About

Michelle Personick is the Director of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor of Chemistry. She earned her B.A. from Middlebury College in 2009, her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2013, and completed postdoctoral work at Harvard University from 2013 to 2015. Her research group, the Personick Group, advances the synthesis of precise nanomaterials and investigates their catalytic structure-function relationships at a detailed mechanistic level. Her work combines innovations in materials synthesis with fundamental studies of catalytic reactivity to develop principles for the predictive design of catalyst materials, aiming to enable technological advances in sustainable energy generation and chemical synthesis. Her research spans the interface of inorganic chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering, focusing on designing highly active and selective catalytic materials, controlling nanoparticle structure and composition, and understanding catalytic processes under realistic conditions. She employs various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to study active sites and uses energy from visible light to control reactivity, particularly in plasmonic catalysis and energy-relevant electrochemical processes.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Chemical engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Organic chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Optoelectronics
• Nuclear chemistry

Selected publications

• Real-Time Electroanalytical Measurements of Dynamic Reaction Chemistry Provide Generalizable Mechanistic Considerations for Metal Nanoparticle Synthesis

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026-01-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The growth of metal nanoparticles is well understood to involve a combination of kinetic parameters as well as selective or nonselective passivation of surfaces by adsorbates. However, these influences are challenging to measure directly and in real time, which makes it difficult to define reaction mechanisms that are sufficiently detailed and specific to fully predict rather than retrospectively rationalize observed growth phenomena. In the present work, we demonstrate that open-circuit potential (OCP) measurements of the mixed potential of metal nanoparticle growth solutions represent a uniquely facile approach for directly identifying and understanding these complex chemical growth processes in an in situ and time-resolved manner. We combine OCP measurements of particle growth with point-in-time electron microscopy and elemental analysis to establish the power of OCP measurements even as a stand-alone approach. In doing so, we also uncover generalizable principles for synthetic design, such as the critical importance of precise changes in the chemistry of the growth solution at early time points and on short time scales in directing shape development trajectories, even when the faceted shape does not emerge until later in the growth process. Further, we validate the use of the mixed solution potential to directly distinguish between surface passivation and kinetic control of particle growth. Overall, although the chemical factors contributing to the mixed potential during particle growth are complex, a rich understanding of specific chemical mechanisms can be extracted from these OCP measurements.

  PublisherDOI

• 33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and NanotechnologyArticle link copied!

  RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) · 2025-01-01

  article
  Publisher

• Using Electrochemistry to Benchmark, Understand, and Develop Noble Metal Nanoparticle Syntheses

  ACS Nanoscience Au · 2025-07-18 · 5 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The complex chemical nature of metal nanoparticle synthesis presents obstacles for the mechanistic understanding of nanoparticle growth and predictive synthesis design, despite significant progress in this area. Real-time characterization of the chemical processes that take place throughout nanoparticle growth will enable progress toward addressing outstanding challenges in metal nanoparticle synthesis, such as mitigating synthetic reproducibility issues, defining chemical mechanisms that direct nanoparticle growth, and designing synthetic conditions for previously unachievable combinations of nanoparticle shape and composition. In this Perspective, we present open-circuit potential (OCP) measurements as an in situ, real-time method for characterizing chemical changes during nanoparticle growth and discuss the method's strengths in comparison to and in combination with other characterization techniques. We propose the use of OCP measurements as benchmarks for troubleshooting irreproducibility and streamlining synthetic optimization. Finally, we explore possibilities for using the increased parameter space accessible by electrodeposition to accelerate the development of shape-selective nanoparticle syntheses.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanocatalysis—facing a sustainable future

  Nanoscale · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  editorialOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Zhiqun Lin, In Young Kim, and Michelle Personick introduce the Nanoscale themed collection on Nanocatalysis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 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 Nano Focus, we pose and explore 33 questions whose answers could profoundly impact fields such as energy, electronics, the environment, optics, and medicine. These questions highlight the need for deeper foundational understanding, improved tools and techniques, and innovative applications─each with significant societal relevance. Together, they represent a global call-to-action for the scientific community.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Replication Data for: Real-Time Electroanalytical Measurements of Dynamic Reaction Chemistry Provide Generalizable Mechanistic Considerations for Metal Nanoparticle Synthesis

  Open MIND · 2025-12-19

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  This published work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Award # CHE-2406130. The data underlying the published work have been made publicly available in this repository according to the Data Management Plan for this award.

