Dr. Kathryn Newton - NMU Chemistry

Office: 3120 Weston
Phone: 906-227-2176
Email: kanewton@nmu.edu

• Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 2019. Research Advisor: Susan Kauzlarich
• B.A. Cornell University, 2012. Research Advisor: Frank DiSalvo

Currently, I teach CH 242 – Quantitative Analysis, which is the first analytical chemistry course that many students take. I have also taught CH 215 – Chemistry of the Elements, which is an introduction to inorganic chemistry. In the classroom and lab, I enjoy helping students to add to their toolbox of chemistry skills and to practice explaining chemistry using their own words.

While I do not perform research at NMU, in graduate school I studied semiconductor nanomaterials, which have applications in solar energy conversion. In one project, I studied how photocatalytic water oxidation is affected by the size of the WO3 nanoparticle catalysts. I have also studied the synthesis and ligand exchange of Ge and Ge1-xSnx nanocrystals using microwave-assisted reactions. Ge is a direct band gap semiconductor material. By tailoring the size, composition, surface-capping ligand, and morphology of the Ge nanocrystals, we can tune the band gap energy of these materials.

• Newton, K. A.; Sully, R. S.; Bridges, F.; Carter, S. A.; Kauzlarich, S. M. Structural Characterization of Oleylamine and Dodecanethiol Capped Ge1-xSnx Alloy Nanocrystals. Submitted for Publication October 2020
• Newton, K. A.; Ju, Z.; Tabatabaei, K.; Kauzlarich, S. M. Diorganyl Dichalcogenides as Surface Capping Ligands for Germanium Nanocrystals. Organomet. 2020, 39 (7), 995-1005. DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.9b00749
• Newton, K. A.; Osterloh, F. E. Size and Morphology of Suspended WO3 Particles Control Photochemical Charge Carrier Extraction and Photocatalytic Water Oxidation Activity. Topics in Catalysis. 2016, 59(8-9), 750-756. DOI: 10.1007/s11244-016-0549-3