Marder /rasei/ en Profile: Collin Sindt /rasei/2025/07/07/profile-collin-sindt <span>Profile: Collin Sindt</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-07-07T12:59:39-06:00" title="Monday, July 7, 2025 - 12:59">Mon, 07/07/2025 - 12:59</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-07/2025_sindt_Thumbnail.png?h=d3502f1d&amp;itok=L6XWgx6-" width="1200" height="800" alt="Profile picture of Collin Sindt"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/23"> Profile </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/359" hreflang="en">IRESPerovskites</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/111" hreflang="en">Toney</a> </div> <a href="/rasei/our-community">Daniel Morton</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"><p><em><span>Collin Sindt, a graduate student in Chemical and Biological Engineering, co-advised by RASEI Fellows Seth Marder and Mike Toney, explores the molecular structure of advanced materials for harvesting solar energy. As part of his collaborative work Collin recently spent a few weeks doing research over in Berlin, Germany. We caught up with Collin to learn a little more about his work, what led him to this research, and find out more about his time in Germany.</span></em></p></div><div class="col ucb-column"><ucb-jump-menu headertag="h2" data-title="On this page:">&nbsp;</ucb-jump-menu></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2><strong>Where are you from?</strong></h2><p>I grew up in Dubuque, Iowa. It is at the point where Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois all meet. It is a pretty rural area with a lot of farmland, with pretty views along the river. The backcountry in Iowa is mainly cornfields, but Dubuque has many bluffs and forests near the Mississippi river.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>What did you get up to as a kid?</strong></h2><p>I was pretty heavily involved in the Scouts, joining early on when I was in kindergarten. It started out as a great way to hang out with your friends, but it really built from there into something I really cared about and wanted to be more involved in. Something that really spoke to me was the elements of environmental stewardship and conservation that are woven in, things like leave no trace and leave a space better than you found it. These were perspectives that have really guided my thinking ever since.&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2><strong>What did you want to be when you grew up?</strong></h2><p><span>It was pretty nebulous early on, though I wanted to do something in science or engineering since that was what I was best at in school. Simultaneously, scouting was something that really gave me a love for the outdoors, and I wanted to do something to help the climate crisis as I learned more about it. In Iowa we don’t have a lot of natural areas, like Colorado, but that means that we really cherish the ones we do have. Growing up I learned a lot about environmental stewardship and conservation of these spaces from a young age. When I got to college, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to go into, but I knew I wanted it to incorporate these elements of protection of the environment. My preference for STEM subjects, chemistry in particular, eventually led me into chemical engineering as a major. As I found out more about the subject, I was really drawn to how chemical engineering interacts with the energy industry and, by extension, the climate. Historically that took the form of petrochemicals, but nowadays chemical engineering is much more a part of the expanding variety of renewable technologies, such as batteries and solar panels.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>How would you describe your current research in five words?</strong></h2><p>Better understanding high-performing solar materials.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2><strong>What led you into this area of research?</strong></h2><p>In my freshman year of undergrad I was deciding whether to pursue pre-medicine or go more into renewable energy and sustainability. I reached out to a few professors at Iowa who were engaged in renewable energy research and eventually wound up with a position working on photoelectric catalysis. That was the coolest thing I’d ever worked on, and I was hooked from there. I built and tested modular reactors, using catalysts affixed to solar cells to produce hydrogen from water. That got my foot in the door, and I have been interested in renewable energy research ever since. As I explored pursuing a PhD, I wasn’t set on continuing catalysis research, so I was interested in schools which offered a wide variety of renewable energy focused projects. This eventually led me to my current renewable energy research at CU Boulder. I eventually made a connection and started working with Seth Marder and Mike Toney who had an open position working between them on characterizing solar energy materials.