  OA PDFDOI

• Light as an Orthogonal Synthetic Parameter in Metal Nanoparticle Growth

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry C · 2024-05-14 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  To drive the formation of nanoparticles with a targeted morphology, it is often necessary to accelerate or slow a specific chemical reaction out of the many involved in nanoparticle growth. However, isolating and controlling the complex and often competing interactions of chemical and thermal parameters in metal nanoparticle synthesis to yield tailorable and well-defined nanostructures is a significant challenge. This Perspective describes how visible light excitation of a plasmonic core material can be used to selectively modulate the rates of individual redox reactions in colloidal nanoparticle synthesis in ways that are orthogonal to purely thermochemical synthetic approaches. While this “plasmon-mediated synthesis” approach began as a method that was highly specific to silver nanoparticles, recent advances have begun to transform it into a more generalizable synthetic tool by expanding this light-driven kinetic control to redox reactions involving other metals, both plasmonic and poorly plasmonic.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• (Invited) Plasmonic and Electrochemical Approaches to the Synthesis of Tailored Catalyst Materials

  ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2024-08-09

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The development of novel photo- and electrocatalytic processes requires the design of catalyst materials that are specifically optimized to take advantage of these driving forces. This talk will describe approaches developed in our lab for (1) using visible light stimulus to control the structure of plasmonically responsive and hybrid materials and (2) using electrodeposition to grow shape-controlled nanostructures on electrode surfaces. In the first case, the reduction of more catalytically active metals onto plasmonically active metals requires fine control over competing reductive and oxidative chemical processes. Differentially modulating the rates of these reactions using only chemical and thermal parameters can be prohibitively challenging. However, excitation of the plasmon resonance of the growing nanoparticles using visible light can yield hybrid structures that are not accessible via standard colloidal approaches. In the second case, while particles synthesized in colloidal solution can be processed and cast onto electrodes, this adds an additional fabrication step—increasing time and cost—and faces challenges in controlling particle dispersion on the surface. Meanwhile, direct chemical reduction-based synthesis of well-defined nanoparticles on electrodes has proven difficult. We have developed an integrated electrochemical approach that enables directed synthesis of shaped nanoparticles on electrode surfaces. Our approach links metal nanoparticle synthesis with real-time monitoring of chemical changes in the reaction solution using a combination of colloidal particle synthesis, electrochemical particle synthesis, and electrochemical measurements. This provides a pathway for the directed adaptation of the extensive library of existing shaped colloidal nanoparticle syntheses to growth on a surface—something that remains a non-trivial challenge.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanomaterials Synthesis Discovery via Parallel Electrochemical Deposition

  Chemistry of Materials · 2024-03-14 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  deposition and shape control of palladium nanoparticles are explored in arrays with a two-stage strategy. Initial conditions for electrodeposition of materials are discovered in a first stage and then used in a second stage to logically expand chemical and electrochemical parameters. Shape control is analyzed primarily with scanning electron microscopy. Using this approach, optimized conditions for the electrodeposition of cubic palladium nanoparticles were identified from a set of previously untested electrodeposition conditions. The parameters discovered through the array format were then successfully extrapolated to a traditional bulk three-electrode electrochemical cell. Electrochemical arrays were also used to explore electrodeposition parameters reported in previous bulk studies, further demonstrating the correspondence between the array and bulk systems. These results broadly highlight opportunities for electrochemical arrays, both for discovery and for further investigations of electrodeposition in nanomaterials synthesis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Troubleshooting the influence of trace chemical impurities on nanoparticle growth kinetics <i>via</i> electrochemical measurements

  Nanoscale · 2024-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  electrochemical measurement approaches and solvent addition experiments. This work highlights the utility of real-time electrochemical potential measurements as a tool for benchmarking of nanoparticle syntheses and troubleshooting of reproducibility issues. The results additionally emphasize the importance of considering organic solvent impurities in powdered commercial reagents as a possible shape-determining factor during shaped nanomaterials synthesis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• MRI: Acquisition of a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope to Enhance Multidisciplinary Research and Education

  NSF · $202k · 2017–2020

• Electrochemistry as a Design Tool for Colloidal Syntheses of Polyhedral Metal Nanoparticles

  NSF · $359k · 2023–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Chad A. Mirkin

  Northwestern University

  32 shared

• Mark R. Langille

  Dow Chemical (United States)

  18 shared

• Jian Zhang

  10 shared

• Melissa E. King

  University of Massachusetts Lowell

  10 shared

• Gabriel C. Halford

  Wesleyan University

  7 shared

• Sunhee Choi

  Korea Basic Science Institute

  6 shared

• R. J. Madix

  Harvard University

  6 shared

• Sharon C. Glotzer

  6 shared