The Nocera group studies the energy conversion in biology and chemistry. Efforts have focused on understanding the reactions of multielectron, proton-coupled transformations of energy poor substrates. From this platform, the group has successfully used solar light to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Recently, they have realized artificial photosynthesis by the solar splitting of water under benign conditions. In doing so, the Nocera group can now provide solar energy/storage and clean water to the poor and those of the non-legacy world.

Other research projects include the study of proton-coupled electron transfer, especially as it pertains to radicals in biology, the design of magnetic layered materials (kagomé lattices) for the study of spin frustration and the development of optical sensors for chemo- and bio- sensing applications. Highlights of these areas of research include: (1) the elucidation of the PCET pathway in Ribonucleotide Reductase, the enzyme in your body that is responsible for converting RNA base pairs to DNA, (2) the development of new optical sensors for the metabolic profiling of tumors so that new cancer treatment therapies may be developed, and (3) the discovery of a fundamentally new state of matter ? the quantum spin liquid. The optical diagnostic technique, called Molecular Tagging Velocimetry, has also invented in the Nocera group as a method to measure vorticity in highly turbulent flows. More detail on current research projects can be found on our group home page.