</p><p><span>The class of materials which are the subject of my research are called self-assembled monolayers, essentially a single layer of molecules, so we are working on very, very small length scales. These have become a staple in the field of solar energy research as they boost performance and are a very easy material to work with. In a solar cell you have the layer that absorbs light and then sandwiching that you have two layers that push the current in one direction. These are called charge extraction layers and that is where these monolayers are used, and where my work is focused. These self-assembled monolayers are fairly new as an approach to charge extraction layers in solar cells. There are other materials that can be used as charge extraction layers, such as polymers or metal oxides, but as with any electrical phenomenon, the larger the layer, the larger the voltage loss across it as you try and transport charge. So, if you can make it really thin, such as one molecule thick, you can significantly reduce the energy lost in transport. When operating at such small length scales, it is hard to figure out what it is about these materials that makes them good at what they do. My work employs a variety of techniques to try to answer this question. Essentially, I use a lot of different versions of shining light, mainly in the form of x-rays, on a sample and investigating the signal that comes off. By looking at this we can tell whether our molecules are chemically bonded to the surface, how many molecules are on the surface, and even what orientation they are in. By experimenting with different chemistries and materials we can start to build up a more complete picture of what about them impacts solar cell performance.</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2><strong>You work across two research groups and have experience with a number of collaborations, say a bit more about these aspects of your work.</strong></h2><p>From a materials perspective I work as part of the Marder group, which has a wealth of expertise in the organic chemistry of semiconducting charge transfer materials. When I came in as a new graduate student, I had the option to pursue a more synthetic chemistry route with them, developing new compounds to use in solar cells. However, there was already a library of different compounds to explore within this family when I arrived. So, instead, I have been developing my expertise in characterizing and understanding this library of materials, leveraging the expertise in the Marder group on how to handle, process and optimize them. Coupling that with the expertise in the Toney group, which contains vast experience in the applied characterization to understand the structure of such materials, it has been a very interesting and fruitful collaboration.</p><p>With X-rays, you are working on energy scales that correspond to the electronic excitations within atoms – so you can probe things like the oxidation state of a given element and the energy needed to remove an electron from that system. It also gives you the ability to measure distances between atoms and how atoms and molecules are oriented in space. There is a large number of X-ray methods out there and many of them benefit greatly from having an X-ray source that you can reliably tune the energy and the intensity of. But, to get these high-quality X-rays you often need to go to a synchrotron, where I’ve had the privilege to do a large amount of my own research. These are large government facilities which have a particle accelerator at their core, with electrons in a huge ring moving very close to the speed of light. We can then use magnets to bend their trajectory, which causes the emission of light, and if they are moving fast enough, you get X-rays, which can be shone onto our samples for these experiments.</p><p>The opportunity to work with these synchrotrons has been amazing for me. Not only does it let me do experiments that would otherwise be impossible, but it has been a great opportunity to develop and learn. To get time at the facility you have to apply, and it has taught me to be a better scientific writer and given me practice at communicating my ideas effectively. It has also been humbling to work with these kinds of instruments. These are huge, billion-dollar facilities, and the chance to run experiments there is amazing.</p><p>If you had told me when I was an undergrad washing up my glassware after running reactions that I would one day be working on such a machine I wouldn’t have believed you!</p><p>It has also led to some international collaboration. Building on an existing collaboration between the Marder Group and Norbert Koch at Humboldt Թ in Germany, we were looking at very similar materials. Seth from a chemistry perspective and Norbert from a physics perspective. While the synchrotron work I have done is very good for looking at the orientation of molecule, it can be hard to determine whether you have a single layer, two layers, or multiple layers. This is something that the Koch group are experts at, <a href="/rasei/ires-perovskites" rel="nofollow">and as part of building this international collaboration that is ongoing</a>, I was able to go across to Germany with my materials for three months in the fall of 2024. This helped accelerate my research and I really learned a lot about a technique called XPS and other photoelectron spectroscopies done in Germany.</p><p><span>Berlin was a fantastic experience. I wish I had explored more of Germany, but the parts I did see where amazing. Berlin is a big city, and there is always lots to do. I was pleasantly surprised by how many parks there were in the city and how easy they were to get to. I was on the south-eastern side of the city, and there were parks that you could easily walk to. It is a really beautiful city.</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2><strong>What excites you about the future of solar technologies?