Emily Tsui

Associate Professor; Director of Graduate Studies

Office
271 Stepan Chemistry
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
+1 574-631-0005
Email
etsui@nd.edu

Lab Website

Research Areas

  • Inorganic Chemistry

Research Specialties

  • Energy
  • Materials
  • Synthesis

Prospective Graduate Students

Request More Information
Apply

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

The Tsui group uses synthetic inorganic chemistry approaches to study molecules and materials that may address societal challenges in health, catalysis, and energy conversion/storage. Recent work has focused on the redox chemistry of transition metal-chalcogen compounds, with two separate targets: First, the reactions and species studied have relevance as synthetic models of biological motifs related to sulfur signaling. Second, these principles are applied toward improved understanding of the complicated surface redox chemistry of nanomaterials in photocatalyitic applications.

Selected Publications

  • Balliew, W. L. and Tsui, E. Y. "Spectroelectrochemical Measurement of Colloidal Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanocrystal Surface Reduction: Potentials, Anion Dissociation, and Speciation" 2026 Chemistry of Materials, 38 (13), pp.6932–6942. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01112.
  • 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.