Principal Investigator
Cao Thang Dinh received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Laval University in 2010 and 2014, respectively. His graduate work focused on designing visible-light-driven nanostructured photocatalysts for water splitting and the decomposition of organic pollutants. After receiving his doctorate, Cao joined Sargent’s group at the University of Toronto as a postdoctoral fellow. Here, he focused on developing catalysts and systems for the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels and chemicals using renewable energy. Cao began his independent career in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University in July of 2019. He is currently a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals, a Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, and the Editor-in-Chief of the new journal Cambridge Prism: Carbon Technologies published by Cambridge University Press.
Postdocs & Visiting Scholars
Dr. Tu Nguyen – Research Associate
Dr. Tu Nguyen received his PhD from the University of Florida, and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Currently, he is the co-founder and research director of Helen Co., Ltd, a company focusing on research and technology development and bringing innovative scientific discoveries to real-world applications. His main research interests are in developing novel porous materials and engineering systems for applications in gas capture and separation, sensing, and catalysis. His publications and patents can be found at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-Tce9OoAAAAJ&hl=en
Dr. Dzmitry Malevich – Research Associate
Dr. Dzmitry Malevich’s expertise and research interests are in areas of Electrochemistry and its applications to a cleaner environment. Before joining Dinh Group, Dzmitry held the positions of Lead Electrochemist and Research Manager at Advonex International, with previous work at the Queens-RMC Fuel Cell Research Centre, Lipkowski Group at the University of Guelph and Electrochemistry Group at the University of Southampton. Dzmitry holds a PhD in Chemistry from BSU Minsk, and is currently pursuing his Professional Master of Education degree at Queen’s University.
Dr. Khac Huy Dinh – Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Khac Huy Dinh received his PhD from Lille University. His previous work focused on fabricating metal nitride thin films for micro energy storage device. Currently, he joined Dinh’s Lab at Queen’s University as postdoctoral fellow. He works on developing nanostructured catalyst material and conversion system for CO2 conversion.
Dr. Anh Nguyen – Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Anh Nguyen received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Chungnam National University, South Korea. His main research interests are the synthesis of advanced nanomaterials for applications in water electrolysis, fuel cells, conductive film, and Li/Na-ion batteries. He joined Dinh’s Group at Queen’s University as a postdoctoral fellow to work on scaling up electrochemical processes for CO2 conversion to ethylene. This involves synthesizing new catalysts and optimizing electrochemical systems.
Graduate students
Cornelius Obasanjo – PhD student
Cornelius Obasanjo obtained his BEng and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University and Cleveland State University, respectively. He recently completed his MEng in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary before joining Dinh’s group to pursue his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with a research interest in electrochemical CO2 reduction.
Behnam Nourmohammadi Khiarak – PhD student
Behnam Nourmohammadi Khiarak received his BSs and MSc in Material Science and Engineering from Tabriz University and Sharif University of Technology, respectively. His research interests are particularly in various fields of electrochemistry, the catalytic activity of materials (Organic & Inorganic), one-two-three-dimensional materials, energy materials, CO2 conversion (electrochemical reduction) and material science. He was a research assistant at Niroo Research Institute (Tehran, Iran) for one year. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering under supervision of Professor Cao Thang Dinh and working in his group with a research interest in CO2 electroreduction. His publications can be found at: Behnam Nourmohammadi Khiarak
Guorui Gao – PhD student
Guorui Gao completed his undergraduate study in Xingjiang University and Xi’an Jiaotong University. He joined Dr. Dinh’s group after obtaining his Master’s degree from China University of Mining and Technology. His previous work mainly focused on photo-thermal conversion and the synthesis of novel functional materials. His current research focuses on developing new electrochemical systems for CO2 conversion.
Mohammadreza Azarshab– MSc student
Mohammadreza is a master’s student at Queen’s University. His main field of study is electrochemical and electrocatalytic processes. During his B.Sc, he has worked as an R&D specialist in the membrane field. He has not only expanded his knowledge on membrane technology but also improved skills such as teamwork, planning, research, and engineering software which has helped him with an extending number of projects. Industrially, he has worked on chemical technologies regarding chemical processes, and developing solutions using chemical pilot plants. He is currently working on developing carbon based electrodes for CO2 conversion and H2 production under the supervision of Dr. Dinh and Dr. Barz.