</strong></h2><p>I am really looking forward to the manufacturing of these solar materials taking off. For solar and batteries technologies the challenges are technical and industrial as opposed to locational. Wind farms require specific locations, while solar and batteries can go almost anywhere. I am hopeful that the deployment of these types of systems will scale with their production capacity as opposed to systems like wind turbines where there is a lot more embedded in the locational permitting and transmission infrastructure. When we reach high-throughput production we will see distribution across a wide range of applications, which will open up all sorts of opportunities.</p><h2><strong>What do you like to do outside of work?</strong></h2><p>Being part of the Scouts really gave me a love of the outdoors. Growing up in Iowa there is not the same kind of parks as you find in places like Colorado, but I was able to take part in projects for stewardship and conservation. In 2016 I had the opportunity to get more involved and in the summers I spent time at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. This is the largest adventure base in the world, something like 250 square miles in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in New Mexico. I went out as part of a program where I spent a week building trail, constructing new conservation projects on the property and then the other week you were on a trek. In some summers there would be as many as 50,000 scouts that would come through the camp, so to have any hope of it being sustainable we would be taught about the impact we were having on the land and think about ways we could mitigate that.</p><p>I enjoyed my time there so much that in a following year I went back as a staff member to lead some of the work. The first year that I went out as a staff member there was a very large wildfire before the summer got started. Since we were already trained in land conservation, the team I was part of ended up sticking around and helping do mitigation work that summer. That experience was extremely impactful for me. I went back in 2021 and led some groups and could talk about and show them the impacts of the fire. It was very tangible.</p><p><span>So, all of this experience has really given me a love for being outdoors and I love exploring Colorado. I enjoy skiing, mountain biking, I have recently got into road cycling, and I love hiking. Another big hobby of mine is motorcycling, which is great to pair with getting out into the mountains. I have an adventure bike and that opens up a wide range of options and spaces. I also have a love of board games, for the times when the rain is too much for being out on a bike.</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Zebra Striped</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-07/2025_sindt_Hero.png?itok=Di1cj0pe" width="1500" height="322" alt="Profile picture of Collin Sindt"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 07 Jul 2025 18:59:39 +0000 Daniel Morton 1335 at /rasei Electricity, Air, and Plastic Recycling /rasei/2025/06/17/electricity-air-and-plastic-recycling <span>Electricity, Air, and Plastic Recycling</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-17T15:15:48-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - 15:15">Tue, 06/17/2025 - 15:15</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/2025_06_02_LucaPlastics.jpg?h=8f74817f&amp;itok=MAikwS2w" width="1200" height="800" alt="Illustration of superoxide breaking apart a polymer chain"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/177"> News </a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/170"> Publication Highlight </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/281" hreflang="en">Catalysis</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/284" hreflang="en">Circular Economy</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/149" hreflang="en">Luca</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/113" hreflang="en">Miller</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/289" hreflang="en">Polymers</a> </div> <a href="/rasei/our-community">Daniel Morton</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em>This collaboration between four RASEI Fellows shows how electricity can be used to impart ‘superoxide powers’ to oxygen gas molecules from air, enabling the efficient recycling of PET plastics.&nbsp;</em></p><p>In 2012, 32.5 million tons of plastic waste was produced globally. 4.5 million tons of which was poly(ethylene terephthalate), better known as PET. You likely know this as the plastic that has the number 1 in the middle of the recycling symbol. PET is used extensively in materials such as packaging, textiles, films, and flexible electronics. By far and away its main use is in bottled drinks. PET is considered a standout material, it is strong, chemically resistant, transparent, and impermeable to water. Even better, it is possible to recycle PET – it has its own number, right? Unfortunately, this is not quite the full story. Globally, it is estimated that only about 9% of plastic waste is recycled, and while PET waste is one of the best performers, with a recycling rate approaching between 25-30%, the majority of plastic, even PET, ultimately ends up in landfills, incinerated, or worse, polluting our environment. The magnitude of this problem is only increasing; in 2024 the world generated an estimated 240 million tons of plastic waste, representing more than eight-fold increase in 12 years and highlighting the need for more effective solutions.