Thoi Research Group

  • Using Molecular Interactions 
in Materials Development for Energy Solutions
  • Tuning Chemical Environments in Catalysis for Mechanistic Insights

Publications

Undergraduate authors, #Equal contribution, *Corresponding authors

45) Gerke, C. S.,# Xu, Y.,# Foley, G. D., Zhang, B., Shi, E., Bedford, N. M., Che, F.,* Thoi, V. S.* Electrochemical C-N Bond Formation Within Boron Imidazolate Cages Featuring Single Copper Sites, J. Am, Soc. Chem., 2023, 145, 26144-26151. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c08359

44) Saund, S. S., Barrett, B. J., Bragg, A. E., Thoi, V. S.* Trials and Tribulations of a Non-Catalyst, ACS. Catal., 2023, 13, 14470-1447. Invited perspective. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.3c04120

43) Gerke, C. S., Klenk, M., Zapol, P., Thoi, V. S.* Pulsed-Potential Electrolysis Enhances Electrochemical C-N Coupling by Reorienting Interfacial Ions, ACS. Catal., 2023, 13, 14540-14547.DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.3c03027

42) Jarrin, R. A., Bennett, K. J., Thoi, V. S., Bukowski, B. C.* Cations Mediate Lithium Polysulfide Adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries. J. Phys. Chem. C., 2023, 127, 21431-21439. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c05539

41) Singh, K. K.,# Gerke, C. S.,# Saund, S. S., Zito, A. M., Siegler, M. A., Thoi, V. S.* CO2 Activation with Manganese Tricarbonyl Complexes via an H-Atom Responsive Benzimidazole Ligand, Chem. Eur. J., 2023, 29, e202300796. Invited contribution to special issue on "Manganese Homogeneous Catalysis". DOI: 10.1002/chem.202300796

40) Liu, B., Baumann, A. E., Butala, M. M., Thoi, V. S.* Phosphate-Functionalized Zirconium Metal-Organic Frameworks for High Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Chem. Eur. J., 2023, 29, e202300821. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202300821

(39) Davis, J., Banerjee, S., Beccar-Varela, P., Thoi, V. S., Drichko, N.* Raman Scattering Spectra of Boron Imidazolate Frameworks Containing Paramagnetic Ions, J. Chem. Phys., 2023, 158, 214704. DOI: 10.1063/5.0152070

(38) Banerjee, S., Han, X., Siegler, M. A., Miller, E. M., Bedford, N. M., Bukowski, B. C., Thoi, V. S.* A Flexible 2D Boron Imidazolate Framework for Polysulfide Adsorption in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Chem. Mater., 2022, 34, 10451-10458. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c02324

(37) Baumann, A. E.,# Anayah, R. I.,# Thoi, V. S.* Phosphorus-Functionalized Organic Linkers Promote Polysulfide Retention in MOF-Based Li-S Batteries, ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2022, 5, 15302-15309. DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.2c02925

(36) Banerjee, S., Gorham, J. M., Beccar-Varela, P., Hackbarth, H. G., Siegler, M. A., Drichko, N., Write, J. T., Bedford, N. M.,* Thoi, V. S.* Atomically Dispersed CuNx Sites from Thermal Activation of Boron Imidazolate Cages for Electrocatalytic Methane Generation, ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2023, 6, 9044-9056. Invited Article to the special issue "Metal-organic Frameworks for Energy Storage Applications." DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.2c01174

(35) Liu, B., Thoi, V. S.* Tailored Porous Framework Materials for Elucidating Lithium-Sulfur Battery Chemistry, Chem. Comm., 2022, 58, 4005-4015. DOI: 10.1039/D1CC07087H

(34) Banerjee, S.,# Gerke, C. S.,# Thoi, V. S.* Guiding CO2RR Selectivity by Compositional Tuning in the Electrochemical Double Layer, Acc. Chem. Res., 2022, 55, 504-515. DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00680

(33) Burns, D. A.,# Baumann, A. E.,# Bennett, K. J., Diaz, J. C., Thoi, V. S.* Chemical Sulfide Tethering Improves Low-Temperature Li-S Battery Cycling, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13, 50862-50868. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c12129

(32) Saund, S. S., Siegler, M. A., Thoi, V. S.* Electrochemical degradation of dicationic Re complex via Hoffman-type Elimination, Inorg. Chem., 2021, 60, 13011-13020. DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c01427

(31) Thoi, V. S.,* Yang, J. Y.* Heterogeneous Interfaces through the Lens of Inorganic Chemistry Inorg. Chem., 2021, 60, 6853-6854. Guest Editor. DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c01272

