3 photos of Dr Zibuck

Dr. Zibuck appreciation post! Regina Zibuck is known for her dedication to chemical education and outreach, including directing the Science Olympiad at Wayne State University. #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #WomenInChemistry #appreciationpost #chemistryprof

PhD candidate Joshua Renas and advisor Chuck Winter in Schaap Hall

Joshua Renas, of the Winter Group, gave an insightful 4th year talk on: “Selective Atomic Layer Deposition using Self Assembled Monolayers" at #wsuchemistry this afternoon. #NextStopPhD #AlDep #chemsky

Flier for PhD defense

The Final Public Oral Defense For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Sethma Wijesinghe will be held on Friday, May 1st, 10:30 am, Schaap Hall, #wsuchemistry. Good Luck, Sethma! #phddefense #ChemSky #MRI

Lucas Bao and Zhenfei Liu in Schaap Hall

Thank you to Lucas Bao for visiting #wsuchemistry today and giving a seminar on everything from electrons to ensembles in predictive chemistry. #compchem #chemtalk #ChemSky

OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry The ACS COMP OpenEye Cadence Molecular Sciences Outstanding Junior Faculty Award program provides $1,000 to up to four outstanding tenure-track junior faculty members to present their work in COMP div...

Alice Walker has received the OpenEye outstanding junior faculty award for 2026 from the American Chemical Society Division of Computers in Chemistry. Congratulations, @arwalker.bsky.social! #wsuchemistry #compchem #ChemSky

www.acs-comp.org/awards/the-c...

2 people standing by a large celebration cake

Fathima, of the Brock Lab, passed her 2nd year candidacy exam and is now a PhD candidate. Fathima, we are so happy for you! Congratulations! #wsuchemistry #phdjourney #ChemSky

3 chemistry students in a lab setting

Warriors, thank you for helping us celebrate Giving Day 2026. Your participation made a significant impact in Wayne State's future and support for our amazing students, faculty, and groundbreaking research! #wsuchemistry #GiveGreenBeGold

New PhD student with a celebration cake

We are delighted to share with you that Fatima, of the Brock Lab, has passed her qualifying exam and is officially a PhD candidate at #wsuchemistry. Congratulations, Fatima! #phdlife #ChemSky #materialschemistry

Zeke Isreal on the stage in Schaap Lecture Hall

Zeke Israel, of the Kodanko Lab, is one step closer to his PhD after giving his 4th year talk on: "Dynamics of Cyanotoxins in an Estuarine System and Their Accumulation in Freshwater Fish" at #wsuchemistry. #ChemSky #phdlife

Happy Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week! #wsuchemistry #chemistryindetroit #gradschool #ChemSky

Tom O’Halloran and Matt Allen standing in front of Schaap Lecture Hall

Great talk from Tom O’Halloran today at #wsuchemistry. Professor O’Halloran’s work, at Michigan State University, focuses on metalloregulatory proteins, intracellular metal trafficking, and designing metal-based anticancer agents. #chemtalk #bioinorganicchemistry #ChemSky

Today's the day! It's @waynestate Giving Day 💚💛

A gift of $40 will buy a student with a lab coat, providing the safety gear needed for a successful semester. #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #GiveGreenBeBold

🔰 Give now: give.wayne.edu/schools/Wayn...

Mariyas Tharuka Mahipala Mudalige standing in front of Schaap Lecture Hall

Mariyas Tharuka Mahipala Mudalige, of the Rury Lab, gave his 4th year talk today at #wsuchemistry on “Probing Dynamics of Crystalline Materials on Ultrafast Timescales.” Great talk! #physicalchemistry #NextStopPhD #ChemSky

New PhD candidate standing by a cake and holding a bouquet of flowers

We are happy to share with you that Evan Benbow, of the Brock Lab, passed his oral exams yesterday today and is now a PhD candidate. Congratulations, Evan! #wsuchemistry #phdlife #chemistryindetroit #materialschemistry