&nbsp;</p><p>This teams bring together four RASEI Fellows, <a href="/rasei/oana-luca" rel="nofollow">Oana Luca</a> (Chemistry, CU Boulder), <a href="/rasei/seth-marder" rel="nofollow">Seth Marder</a> (Chemistry and Chemical &amp; Biological Engineering, CU Boulder), <a href="/rasei/stephen-barlow" rel="nofollow">Stephen Barlow</a> (RASEI, CU Boulder) and <a href="/rasei/elisa-miller-link" rel="nofollow">Elisa Miller </a>(Chemistry and Nanoscience, NREL) to address the accelerating issue of plastic waste. While there are many parts to this global challenge, this research focuses on how we recycle plastics, specifically PET. When we think about recycling plastic, most of us just think about throwing a plastic bottle, or piece of packaging, into a recycling bin. We rarely give it much thought after that. This really is just the start of a journey that is more complex than many realize. There are actually several different approaches to giving plastic a second life. The most common, and perhaps the method that most people are familiar with, is mechanical recycling.&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-row-subrow row"> <div class="ucb-article-text col-lg d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Think of mechanical recycling like an industrial washing machine combined with a paper shredder. Plastic items are collected, sorted, cleaned, and then chopped up into small flakes or melted down into pellets that can be molded into new products. This approach is efficient and works great for clean, single-type plastics, but there are some significant limitations with this process. In the same way that a white shirt can’t be perfectly restored after being mixed with brightly colored laundry, plastic quality degrades each time it goes through mechanical recycling. This reduction in quality is stark, most mechanically recycled plastics can only go through the process 2-3 times before they become unusable. This makes it financially unattractive and severely limits the long-term efficacy of recycling. How can this be an enduring solution if we can only recycle something a couple of times?</p><p><span>Chemical recycling takes a very different route, instead of the ‘brute-force’ approach of just melting and reshaping the plastic, it employs a more surgical method, breaking down the plastic polymer chains into their constituent molecular building blocks. These molecular building blocks can then be used, either to make new plastics, or for other applications. Because the new plastics are made with molecular control, there is no degradation in quality, and the materials can be recycled over and over, essentially as many times as you wish. Instead of a washing machine combined with a paper shredder, this is more like a LEGO set, where the model can be taken apart brick by brick and be used to build something entirely new. This research describes a new approach to depolymerization, a class of chemical recycling.</span></p></div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-right col-lg"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/RecycleOverall.png?itok=m-m4YpQI" width="1500" height="1238" alt="Schematic comparing current recycling economy to one based on chemical recycling. "> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>The research described in this RASEI collaboration, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c08711" rel="nofollow">just published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering</a>, offers a new, more efficient approach. By passing an electric charge through the reaction, electrons can be used to activate molecules that can then go on to react with the polymer. <a href="/today/2023/07/05/future-recycling-could-one-day-mean-dissolving-plastic-electricity" rel="nofollow">In a recent study</a>, that used additive molecules as electron shuttles, the team observed the addition of electrons to oxygen gas molecules in small amounts present in the reaction, that were originally thought to be innocent bystanders in the mixture. This led the team to hypothesize that oxygen gas molecules, directly from air, could be chemically reduced, (that is that they take on an extra electron), leading to the formation of a relatively stable superoxide radical anion, O<sub>2</sub><sup>·–</sup>. This activated superoxide now acts in place of the solvent and reacts directly with the polymer. Since the superoxide has an extra electron gained from the electric current, the negatively charged superoxide molecule reacts with the centers that have a positive charge on the polymer. This results in the breaking down of the polymer in a predictable and selective fashion, and the incorporation of oxygen into the building blocks instead of the solvent molecules, leading to the reliable and reproducible formation of the same molecules that were used to build the polymer in the first place. The LEGO bricks are formed cleanly and are ready to be used again, with no degradation in molecular quality. This work demonstrates this technology on a range of different plastics using air, arguably one of the most abundant and cheap reagents, as the primary oxygen source, and all done at room temperature and pressure, a huge improvement on other chemical recycling approaches. While the results are promising and show good efficiencies, this lab-based proof of principle still has a number of challenges to solve before it can be scaled up to meaningful levels.