Catherine J. Murphy

About

Professor Catherine J. Murphy is a principal investigator in the Murphy Research Group at the University of Illinois. She is involved in research within the Department of Chemistry, focusing on areas related to materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, and inorganic chemistry. Her work encompasses the development and study of advanced materials, contributing significantly to the field through her leadership and research activities. Further details about her background, specific research interests, and key contributions are not provided in the page text.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Optoelectronics

Selected publications

• Opportunities for Electrocatalytic CO₂ Reduction Enabled by Surface Ligands

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2022 · 126 citations

  conversion.

  DOI

• Multicolor polymeric carbon dots: synthesis, separation and polyamide-supported molecular fluorescence

  Chemical Science · 2020 · 125 citations

  Multicolor carbon dots (CDs) have been developed recently and demonstrate great potential in bio-imaging, sensing, and LEDs. However, the fluorescence mechanism of their tunable colors is still under debate, and efficient separation methods are still challenging. Herein, we synthesized multicolor polymeric CDs through solvothermal treatment of citric acid and urea in formamide. Automated reversed-phase column separation was used to achieve fractions with distinct colors, including blue, cyan, gr…

  DOI

• Toxicity and Cellular Uptake of Gold Nanoparticles: What We Have Learned So Far *

  2020 · 76 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• 33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

  ACS Nano · 2025-09-04 · 22 citations

  articleOpen access

  Significant advances in science and engineering often emerge at the intersections of disciplines. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are inherently interdisciplinary, uniting researchers from chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, materials science, and engineering. This convergence has fostered novel ways of thinking and enabled the development of materials, tools, and technologies that have transformed both basic and applied research, as well as how we address critical societal challenges. In this…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Landscape of Gold Nanocrystal Surface Chemistry

  Accounts of Chemical Research · 2023-06-01 · 20 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  ConspectusGold nanoparticles (AuNPs) exhibit unique size- and shape-dependent properties not obtainable at the macroscale. Gold nanorods (AuNRs), with their morphology-dependent optical properties, ability to convert light to heat, and high surface-to-volume ratios, are of great interest for biosensing, medicine, and catalysis. While the gold core provides many fascinating properties, this Account focuses on AuNP soft surface coatings, which govern the interactions of nanoparticles with the loca…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• A "Gold" Standard for Understanding Protein-Nanoparticle Interactions

  NSF · $435k · 2013–2016

• NIH Grant R01EY012253

  NIH · $2.1M · 2006

• NIH Grant RC2AR058971

  NIH · $4.0M · 2012

Frequent coauthors

• Anne B. McCoy

  University of Washington

  68 shared

• Joan‐Emma Shea

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  57 shared

• Sharon Hammes‐Schiffer

  Yale University

  48 shared

• Samuel E. Lohse

  Central Washington University

  47 shared

• Gregory D. Scholes

  Princeton University

  44 shared

• Prashant V. Kamat

  University of Notre Dame

  41 shared

• George C. Schatz

  Northwestern University

  40 shared

• Martin T. Zanni

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  40 shared

Labs

• Murphy Research GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., chemistry

  University of Wisconsin Madison

  1990

• B.S., chemistry

  University of Illinois

  1986

• B.S., biochemistry

  University of Illinois

  1986

Awards & honors

• NANOSMAT Prize (2025)
• Centenary Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry (2022)
• ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2020)
• Remsen Award (2019)
• Linus Pauling Medal (2019)

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Eric Oldfieldh-100
• Scott E. Denmarkh-99
• Stephan Linkh-76