Magnetic Response of Excitons and Excitonic Complexes in Defective Hexyl Ammonium Lead Iodide Self-Assembled Quantum Wells Correlating the magnetic behavior of low-dimensional semiconductors with the chemistry used to form these excitonic materials remains crucial to the development of devices applied to quantum technologies. In this study, we apply large magnetic fields during the collection of low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) to assess the magnetic properties of excitons in hexyl ammonium lead iodide (HA2PbI4) self-assembled quantum wells (SAQWs) formed at liquid–liquid interfaces. The effect of incident laser power and temperature was used to assign lower energy features in these samples’ PL spectra to both excitons trapped at defect sites and trions. Measured peaks shifts allow us to estimate coupling between the applied magnetic fields and the charged defect excitons. Our conclusions are supported by density functional theory calculations on supercells of the proposed defective HA2PbI4 SAQW structure. Additionally, we find an anomalous magnetic response from trion states that resembles the behavior of interacting excitonic complexes in similar, quantum-confined materials at low temperatures. These results highlight the crucial role that chemical conditions can play in the magnetic response of 2D semiconductors applied in quantum technologies.

Publication Alert in ACS Nano!

“Magnetic Response of Excitons and Excitonic Complexes in Defective Hexyl Ammonium Lead Iodide Self-Assembled Quantum Wells” is a collaboration between the Rury Lab and NIST. #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #pchem

doi.org/10.1021/acsn...

Wayne State University was founded in 1868 as the Detroit Medical College. Neil E. Gordon joined WSU in 1942 and became the first Chair of the Chemistry Department and established the PhD program at #wsuchemistry in October 1942.

A page from the 1942 Yearbook of Wayne State University of the WSU American Chemical Society Affiliates

The @acs.org celebrated the 150th anniversary of their founding this week and we found a photo of the WSU ACS from 1945 in the @reutherlibrary.bsky.social Library’s digital archives. #wsuchemistry #ACS150 #ChemSky

Guest speaker Gunda Georg with Hien Nguyen in Schaap Hall

Thank you to Gunda Georg for a very interesting Frontiers lecture on the discovery and development of a a non-hormonal birth control pill that targets the retinoid signaling pathway with YCT-529. The pill is undergoing more clinical tests. #wsuchemistry #chemtalk #ChemSky

Person holding a cake in an office setting

It’s official! Colin Arban, of the Allen Lab, passed his oral exam and is now a PhD candidate. Congratulations, Colin! @mattallen12345.bsky.social #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #phdlife

Members of the Wayne State University Chemistry organization receiving an award

Our WSU ACS has been recognized for the 3rd consecutive year by the @acc.org with an Outstanding Student Chapter Award. The repeat honor highlights the organization's sustained excellence among ACS student chapters across the country. Congratulations! #wsuchemistry #acs150 #ACSSpring2026

🧪 We’re proud to announce Dr. Paul Buckley as Chemistry’s #CougsGive Ambassador for April 15, 2026. His leadership and teaching reflect our commitment to strengthening the student experience in Chemistry. Join us April 15 to help shape WSU Chemistry’s future. #CougsGive #WSUChemistry

5 people at a reception for a guest speaker

Euna Yoo, from the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute gave today’s seminar at #wsuchemistry. #chembio #chemSky

Phi Beta Kappa 2026 Members in Course from the Department of Chemistry

The following undergraduates from #wsuchemistry have been selected as members in course to receive an invitation to join Phi Beta Kappa Society:

Mustafa Al-ithawi 
Jorge Flores-Gonzalez 
Layan Ghali 
Bryce Heim 
Lindsay Israil 
Elyas Khan 
Vanesa Lleshi 
Mehreen Siddiqui 
Majd Suleiman

Congrats!

🎓 Thinking about a PhD in Chemistry? There’s still time to join us at Washington State University!