(30) Burns, D. A., Benavidez, A., Buckner, J., Thoi, V. S.* Maleimide-Functionalized Metal-Organic Framework for Polysulfide Tethering in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Mater. Adv., 2021, 2, 2966-2970. DOI: 10.1039/D1MA00084E

(29) Banerjee, S.,# Anayah, R.,# Gerke, C. S., Thoi, V. S.* From Molecules to Porous Materials: Integrating Discrete Electrocatalytic Actives Sites into Extended Frameworks, ACS Cent. Sci., 2020, 6, 1671-1684. Invited contribution. DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01088

(28) Han, X., Thoi, V. S.* Non-Innocent Role of Porous Carbon Towards Enhancing C2-3 Products in Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2020, 12, 45929-45935. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10591

(27) Han, X.,# Gerke, C. S.,# Banerjee, S., Zubair, M., Jiang, J., Bedford, N. M., Miller, E. M., Thoi, V. S.* Strategic Design of MoO2 Nanoparticles Supported by Carbon Nanowires for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction, ACS Energy Lett., 2020, 5, 3237-3243. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01857

(26) Liu, B., Thoi, V. S.* Improving Charge Transfer in Metal-Organic Frameworks through Open Site Functionalization and Porosity Selection for Li-S Batteries, Chem. Mater., 2020, 32, 8450-8459. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02438

(25) Banerjee, S., Zhang, Z-Q., Hall, A. S., Thoi, V. S.* Surfactant Perturbation of Cation Interactions at the Electrode-Electrolyte Interface in Carbon Dioxide Reduction, ACS Catal., 2020, 10, 9907-9914. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.0c02387

(24) Baumann, A. E.,# Downing, J. R.,# Burns, D. A., Hersam, M. C.,* Thoi, V. S.* Graphene-MOF Composite Sulfur Electrodes for Li-S Batteries with High Volumetric Capacity, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2020, 12, 37173-37181. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c09622

(23) Zhang, Z-Q., Banerjee, S., Thoi, V. S., Hall, A. S.* Reorganization of Interfacial Water by an Amphiphilic Cationic Surfactant Promotes CO2 Reduction. J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2020, 11, 5457-5463. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01334

(22) Sarkar, S., Maitra, A., Banerjee, S., Thoi, V. S., Dawlaty, J. M.* Electric Fields at Metal-Surfactant Interfaces: A Combined Vibrational Spectroscopy and Capacitance Study. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2020, 124, 1311-1321. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c00560

(21) Singh, K. K., Siegler, M. A., Thoi, V. S.,* Unusual Reactivity of Thiazole-based Mn Tricarbonyl Complex for CO2 Activation. Organometallics, 2020, 39, 988-994. Invited contribution to a Special Issue on "Organometallic Chemistry at Various Length Scales." DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.9b00727

(20) Burns, D. A., Press, E. M., Siegler, M. A., Klausen, R. S., Thoi, V. S.* 2D Oligosilyl Metal-Organic Frameworks as Multi-State Switchable Materials. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59,763-768. Editor's choice for "Hot Paper." DOI: 10.1002/anie.201912911

(19) Baumann, A. E., Han, X., Butala, M. M., Thoi, V. S.* Lithium Thiophosphate Functionalized Zirconium MOFs for Li-S Batteries with Enhanced Rate Capabilities. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019, 141, 17891-17899. DOI:10.1021/jacs.9b09538

(18) Thoi, V. S.,* Yang, J. Y.* Molecular Insights into Heterogeneous Processes in Energy Storage and Conversion. ACS Energy Lett., 2019, 4, 2201-2204. Invited Energy Focus Article. DOI:10.1021/acsenergylett.9b01701

(17) Baumann, A. E.,# Burns, D. A.,# Liu, B., Thoi, V. S.* Metal-organic framework functionalization and design strategies for advanced electrochemical energy storage devices. Commun. Chem., 2019, 2, 86. Invited contribution, also included as a most downloaded review article in a special collection commemorating the 5th anniversary of Communications Chemistry. DOI:10.1038/s42004-019-0184

(16) Liu, B., Baumann, A. E., Thoi, V. S.* Modulating Charge Transport in MOFs with Zirconium Oxide Nodes and Redox-Active Linkers for Lithium Sulfur Batteries. Polyhedron, 2019, 170, 788-795. Invited Contribution to the Special Issue of "Women with MOxy: Metal Oxide Chemistry from Female Investigators." DOI: 10.1016/j.poly.2019.06.044

