Perla Balbuena
  • Distinguished Professor
  • GPSA Professor
  • Mike O'Connor Chair I

Primary Appointment: Materials Science and Engineering 

Joint Appointment: Chemistry

Research Areas
  • Catalysis
  • Energy
  • Inorganic
  • Materials
  • Physical
  • Theoretical & Computational

Research Interests

  • Catalysis on metal nanoparticles for fuel cell electrocatalysts
  • Catalyzed growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes
  • Gas separation and storage in metal organic frameworks
  • Solid-electrolyte interphase layer nucleation and growth in Si and carbon anodes of Li-ion batteries
  • Materials for photocatalysis: Oxygen evolution in doped oxides
  • Materials for solar cells and hydrogen production: Hydrogen evolution on coated semiconductors covered by co-catalysts
  • Shale gas thermodynamics: Phase behavior of hydrocarbon + water mixtures in confined media

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1996
  • M.S.E., University of Pennsylvania, 1983
  • B.S., Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina, 1973

Awards & Honors

  • NSF/POWRE award, 1997
  • NSF/CAREER award, 1999
  • GPSA Professorship, 2005
  • AAAS Fellow, 2013
  • TEES Senior Fellow, 2013

Selected Publications

  • Daniel Rossi, Luis E. Camacho-Forero, Guadalupe Ramos-Sánchez, Jae Hyo Han, Jinwoo Cheon, Perla B. Balbuena and Dong Hee Son, "Anisotropic Electron-phonon Coupling in Colloidal Layered TiS2 Nanodiscs Observed via Coherent Acoustic Phonon," J. Phys. Chem. C., 119, (13), 7436-7442, (2015).

  • Julibeth M. Martinez de la Hoz, Fernando A. Soto, and Perla B. Balbuena, "Effect of the Electrolyte Composition on SEI Reactions at Si Anodes of Li-Ion Batteries," J. Phys. Chem. C, 119, 7060-7068, (2015).

  • Z. Liu, D. Hubble, P. B. Balbuena, and P. P. Mukherjee, "Adsorption of Insoluble Polysulfides Li2Sx (x = 1, 2) on Li2S Surfaces," Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 17, 9032-9039, (2015).

  • Julibeth M. Martinez de la Hoz and Perla B. Balbuena, "Small-Molecule Activation driven by Confinement Effects," ACS Catalysis, 1, 215-224, (2015).

  • Jiamei Yu and Perla B. Balbuena, "How impurities affect CO2 capture in metal-organic frameworks modified with different functional groups," ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 3 (1), 117-124, (2015).