✅ WSU’s Chemistry PhD program is still considering applications for Fall enrollment 🌾

Ready to take the next step?
👉 chem.wsu.edu/graduate-stu...

#GoCougs #WSUChemistry #PhDlife

The latest issue of the Periodic Tabloid is now online! #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #chemistrynews

clas.wayne.edu/chemistry/do...

Advisor Tom Linz standing next to PhD Candidate Jessica Halter inside Schaap Lecture Hall

#NextStopPhD! Jessica Halter, of the Linz Lab, gave her 4th year talk on: "Protein Structure Characterization Using Microfluidic Thermal Gel Electrophoresis." Brava, Jessica! #wsuchemistry #AnaChem #ChemSky #phdlife

PhD candidate Solomon Effah meeting his mentor Dr. Michael A. Walter at the American Chemical Society Spring meeting

Solomon Yamoah Effah, of the Walker Lab, presented a 20-minute oral talk in the MEDI General Oral Session at the recent ACS Spring meeting and met his YMCC mentor, Michael A. Walters in person! #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #ACSSoring2026 #ACS150

Selective Sorbent Design: CaS Aerogel for Rapid Remediation of Aqueous Pb (II) Heavy metals are a persistent environmental problem due to their high toxicity, even at very low concentrations (parts per billion, ppb). The removal of such diluted heavy metals is challenging because of the competition the counterions (Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, etc.) present in natural water bodies. The design of sorbents capable of removing ions below the action limit (15 ppb for Pb2+) requires a strong driving force for selective uptake and rapid removal. In this work, we report the synthesis of porous CaS aerogels (surface area = 143.6 m2/g) by oxidative assembly of CaS nanoparticles and describe their use in selective Pb2+ ion remediation from water. Despite the presence of amorphous CaCO3 (up to 50 wt %) in the gel network, the gels demonstrated a capacity of 17.1 mmol Pb/g aerogel (3543 mg/g), and this could be augmented to 22.5 mmol Pb/g aerogel (4593 mg/g) by modifying the synthesis to reduce CaCO3 content to ca. 15 wt %. Moreover, the selectivity of CaS aerogels toward Pb2+ ions is high, as evidenced by little-to-no change in the distribution constant (Kd ∼ 104) in the presence of competing ions (1 M) such as Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+. During remediation with low concentrations (100 ppb) of Pb2+ with CaS aerogels, the level of Pb2+ dropped to 5.4 ppb (below the 15 ppb EPA limit) within 1 h with a 95.4% removal efficiency. In contrast to the CO2 supercritically dried aerogels, lower surface area ambient dried gels (xerogels) only remove 40% of the lead ions from a 100 ppb solution, saturating within 1 h. The efficiency and rapidity of selective Pb2+ uptake using CdS aerogels arise from a combination of a strong thermodynamic driving force for cation exchange (Keq = 2.5 × 1027) and chemisorption along with favorable kinetics associated with the high surface area porous architecture. These results show that formation of high surface area metal chalcogenide aerogels by oxidative assembly to form nanocrystalline architectures, as previously demonstrated for II–VI and IV–VI semiconductors, can be extended to the more highly ionic alkaline earth sulfides.

The latest research article from the Brock Lab — “Selective Sorbent Design: CaS Aerogel for Rapid Remediation of Aqueous Pb (II) has been published in Chemistry of Materials! #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #materialschemistry

doi.org/10.1021/acs....

2 people standing in Schaap Lecture Hall

Big thanks to Seth Cohen for today’s Frontiers in Chemistry Lecture- “Celebrating MOFs! From Surfaces to Self-Assembly.” We love the title, we hope you had a chance to hear Professor Cohen’s talk. #wsuchemistry #MOFs #chemtalk #ChemSky

Matt Dent recipient of the NSF CAREER Award

Matt Dent is receiving the NSF CAREER Award for his proposal: “Carbon monoxide sensing, selectivity, and signaling in microbes.” Congratulations! #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #CLASresearch #chembio