Nya E. Black

Nya Black's research focuses on developing innovative electrochemical techniques to measure and quantify molecular photocatalysis. In chemical reactions driven by light, photocatalysts excite electrons to initiate transformations under safer conditions and with fewer additives; however, these processes occur on extremely rapid timescales that are difficult or impossible to capture using conventional methods like luminescence spectroscopy. By employing cyclic voltammetry and advanced kinetic simulations, Black established a novel analytical framework using an iron photocatalyst model to directly measure photocatalytic efficiency and quantum yield. Her breakthrough provides an accessible, cost-effective measurement strategy that reports on critical reaction timescales previously unobservable, generating high-visibility findings that were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Building upon this foundation, Black is expanding her electroanalytical methodology to study a broader range of complex catalytic systems and address fundamental measurement limits. Her ongoing and future work explores thin-layer cyclic voltammetry at micrometer and nanometer length scales, where nanoscale reaction confinement increases measurement sensitivity and enables the capture of exceptionally fast kinetics. This novel approach aims to provide the first direct measurements for classes of low-efficiency, nonideal photocatalysts obscured by background reactions, establishing electrochemistry as a practical, widely adoptable measurement tool across diverse areas of chemical synthesis and energy research.

What Faculty Say

"[Nya's] work addresses an important measurement gap: many promising photocatalysts based on earth-abundant metals cannot be readily characterized by conventional methods such as luminescence spectroscopy. Nya is developing electrochemical measurements that provide complementary, quantitative insight into how these photocatalysts operate. This is an inherently interdisciplinary challenge requiring expertise in electrochemistry, photophysics, chemical synthesis, data analysis, and advanced simulation. Nya has led the project to remarkable success. She has established rigorous measurement benchmarks and error analyses, synthesized new catalysts, and integrated automated, high-throughput kinetic simulations to validate our experiments. Most impressive is Nya’s ability to simply 'figure it out.' She is exceptionally self-motivated and readily learns methods far outside her prior training."

- Dr. Dylan G. Boucher, Nya's Faculty Mentor