I’m a PhD Student at Stanford who is interested in improving the efficiency of chemical reactions using catalysts.
Education
PhD Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 2022-
MPhil Physics, University of Cambridge, 2021-2022
BS Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2017-2021
Research
Structure-Activity Relationships for CO2 Reduction using Mn-Carbonyl Catalysts
Exploring the correlations between electronic structure descriptors for Mn-carbonyl complexes and figures of merit for their electrocatalytic activity towards CO2 reduction.
Kinetics of the V2+/V3+ Reaction for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
We elucidate how anions can enhance charge transfer kinetics for the V2+/V3+ half-reaction and its impact on electrolyte engineering for flow batteries.
Making Parts out of Martian Dirt
We show that Martian dirt can separated into its constituent metal oxides and used to manufacture precision parts using only locally-available resources on Mars.
Predicting the Structures of Gold Nanoclusters
Predicting the structures of Au5-Au13 clusters based on free energy calculations from first principles molecular dynamics simulations.
Enhanced Sampling Methods for Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energies
Comparing the accuracy of free energy perturbation (FEP) simulations using replica exchange on a benchmark set of Thrombin inhibitors.
Publications
Explaining Kinetic Trends of Inner-Sphere Transition-Metal-Ion Redox Reactions on Metal Electrodes, H. Agarwal, J. Florian, D. Pert, B. R. Goldsmith, N. Singh, ACS Catalysis, 13, 4, 2223-2233, 2023.
Analyzing Structure–Activity Variations for Mn–Carbonyl Complexes in the Reduction of CO2 to CO, J. Florian, J. Cole, Inorganic Chemistry, 62, 1, 318-335, 2023.
Why Halides Enhance Heterogeneous Metal Ion Charge Transfer Reactions, J. Florian, H. Agarwal, N. Singh, B. R. Goldsmith. Chemical Science, 12, 12704-12710, 2021.
The Effect of Anion Bridging on Heterogeneous Charge Transfer for V2+/V3+, H. Agarwal, J. Florian, B. R. Goldsmith, N. Singh. Cell Reports Physical Science, 2, 100307, 2021.
Evolution of Metastable Structures in Bimetallic Catalysts from Microscopy and Machine-Learning Molecular Dynamics, J.S. Lim, J. Vandermause, M.A. Spronsen, A. Musaelian, C.R. O’Connor, T. Egle, Y. Xie, L. Sun, N. Molinari, J. Florian, K. Duanmu, R.J. Madix, P. Sautet, C.M. Friend, B. Kozinsky. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 37, 15907–15916, 2020.
V2+/V3+ Redox Kinetics on Glassy Carbon in Acidic Electrolytes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, H. Agarwal, J. Florian, B. R. Goldsmith, N. Singh. ACS Energy Letters. 4, 10, 2368-2377, 2019.
Exploring the Effectiveness of Binding Free Energy Calculations, D. Mondal, J. Florian, A. Warshel. J. Phys. Chem. B. 123, 42, 8910-8915, 2019.
Two-to-Three Dimensional transition in Neutral Gold Clusters: The Crucial Role of van der Waals Interactions and Temperature, B. R. Goldsmith, J. Florian, J.-X. Liu, P. Gruene, J. T. Lyon, D. M. Rayner, A. Fielicke, M. Scheffler, L. M. Ghiringhelli. Physical Review Materials. 3, 016002, 2019.
Jacob Florian 