The Enright Lab

Research Interests

The Enright lab seeks to develop a spectroscopic understanding of colloidal nanomaterial systems for sustainable energy solutions. Our group uses nanomaterials to convert and manipulate sunlight. One strategy is to use sunlight to drive chemical reactions through photocatalysis. We are interested in understanding the roles of nanoparticle structure and surface on solar conversion efficiency. Through this approach, we can generate renewable fuel sources, such as hydrogen gas, or facilitate chemical reactions under mild conditions to make high-value chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The second approach is to concentrate sunlight using luminescent solar concentrators, also known as power windows. We are interested in developing luminescent solar concentrators that are composed of a gray-scale window that captures sunlight and reemits light to a concentrated area around the edge of the panel. By placing small photovoltaic cells around the edge of the window, the energy from light can be converted into electricity. This enables the assembly of a semi-transparent, tinted window that also offers onsite power generation for the building.

Educational & Professional Experience

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2019-2021

  • Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Washington, 2019

  • B.S. Chemistry, Certification in Leadership and Ethics, Ripon College, 2014

Selected Awards & Honors

  • Sir Fraser Stoddart Scholar, Renewable Energy Scholarship Foundation, 2019

  • Clean Energy Institute Graduate Research Fellowship, 2015-2016

  • Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Fellowship in Chemistry, 2016

  • PNNL Clean Energy Graduate Fellowship, 2015

  • Paul H. and Karen S. Gudiksen Endowed Fellowship in Chemistry, 2014-15

  • Phi Beta Kappa, Rippon College, 2014

Recent Publications

  • Potter, M. M., Phelan, M. E., Balaji, P., Jahelka, P., Bauser, H., Glaudell, R., Went, C. M., Enright, M. J., Needell, D. R., Augusto, A., Atwater, H. A., Nuzzo, R. G. Silicon Heterojunction Microcells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021

  • Wang, C., Rubakhin, S. S., Enright, M. J., Sweedler, J. V., Nuzzo, R. G. 3D Particle Free Printing of Biocompatible Conductive Hydrogel Platforms for Neuron Growth and Electrophysiological Recording. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 2010246.

  • Li, Y., Kottwitz, M, Vincent, J. L., Enright, M. J., Liu, Z., Zhang, L. Huang, J. Senanayke, S. D., Yang, W. C. D. Crozier, P. A., Nuzzo, R. G., Frenkel, A. I. Dynamic Structure of Active Sites in Ceria-Supported Pt Catalysts for the Water Gas Shift Reaction. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 914.

  • Enright, M. J., Dou, F. Y., Wu, S., Monahan, M., Rabe, E., Friedfeld, M. R., Schlenker, C. W., Cossairt, B. M., Seeded growth of nanoscale semiconductor tetrapods. Chem. Mater. 2020, 31, 4774-4784.

  • Henckel, D. A., Enright, M. J., Panahpour, Eslami, N., Kroupa, D. M., Gamelin, D. R., Cossairt, B. M., Modeling Equilibrium Binding at Quantum Dot Surfaces Using Cyclic Voltammetry, Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 2620-2624.

  • Enright, M. J., Ritchhart, A., Cossairt, B. M. (2020) Nucleation and Growth of Colloidal Semiconductor Nanoparticles. In Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry, R.A. Scott (Ed.). doi:10.1002/9781119951438.eibc2723

  • Potter, M. M., Yoder, M. A., Petronico, A., Lehman, S. E., Nicolau, B. G., Enright, M. J., Phelan, M. E., He, J., Atwater, H. A., Nuzzo, R. G., ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2020, 3, 1540-1551

  • Friedfeld, M. R., Stein, J. L., Johnson, D. A., Park, N., Henry, N. A., Enright, M. J., Mocatta, D., Cossairt, B. M. Effects of Zn2+ and Ga3+ on the Quantum Yield of Cluster-Derived InP Quantum Dots. J. Chem. Phys. 2019, 151, 194702

  • Enright, M. J., Gilbert-Bass, K., Sarsito, H., Cossairt, B. M. Photolytic C–O bond cleavage with quantum dots, Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 2677-2682

  • Enright, M. J., and Cossairt, B. M. Synthesis of tailor-made colloidal semiconductor heterostructures, Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 7109-7122

  • Enright, M. J., Sarsito, H., Cossairt, B. M. Kinetically controlled assembly of cadmium chalcogenide nanorods and nanorod heterostructures, Mater. Chem. Front. 2018, 2, 1296-1305

  • Enright, M. J., Sarsito, H., Cossairt, B. M. Quantifying Cation Exchange of Cd2+ in ZnTe: A Challenge for Accessing Type II Heterostructures, Chem. Mater. 2017, 29, 666-672