(15) Banerjee, S., Han, X., Thoi, V. S.* Modulating the Electrode-Electrolyte Interface with Cationic Surfactants in Carbon Dioxide Reduction. ACS Catal., 2019, 9, 5631-5637. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b00449

(14) Saund, S. S., Goldschmid, S. L., Ng, K., Stewart, V. J., Siegler, M. A., Thoi, V. S.* Exploring Ligand Non-Innocence of Coordinatively-Versatile Diamidodipyrrinato Cobalt Complexes. Chem. Commun., 2019, 55, 1825-1828. DOI: 10.1039/C8CC08674E

(13) Baumann, A. E., Burns, D. A., Diaz, J. C., Thoi, V. S.* Lithiated Defect Sites in Zr Metal-Organic Framework for Enhanced Sulfur Utilization in Li-S Batteries. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces., 2019, 11, 2159-2167. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b19034

(12) Han, X., Wang, M., Le, M. L., Bedford, N. M., Woehl, T. J., Thoi, V. S.* Effects of Substrate Porosity in Carbon Aerogel Supported Copper for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction. Electrochimica Acta, 2019, 297, 545-552. DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.11.203

(11) Baumann, A. E., Aversa, G. E., Roy, A., Falk, M. L., Bedford, N. M., Thoi, V. S.* Promoting Sulfur Adsorption using Surface Cu Sites in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Lithium Sulfur Batteries. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 4811-4821. DOI: 10.1039/C8TA01057A

Publications Prior to JHU

(10) Thoi, V. S.; Usiskin, R. E.; Haile, S. M. Platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes for hydrogen oxidation and proton reduction in solid acid electrochemical cells. Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 1570-1577. Top 25 Downloaded Chem. Sci. Article in the First Quarter of 2015. DOI:10.1039/C4SC03003F


(9) Khnayzer, R. S.,# Thoi, V. S.,# Nippe, M., King, A. E., Jurss, J. W, El Roz, K. A., Long, J. R., Chang, C. J., Castellano, F. N. Towards a comprehensive understanding of visible-light photogeneration of hydrogen from water using cobalt(II) polypyridyl catalysts. Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, 7, 1477-1488. DOI:10.1039/C3EE43982H


(8) Thoi, V. S.,# Kornienko, N.,# Margarit, C. G., Yang, P., Chang, C. J. Visible-light photoredox catalysis: selective reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide by a nickel N-heterocyclic carbene-isoquinoline complex. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 14413-14424. DOI:10.1021/ja4074003


(7) Thoi, V. S., Sun, Y., Long, J. R., Chang, C. J. Complexes of earth-abundant metals for catalytic electrochemical hydrogen generation under aqueous conditions.Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 135, 14413-14424. DOI:10.1039/C2CS35272A


(6) Thoi, V. S., Karunadasa, H. I., Surendranath, Y., Long, J. R., Chang, C. J. Electrochemical generation of hydrogen from acetic acid using a molecular molybdenum-oxo catalyst. Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 7762-7770. DOI:10.1039/C2EE21519E


(5) Sundstrom, E. J., Yang, X., Thoi, V. S., Karunadasa, H. I., Chang, C. J., Long, J. R., Head-Gordon, M. Computational and experimental study of the mechanism of hydrogen generation from water by a molecular molybdenum-oxo electrocatalyst. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 5233-5242. DOI:10.1021/ja210949r


(4) Thoi, V. S., Chang, C. J. Nickel N-heterocyclic carbene-pyridine complexes that exhibit selectivity for electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide over water. Chem. Comm., 2011, 47, 6578-6580. DOI:10.1039/C1CC10449G


(3) Thoi, V. S., Stork, J. R., Niles, E. T., Depperman, E. C., Tierney, D. L, Cohen, S. M. Diamidodipyrrins: Versatile bipyrrolic ligands with multiple binding modes. Inorg. Chem., 2008, 47, 10533-10541. DOI:10.1021/ic8011876


(2) Stork, J. R, Thoi, V. S., Cohen, S. M. Rare examples of transition metal-main group metal heterometallic metal-organic frameworks from gallium and indium dipyrrinato complexes and silver salts: synthesis and framework variability. Inorg. Chem., 2007, 46, 11213-11223. DOI:10.1021/ic7016159


(1) Thoi, V. S., Stork, J. R., Magde, D., Cohen, S. M. Luminescent dipyrrinato complexes of trivalent group 13 metal ions. Inorg. Chem., 2006, 45, 10688-10697. DOI:10.1021/ic061581h