Huy Trong Pham– PhD student
Huy Trong Pham completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Education in Vietnam. His major is Chemistry Teacher Education. His undergraduate research focused on developing organic solvent that allows the separation of natural pigments or organic compounds from natural material. He also did research on the green synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles from natural materials and assess their antibacterial ability. Currently, Huy is a master student at the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is developing technology for the convesion of CO2 and CO to ethylene.
Laura Quinones-Gomez– MSc student
Laura Quinones-Gomez is a master’s student at the Chemical Engineering Department of Queen’s University. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Pontificia Bolivariana University in Colombia and her undergraduate research was focused on the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of electrodes obtained from chemically activated charcoal residues to enhance the energy storage capacity of supercapacitors. She also developed a capstone project to propose an alternative treatment to avoid the disposal of sugarcane vinasse in soils and water bodies through fermentation.
Yueying Li– MSc student
Yueying Li holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Queen’s University and completed her final project in Dinh’s lab focused on the tandem catalyst in electrochemical CO2 reduction. Yueying also worked at National Research Council in Ottawa as a coop student and contributed to the purification of boron nitride nanotubes(BNNTs). Yueying decided to pursue her master’s degree still in Dinh’s lab and try to design a high-efficiency catalyst for CO2 reduction with some metal nanoparticles loaded on carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
Dao Ho- MSc student
Dao Ho received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi-Vietnam. Her undergraduate research focused on designing homogeneous catalyst based on thiomolybdate for electrochemical proton reduction. She also worked on fabricating nanomaterials based on Nickel and Cobalt for electrochemical water-splitting. Currently, she is a MASc student in Chemical Engineering.
Hung Lai – MSc Student
Hung Lai completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam. His undergraduate research focus on process modelling for chemical processes and developing a hierarchical approach to process design. Hung has some years of experience in Process Engineering as a Chemical Process Engineer. Currently, he is a Master student at Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University. His study at Queens will focus on establishing the LCA and TEA model for the CO2 capture and conversion system which utilize the energy (heat, electricity) generated from nuclear reactor. He is co-supervised by Dr. Qian Zhang from the Mining Department at Queen’s.
Tai Van Nguyen – MSc Student
Tai Van Nguyen received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi, Vietnam. His undergraduate research focused on investigating electrochemical performance of bi-functional NiCo2Se4 nanostructures for targeted applications in energy conversion and storage. Currently, he is a MASc student in Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University. He is co-supervised by Dr. Cao Thang Dinh and Dr. Martin Guay.
Thao-Nguyen Ho – MSc Student
Thao-Nguyen Ho earned her bachelor’s degree from VNUHCM – University of Technology. Her earlier research centered on the synthesis of benzothiazole derivatives using N,N-dialkyl-3-nitroaniline. She has also been involved in several projects related to photosynthesis reactions and hydrogel production. Currently, she is pursuing a MASc in Chemical Engineering at Queen’s.
Viet Dai Vo – PhD Student
Viet Dai Vo completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Da Nang University of Science and Education in Viet Nam. His research for undergraduate and master thesis focused on the synthesis and biological activity evaluation of derivatives of 2-pyrrolidone. Currently, he is a PhD student at Chemical Engineering Department. His work will mainly concentrate to development of electrodes using natural-based nano materials for CO2 reduction reaction to fuels and feedstock.
Interns and visiting students
Rodrigo Rosales Visoso
Rodrigo Rosales Visoso is in his final year of Mechanical Engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey. In recent years, he was president and part of the mechanical and logistics teams of “Elyos”, the team that developed the most efficient Mexican Electric Prototype in the history of the Shell-Eco Marathon. During his time at Queen’s, he will be exploring electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction as a MITACS Globalink Research Intern.
Undergraduate students
Sophia Lazzaro
Sophia Lazzaro is an undergraduate student obtaining a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering, in the discipline of Engineering Chemistry. She is in her final year of studies with experience working in industry as a chemical process engineering intern, and as a laboratory assistant at Nanofabrication Kingston. She is excited to spend some time working on catalyst structure and material for CO2 conversion systems.
DJ Campell
Dj Campbell is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Engineering Chemistry at Queen’s University. His undergraduate thesis project focuses on the porosity of an ambipolar ion transport membrane in CO2 electroreduction to useful chemical products. Dj has experience as a 2-time student council president, treasurer, design team member, and CSChE coordinator. He hopes to continue his interest in electrocatalysis through a graduate studies program in Canada