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Today, most plastics are recycled using mechanical recycling, which is like the combination of an industrial washing machine and a paper shredder, producing low-quality products and reducing the possibility of future recycling, leading many to explore chemical recycling as an alternative to gain access to more valuable chemical building blocks. Current mainstream chemical recycling methods are like using a sledgehammer, they typically require high temperatures and lots of energy to break the chemical bonds. The development of electrochemical methods offers a more controlled approach, breaking down plastics at the molecular level and reliably producing build blocks that can be used over and over again. New recycling technologies could transform how we handle plastic waste, opening the door to recycling previously un-recyclable plastics, doing it in a more energy efficient way, producing higher quality recycled plastics, and making recycling economically competitive with virgin plastic production from oil. The development of more effective and general recycling strategies isn’t just an environmental imperative. As plastic waste continues to accumulate, it is rapidly becoming an economic necessity. We already have so much plastic in the world, if we can develop methods to regenerate and reuse the building blocks from plastic waste it will turn landfills into gold mines.</p><p><span>How amazing would it be if instead of society wasting plastics, filling landfills, and polluting our environments, we viewed used plastics as a commodity for future applications?</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>June 2025</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/2025_06_02_LucaPlastics_wide.jpg?itok=cL2sn-a7" width="1500" height="328" alt="Illustration of superoxide breaking apart a polymer chain"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 17 Jun 2025 21:15:48 +0000 Daniel Morton 1330 at /rasei 2025 Right Here, Right Now Global Summit /rasei/2025/06/13/2025-right-here-right-now-global-summit <span>2025 Right Here, Right Now Global Summit</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-13T16:52:54-06:00" title="Friday, June 13, 2025 - 16:52">Fri, 06/13/2025 - 16:52</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/2025_06_RHRN_Thumbnail.jpg?h=d3502f1d&amp;itok=XG9i1wOF" width="1200" height="800" alt="Picture of the stage of the right here right now live session at CU Boulder"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/177"> News </a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/361"> RHRN </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> </div> <a href="/rasei/our-community">Daniel Morton</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-left ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">Show me more!</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p><a class="ucb-link-button ucb-link-button-blue ucb-link-button-large ucb-link-button-full" href="/globalclimatesummit/summit-2022" rel="nofollow"><span class="ucb-link-button-contents">2022 RHRN Summit</span></a></p><p><a class="ucb-link-button ucb-link-button-blue ucb-link-button-large ucb-link-button-full" href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/right-here-right-now" rel="nofollow"><span class="ucb-link-button-contents">2025 RHRN Summit</span></a></p><p><a class="ucb-link-button ucb-link-button-blue ucb-link-button-large ucb-link-button-full" href="/globalclimatesummit/2025-plenary" rel="nofollow"><span class="ucb-link-button-contents">2025 CU Boulder Session</span></a></p><p><a class="ucb-link-button ucb-link-button-blue ucb-link-button-large ucb-link-button-full" href="/today/2025/06/10/fall-back-love-nature-climate-forums-call-lead-heart" rel="nofollow"><span class="ucb-link-button-contents">2025 CU Boulder Today Article</span></a></p></div></div></div></div></div><p>In December of 2022 CU Boulder was the host for inaugural Right Here, Right Now United Nations Human Rights Global Summit, the organization of which engaged a number of RASEI fellows.</p><p>In 2025, the second Right Here, Right Now Global Summit was hosted by the Թ of Oxford. To highlight the global nature of the challenges faced a 24 hour global plenary session was undertaken. The cornerstone of the summit, this hybrid global event brought together leading thinkers and practitioners at the intersection of climate change and human rights. This session was broadcast live across all timezones. Co-created by Universities across the world, the plenary followed the sun as the baton was passed between different regions.</p><p>CU Boulder hosted a live session starting on June 5, 2025 at 9 AM MT. The session featured a keynote address from Sheila Watt-Cloutier and a panel discussion on pollution, water insecurity and human migration with CU Boulder students John Edem Ecklu, Naia Zulueta, and CU Boulder Associate Professor Amanda Carrico. Introductory remarks were made by Tonni Brodber and the sessions were moderated by NPR’s Lakshmi Singh.