Research

We are currently interested in the physical chemistry and electrochemistry of liquid electrolytes used in electrochemical devices and hydrometallurgical applications. These can range from non-aqueous solvents (such as carbonates and ethers) to aqueous electrolytes with conventional salts or acids. We are also interested more generally in questions pertaining to phase equilibria.

Subjects of interest include tying the freezing point of liquid electrolytes as a function of composition and temperature, as well as the solubilty limits, to the nanoscale and to molecular and ionic interactions.

Posts

2026-01-09

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Freezing point depression of liquid electrolytes is a fundamental and well known concept. It explains why oceans will stay liquid at temperatures lower than fresh water lakes. It is also used as a probe to understand the various interactions in a liquid mixture. Here is a thermodynamic treatment of freezing point depression, with calcium chloride in water as an example. Most treatments available utilize advanced thermodynamic relations such as a Gibbs-Duhem relationship or the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation. This one, in an effort for simplicity, does not. Download the document. (Image above from Michael Pereckas from Milwaukee, WI, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons).

2025-11-01

Vapour pressure measurements are fundamental in physical chemistry to probe interactions in liquid solutions. Vapor pressure is also what will tell you whether a perfume ingredient is a base note, heart note, or top note! Upcoming talk on vapor pressure measurements applied to perfumes at the Institute of Art and Olfaction. Although the talk will not be posted online, a follow up is planned for the upcoming year which will be. (Image above: a liquid in a flask, establishing an equilibrium with its vapor phase.)