaneous formation processes in aqueous and non-aqueous solution. The blocking effects of these adlayers on electrochemical reaction kinetics (e.g., ferri/ferrocyanide and oxygen reduction) are being investigating as a function of diazonium admolecule type, concentration, solvent and immersion time. She is using electrochemical methods and Raman spectroscopy to study the formation of mono and multilayers and to understand how surface carbon-oxygen functionalities affect the adlayer formation (coverage, thickness and defect density). The surface pretreatment (cathodic inhibition) is being developed for carbon fiber composite materials to mitigate galvanic corrosion effects on aluminum alloys when mechanically joined with the composites in aerospace structures.
Maral Rahim Soroush
Maral is a 4th year Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. She is studying the electrooxidation of glycerol to value-added products at boron-doped diamond electrodes. The overall goal of this project is to develop fundamental insights about how the electrode microstructure, boron-doping level, surface chemistry, applied potential and current density, solution conditions (aqueous electrolyte and pH), temperature, and flow affect the oxidation reaction mechanism and kinetics. This fundamental knowledge is necessary to optimize the valorization to value-added products in a controlled manner with high Faradaic efficiency and production rate. Various electrochemical methods, batch cell electrosynthesis, and HPLC are being used in the work.
Erfan Omid Najafabadi
Erfan is a 2nd year Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. He is currently working on the development of novel immunoassays from an electrochemical perspective.
Ben Wenig
Ben is a 1st year Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. He is interrogating the surface morphology effects of the spontaneous formation of aryl diazonium adlayers on vitreous carbon materials. He uses various atomic force microscopy techniques such as Kelvin probe force microscopy to analyze electrostatic force changes during adlayer formation and assembly. Confocal Raman spectroscopy is also employed to classify the adlayer growth at various surface regions, such as defect sites. Additionally, Ben uses electrochemical and computational methods to investigate the process of diazonium grafting onto carbon fiber reinforced polymers, and further quantification of oxygen reduction reaction efficiency at these interfaces.
Grace Leahey
Grace is a 1st year Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Chemistry.
Dr. Maggie Conway
Maggie is a recent Ph.D. graduate of the Swain Group. She investigated the electrochemical reduction of nitrate at boron-doped microcrystalline, nanocrystalline, and ultra nanocrystalline diamond electrodes. Of interest, are the roles of the carbon electrode microstructure, electrode pretreatment, and electrolyte solution on the kinetics of the reduction reaction and the products formed. The goal was to electrosynthesize value-added products (NH3) from the reduction of the aqueous pollutant. Various electrochemical methods and spectroscopic assays were used in the work to quantify products produced. She is presently a postdoctoral researcher at the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (MSU VDL).
Dr. Aaron Jacobs
Aaron is a recent Ph.D. graduate of the Swain Group. He used various electrochemical methods, specially designed electrochemical sensors and immunosensors, and HPLC to analyze exhaled breath condensate (EBC) biospecimens obtained from human and animal (bovine) subjects for biomarkers and chemical patterns of respiratory disease. Specifically, he fabricated and tested chemically modified electrochemical sensors (inkjet-printed and screen-printed carbon electrodes, as well as boron-doped diamond electrodes) for measuring biomarkers of oxidative and nitrosative stress in EBC biospecimens obtained from bovine suspected of having bovine respiratory disease. Key biomarkers targeted were pH, NO, H2O2, peroxynitrite and 4-nitrotyrosine. He also worked to establish the clinical value of EBC as a transformative, non-invasive liquid biopsy specimen for lung cancer disease management and prototyped two first-in-class electrochemical immunosensing assays designed for longitudinal, point-of-care monitoring of critical biomarkers: (i) soluble PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) for lung cancer and (ii) BNP (β-type natriuretic peptide) for cardiac dysfunction. He will begin clinical chemistry postdoctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in June 2026.