</p><p>The panel discussion brought together a range of perspectives and brought the audience into the discussion. The keynote highlighted the long-term commitment of Watt-Cloutier to appealing to the human side of climate change and the importance of how this impacts not only her community but everyone. Watt-Cloutier stated that she believes that one of the most important things we can be doing is educating people about the human impacts of climate change, that this can be an effective way to bring people together, even in times of political uncertainty and conflict.</p><p>“We are all in this together, as a common humanity,” Watt-Cloutier said. She described the Arctic as a sentinel for climate change and urged others to rediscover their bonds with the land. “In the Arctic, we just absolutely love our land, and indigenous peoples around the world are the same. We love nature because of what it gives us, and the love allows us to be stronger in our fight to defend our way of life”</p><p>“Do things that bring you back to nature and you will start to protect what you love”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>June 2025</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/2025_06_RHRN_Hero.jpg?itok=1EW0hHvZ" width="1500" height="322" alt="Picture of the stage of the right here right now live session at CU Boulder"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 13 Jun 2025 22:52:54 +0000 Daniel Morton 1329 at /rasei Polymer nanoparticle photocatalysts realized in non-aqueous solvents /rasei/2025/05/22/polymer-nanoparticle-photocatalysts-realized-non-aqueous-solvents <span>Polymer nanoparticle photocatalysts realized in non-aqueous solvents</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-05-22T15:57:02-06:00" title="Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 15:57">Thu, 05/22/2025 - 15:57</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/2025_05_22_SusEnFuel.png?h=2469e47b&amp;itok=ctMF6WEq" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/281" hreflang="en">Catalysis</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/81" hreflang="en">Reid</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">Rumbles</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>SUSTAINABLE ENERGY &amp; FUELS, 2025, ASAP</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SE00263J`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 22 May 2025 21:57:02 +0000 Daniel Morton 1321 at /rasei Elucidating Charge Carrier Reactivity, Conversion, and Degradation in n-Doped Oligo- and Poly(benzodifurandione) /rasei/2025/05/21/elucidating-charge-carrier-reactivity-conversion-and-degradation-n-doped-oligo-and <span>Elucidating Charge Carrier Reactivity, Conversion, and Degradation in n-Doped Oligo- and Poly(benzodifurandione)</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-05-21T15:46:49-06:00" title="Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 15:46">Wed, 05/21/2025 - 15:46</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/2025_05_21_JACS.png?h=2469e47b&amp;itok=SvKLurKd" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/280" hreflang="en">Computational Modeling</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/290" hreflang="en">Semiconductors</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 2025, 147, 22, 19372-19379</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c05722`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 21 May 2025 21:46:49 +0000 Daniel Morton 1318 at /rasei Air-Enabled Electricity-Driven Depolymerization of Polyesters /rasei/2025/04/13/air-enabled-electricity-driven-depolymerization-polyesters <span>Air-Enabled Electricity-Driven Depolymerization of Polyesters</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-04-13T13:26:24-06:00" title="Sunday, April 13, 2025 - 13:26">Sun, 04/13/2025 - 13:26</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-05/2025_04_13_SusChemEng.png?h=d1843680&amp;itok=CoxIS1Mh" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/281" hreflang="en">Catalysis</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/149" hreflang="en">Luca</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/113" hreflang="en">Miller</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/289" hreflang="en">Polymers</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY &amp; ENGINEERING, 2025, 13, 16, 5818-5827</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c08711`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Sun, 13 Apr 2025 19:26:24 +0000 Daniel Morton 1285 at /rasei Dimensionality-Controlled Confinement Effects for Tunable Optoelectronic Properties in Quasi-1D Hybrid Perovskites /rasei/2025/03/25/dimensionality-controlled-confinement-effects-tunable-optoelectronic-properties-quasi-1d <span>Dimensionality-Controlled Confinement Effects for Tunable Optoelectronic Properties in Quasi-1D Hybrid Perovskites</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-03-25T13:40:43-06:00" title="Tuesday, March 25, 2025 - 13:40">Tue, 03/25/2025 - 13:40</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-04/2025_03_25_ACSNano.png?h=d3502f1d&amp;itok=fn_6ebt7" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/320" hreflang="en">CHOISE</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/266" hreflang="en">Energy Generation</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/287" hreflang="en">Perovskites</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/273" hreflang="en">Solar Power</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>ACS NANO, 2025, 19, 13, 12895-12909</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c16359`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 