Anatoly I. Frenkel

About

Professor Anatoly I. Frenkel is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on the physico-chemical properties and mechanistic studies of functional nanomaterials. He investigates heterogeneous and photo-catalysis involving nanoparticles, clusters, and single atoms. Professor Frenkel employs multimodal methodologies for materials characterization and integrates machine learning methods for materials research and discovery. Additionally, he is involved in the development of synchrotron-based techniques and data analysis methods. For recent research highlights, his work is featured on the web page of the Structure and Dynamics of Applied Nanomaterials group at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Computational chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Materials science
• Organic chemistry
• Metallurgy
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Physical chemistry
• Chemical physics

Selected publications

• Dynamic structure of active sites in ceria-supported Pt catalysts for the water gas shift reaction

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 224 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  sites are formed in the active structure, transformed at working temperatures and their appearance regulates the adsorbate behaviors. We find that the dynamic nature of this site is a key mechanistic step for the WGS reaction.

  DOI

• High-Performance Nitrogen-Doped Intermetallic PtNi Catalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

  ACS Catalysis · 2020 · 168 citations

  PtM (M = transition metals) nanomaterials have been recognized as promising catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells, with a much higher performance than pure Pt. However, the insufficient durability issue of PtM is often raised because of the fast dissolution of M in acid, impeding their commercialization. Herein, we report on a Ketjenblack (KB)-supported, nitrogen (N)-doped intermetallic PtNiN (Int-PtNiN/KB) catalyst that exhibits remarkably enhanced ORR activity and sta…

  DOI

• Ethylene Dehydroaromatization over Ga‐ZSM‐5 Catalysts: Nature and Role of Gallium Speciation

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2020 · 83 citations

  Bifunctional catalysis in zeolites possessing both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites offers unique opportunities to tailor shape selectivity and enhance catalyst performance. Here, we examine the impact of framework and extra-framework gallium species on enriched aromatics production in zeolite ZSM-5. We compare three distinct methods of preparing Ga-ZSM-5 and reveal direct (single step) synthesis leads to optimal catalysts compared to post-synthesis methods. Using a combination of state-of-the-art…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Enhancing ORR Performance of Bimetallic PdAg Electrocatalysts by Designing Interactions between Pd and Ag

  ACS Applied Energy Materials · 2020 · 54 citations

  Precise tuning of the electronic properties of Ag/C using under potentially deposited (UPD) Cu and subsequent galvanic displacement to deposit atomically dispersed loading of Pd resulted in a robust bimetallic alloy with significant activity for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media. The specific design of the catalyst and atomic arrangement of Pd–Ag outperforms conventional Pd/C and Ag/C commercial catalysts. The ORR activity of Pd deposited onto Ag/C was determined on the basis of ro…

  DOI

• A Biomimetic Twisting Strategy Enables Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Energy-Dense Hydrazine Hydrate on FeN₂₊₂C₄₊₄ Sites

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025-08-21 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Electrocatalytic hydrazine oxidation holds great promise for enabling fuel cell-powered transportation since hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O) has the highest energy density of all liquid, CO2-free fuels (3.45 kWh/L), and the highest fuel cell voltage (1.56 V vs O2). Inspired by the ruffling of catalytic centers in oxidative enzymes, we designed a twisted single-atom nanozyme comprising twisted FeN2+2C4+4 sites, enabling high accessibility of N2H4 and OH– reactants. Experimental evidence shows that t…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Designing Functional Bioligand Interfaces for Multifunctional Nanomaterials

  NSF · $300k · 2022–2026

• DMREF: Collaborative Research: Toolkit to Characterize and Design Bi-functional Nanoparticle Catalysts

  NSF · $270k · 2015–2017

• NSF/DMR-BSF: Origin of Large Electromechanical Response in Non-Classical Electrostrictors

  NSF · $444k · 2016–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Ralph G. Nuzzo

  132 shared

• Yuanyuan Li

  Henan University of Technology

  103 shared

• Judith C. Yang

  University of Pittsburgh

  103 shared

• Janis Timoshenko

  Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society

  87 shared

• Xiaowei Teng

  84 shared

• Nicholas Marcella

  Stony Brook University

  83 shared

• Jonathan C. Hanson

  80 shared

• Igor Lubomirsky

  72 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Physics

  Tel Aviv University

  1995

• M.S., Physics

  St. Petersburg University

  1987

Awards & honors

• Ross Coffin Purdy Award, 2025
• Schulich Visiting Professor Lectureship award, Technion, Isr…
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2017
• Selected for “Top-10 Discoveries and Scientific Achievements…

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