Emily Tsui
Associate Professor; Director of Graduate Studies
- Office
- 271 Stepan Chemistry
Notre Dame, IN 46556 - Phone
- +1 574-631-0005
- etsui@nd.edu
Research Areas
- Inorganic Chemistry
Research Specialties
- Energy
- Materials
- Synthesis
Prospective Graduate Students
Biography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2024-present | Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame |
| 2026-present | Director of Graduate Studies, University of Notre Dame |
| 2017-2024 | Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame |
| 2014-2017 | Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington |
| 2014 | Ph.D. in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology |
| 2008 | B.S. in Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Selected Awards
2021 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
2019 Scialog Fellow, Research Corporation for Science Advancement
2014-2017 Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH Postdoctoral Fellow
2014 ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Young Investigator Award
2014 Herbert Newby McCoy Award, California Institute of Technology
2009-2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Research Interests
Research in the Tsui group will focus on the development of new catalysts using principles and techniques from the areas of bioinorganic, organometallic, and nanomaterials chemistry. Biological enzymes and heterogeneous catalysts are capable of activating very strong bonds in small molecules with high activity and specificity. We will design transition metal complexes and nanoscale materials as models of these systems, incorporating new structural or compositional motifs from enzymatic or heterogeneous active sites to enhance the performance of our artifical catalytic systems. An improved fundamental understanding of these systems will have important applications in chemical synthesis, liquid fuels production, and energy storage.
Selected Publications
- Sohail, M.; Heinsen, C.; Oliver, A. G. and Tsui, E. Y. "Sulfur Insertion into Group 12 Metal Dithiolate Complexes: Metal-Dependent Equilibria" 2026 Dalton Transactions, 55 (10), pp.4119–4127. DOI: 10.1039/d6dt00074f.
- Degbevi, M.; Balliew, W. L.; Handunge, K. U.; Oliver, A. G. and Tsui, E. Y. "Ligand Basicity Modulates Metal Cation Reduction Potentials at Colloidal Cadmium Chalcogenide Quantum Dot Surfaces" 2025 Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147 (21), pp.18257–18266. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c05413.
- Tsui, E. Y. "Surface Considerations in Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystal Photocatalysis: A Mini Review" 2025 Energy & Fuels, 39 (15), pp.7182–7195. DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5c00886.
- Degbevi, M.; Stoffel, J. T. and Tsui, E. Y. "Coordinated Anions Tune Z-Type Ligand Displacement from Colloidal CdSe and InP Nanocrystal Surfaces" 2024 Inorganic Chemistry, 63 (49), pp.23169–23178. DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c03534.
- Seo, W.; Tsang, V. A.; Ballesteros, M.,II and Tsui, E. Y. "Ligand Basicity and Chelate Effects on Sulfur Insertion Vs. Sulfur Reduction by Zinc Thiolate Complexes" 2024 Chemistry-A European Journal, 30 (41), e202401280. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202401280.
- Seo, W.; Riffel, M. N.; Oliver, A. G. and Tsui, E. Y. "Metal-Cation-Induced Shifts in Thiolate Redox and Reduced Sulfur Speciation" 2024 Chemical Science, 15 (19), pp.7332–7341. DOI: 10.1039/d4sc01025f.