Texas A&M University; Chemical Engineering Dept.
(Co-Lead Thrust 2)
Balbuena is TEES Eminent Professor in Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M. She leads DOE-sponsored projects in the field of battery materials and catalysis.
Research
Balbuena’s research expertise is in first-principles analysis of materials properties and dynamic evolution, particularly at reactive interfaces. She investigates electronic structure, reconfigurability, and dynamic evolution of intercalation hosts as a means of neuronal and synaptic emulation. She further contributes to simulations of redox processes and carrier transport in ensembles of coordination complexes.
Publications
- Luis E. Camacho-Forero, Fernando Godínez-Salomón, Guadalupe Ramos-Sánchez, Christopher P. Rhodes, and Perla B. Balbuena, “Theoretical and Experimental Study of the Effects of Cobalt and Nickel Doping within IrO2 on the Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” J. of Catalysis, 408, 64-80, (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.jcat.2022.02.016
- Xiangye Liu, Baichang Li, Fernando A. Soto, Xufan Li, Raymond R. Unocic, Perla B. Balbuena, Avetik R. Harutyunyan, James Hone, Daniel V. Esposito, “Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Monolayer Molybdenum Disulfide via a Molecular Proton Mediator,” ACS Catalysis, 11, 19, 12159-12169 (2021). doi: 10.1021/acscatal.1c03016
- Stefany Angarita-Gomez and Perla B. Balbuena, “Solvation vs. Surface Charge Transfer: An Interfacial Chemistry Game Drives Cation Motion,” Chem. Comm., 57, 6189-6192, (2021). doi: 10.1039/D1CC01408K
- Luis E. Camacho-Forero and Perla B. Balbuena, “Effects of Charged Interfaces on Electrolyte Decomposition at the Lithium Metal Anode,” J. Power Sources, 472, 228449, (2020). doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228449
- Roberto C. Longo, Luis E. Camacho-Forero, and Perla B. Balbuena, “Charge-Mediated Cation Deposition on Metallic Surfaces,” J. Mater. Chem. A, 7, 8527-8539, (2019). doi: 10.1039/C9TA00987F