25 Mar 2025 19:40:43 +0000 Daniel Morton 1271 at /rasei Intrachain Electron Transport in a Naphthalene Diimide–Bithiophene Copolymer: A Mixed-Valence Approach /rasei/2025/03/20/intrachain-electron-transport-naphthalene-diimide-bithiophene-copolymer-mixed-valence <span>Intrachain Electron Transport in a Naphthalene Diimide–Bithiophene Copolymer: A Mixed-Valence Approach</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-03-20T13:31:43-06:00" title="Thursday, March 20, 2025 - 13:31">Thu, 03/20/2025 - 13:31</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-04/2025_03_20_ACSMatLet.png?h=d3502f1d&amp;itok=AnA_tB13" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/290" hreflang="en">Semiconductors</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>ACS MATERIALS LETTERS, 2025, 7, 1447-1453</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialslett.4c02500`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 19:31:43 +0000 Daniel Morton 1267 at /rasei SPECS 2025 Annual Meeting /rasei/2025/02/12/specs-2025-annual-meeting <span>SPECS 2025 Annual Meeting</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-02-12T16:49:33-07:00" title="Wednesday, February 12, 2025 - 16:49">Wed, 02/12/2025 - 16:49</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-03/2025_02_SPECS_AM-04.jpg?h=d3502f1d&amp;itok=lsOl-fi6" width="1200" height="800" alt="SPECS meeting photos"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/263"> Conference </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/267" hreflang="en">Energy Storage</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/113" hreflang="en">Miller</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/289" hreflang="en">Polymers</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/81" hreflang="en">Reid</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">Rumbles</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/306" hreflang="en">SPECS</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/111" hreflang="en">Toney</a> </div> <a href="/rasei/our-community">Daniel Morton</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p><a class="ucb-link-button ucb-link-button-blue ucb-link-button-full ucb-link-button-large" href="https://specs.arizona.edu/" rel="nofollow"><span class="ucb-link-button-contents">SPECS EFRC</span></a></p></div></div><p>In February of 2025 RASEI hosted the 2025 SPECS Annual Meeting, bringing together researchers from across the nation to discuss recent updates and plan future research.</p><p>The Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems, or SPECS, is a US Department of Energy funded Energy Frontiers Research Center. The focus of SPECS is to understand and develop organic polymers, so called soft materials, that can be used in transporting electrons, for applications in batteries, electronics, solar energy harvesting, and thermoelectrics.</p><p>Each year members of the Center, which include researchers from seven institutions across the United States, come together to discuss recent research discoveries and brainstorm new ideas to drive the field forward. Participants at this years meeting included representatives from CU Boulder, NREL, The Թ of Arizona, Emory Թ, Թ of Kentucky, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Stanford Թ.</p><p>The two day meeting was a great opportunity for the community to build relationships across the different institutes, present their research, and develop new ideas for future directions.&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>02/11/2025</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/2025_02_SPECS_AM-03.jpg?itok=LBpHiqpA" width="1500" height="322" alt="SPECS meeting photos"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:49:33 +0000 Daniel Morton 1254 at /rasei Increased Brightness and Reduced Efficiency Droop in Perovskite Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Using Carbazole-Based Phosphonic Acid Interface Modifiers /rasei/2025/01/06/increased-brightness-and-reduced-efficiency-droop-perovskite-quantum-dot-light-emitting <span>Increased Brightness and Reduced Efficiency Droop in Perovskite Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Using Carbazole-Based Phosphonic Acid Interface Modifiers</span> <span><span>Daniel Morton</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-01-06T10:23:32-07:00" title="Monday, January 6, 2025 - 10:23">Mon, 01/06/2025 - 10:23</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/rasei/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-02/2025_01_06_ACSNano.png?h=603532df&amp;itok=J6Embe0k" width="1200" height="800" alt="TOC Graphic"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/43"> Publication </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">Barlow</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/269" hreflang="en">Energy Applications</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/50" hreflang="en">Marder</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/274" hreflang="en">Nanoscience and Advanced Materials</a> <a href="/rasei/taxonomy/term/287" hreflang="en">Perovskites</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>ACS NANO, 2025, 19, 1, 1116-1127</div> <script> window.location.href = `https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c13036`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 06 Jan 2025 17:23:32 +0000 Daniel Morton 1229 at /rasei