Skip to Main Content
  • Home
  • About
    • About CHE
    • History
      • Department History
      • Department Chairs
      • Faculty Textbooks
    • Facts and Figures
    • Department Publications
    • Visit Us
    • Contact Us
  • Calendar
  • News
    • Chemical Engineering News
    • In the News
  • Research
    • Department Research
    • Research Areas
      • CHE Research Areas
      • Catalysis and Reactions
      • Biomolecular Engineering
      • Cellular Engineering
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Computing and Simulation
      • Nanotechnology
      • Materials
      • Microfabricated Systems
      • Polymers and Complex Fluids
    • Research Programs for Undergraduates
      • Undergraduate Research Opportunities
      • Work in Faculty Labs
    • Partners in Industry
  • People
    • Faculty
      • All Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Affiliated Faculty
      • Research Faculty
      • Adjunct Faculty
      • Emeritus Faculty
    • Staff
    • Student Support
    • Faculty and Staff Directory
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellows
    • Graduate Students
  • Graduate
    • Graduate
    • Program
      • Graduate Program
      • Graduate Degree Requirements
      • SUGS
      • Additional Options
      • Doctoral Candidacy Exam
      • Thesis Proposal Exam
      • Doctoral Committee
    • Prospective Students
      • Applying to Graduate Program
      • Admissions Requirements
      • Admissions Timeline
      • TOEFL & GRE
      • Financial Support
    • Current Graduate Students
      • Current Students
      • GSI Positions
    • Graduate Contacts
    • Why Michigan?
  • Undergraduate
    • Undergraduate
    • Program
      • Undergraduate Program
      • Mission
      • Incorporating Outreach
      • Program Improvement
      • Enrollment Data
    • Join Chemical Engineering
    • Degree Requirements
      • Undergraduate Degree Requirements
      • Intellectual Breadth
      • Courses & Course Profiles
    • Minors, Concentrations and Specialized Studies
    • Dual and Combined Degrees
    • Masters and SUGS Programs
    • Jobs and Research
      • Jobs and Research
      • Cooperative Education
    • Student Resources
      • Student Resources
      • Scholarships
      • FAQ
    • Student Groups
      • Student Organizations
      • Funding for Group
    • Undergraduate Contacts
  • Careers
    • Career Information
    • What is a Chemical Engineer?
    • Career Pathways
    • Employers of Chemical Engineers
    • Professional Engineer License
    • Recruit Talent
  • Alumni
    • CHE Alumni
    • Stay Informed
      • Stay Informed
      • Alumni Updates
      • Alumni Profiles
    • Reconnect
      • Reconnect
      • Flat Charlie
    • Giving
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
CONNECT WITH US:
About
Research
People
Graduate
Undergraduate
Alumni
  • About
    • History
    • Facts and Figures
    • Department Publications
    • ChE Faculty Search
    • CHE Seminar Series
    • Annual Department Events
    • Visit Us
    • Contact Us
  • Calendar
    • CHE Seminar Series
  • Research
    • Research Areas
    • Facilities
    • Research Programs for Undergraduates
    • Partners in Industry
  • News
    • In the News
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Staff
    • Student Support
    • Faculty and Staff Directory
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellows
    • Graduate Students
  • Graduate
    • Program
    • Prospective Students
    • Current Students
    • Graduate Contacts
    • Why Michigan?
    • Housing
  • Undergraduate
    • Program
    • Join Chemical Engineering
    • Degree Requirements
    • Minors and Concentrations
    • Dual and Combined Degrees
    • Masters and SUGS Programs
    • Jobs and Research
    • Student Resources
    • Student Groups
    • Undergraduate Contacts
  • Alumni
    • Stay Informed
    • Reconnect
    • Giving
  • Careers
    • What is a Chemical Engineer?
    • Career Pathways
    • Employers of Chemical Engineers
    • Professional Engineer License
    • Recruit Talent
HOME/People/Faculty/Core Faculty/Nirala Singh

Nirala Singh

Nirala Singh

Assistant Professor

Chemical Engineering

B-28 NCRC
2050W

2800 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800

snirala@umich.edu

734-764-1571

website

Education Research Interests Biography Awards Publications

Education:

PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, 2015

BSE, Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2009

Research Interests: ^top

Energy Storage, Renewable Fuels and Waste Remediation

Our lab focuses on improving electrochemical processes to effectively use renewable electricity. Many renewable energy sources (solar, wind, etc.) provide electricity, but without an efficient or cost-effective method to convert the electricity to useful or storable products. Our goal is to develop processes to store energy, produce useful products such as transportation fuels or industrially-needed chemicals, and clean up waste streams varying from agricultural to low level nuclear waste. This includes experimental catalysis, electrocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, focusing on understanding how to drive reactions efficiently and selectively.

Current research thrusts focus on:

  • Improving kinetics of charge transfer for redox flow batteries
  • Converting sunlight or renewable electricity to fuels and chemicals
  • Developing electrocatalysts for electrochemical wastewater remediation

To address these, we will develop new materials, find links between heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis, and use in situ spectroscopy of catalysts/electrocatalysts under operating conditions to better understand surface chemical reactions.

Biography: ^top

Professional Experience

University of Michigan
Chemical Engineering Department
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Assistant Professor, 2017-

University of Washington Clean Energy Institute and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

WRF Innovation Fellow, 2016-1017
Post Doctorate Research Scientist, 2015-2017
Advisors: Charles Campbell and Johannes Lercher

University of California-Santa Barbara

PhD Candidate, 2010-2015
Advisors: Eric W. McFarland and Horia Metiu

Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation
University of Queensland-Brisbane, QLD

Staff, Summer 2014

Air Products and Chemicals
Energy Technology R&D
Allentown, PA

Intern, Summer 2013

Transphorm, Inc.
Santa Barbara, CA

Intern, January 2010-August 2010
Intern, Summer, 2009

 

Awards: ^top

1st Place Perfect Pitch-Clean Energy Institute-University of Washington, 2016

Washington Research Foundation Innovation Fellowship-University of Washington, 2016-2018

Air Products and Chemicals Fellowship-UC-Santa Barbara, 2013

ConvEne IGERT Fellowship-UC-Santa Barbara, 2011

Heslin Fellowship-UC-Santa Barbara, 2010

James B. Angell Scholar-University of Michigan-March, 2009

Publications: ^top

Recent Journal Articles

  1. Recent discoveries in the reaction mechanism of heterogeneous electrocatalytic nitrate reduction, Z. Wang, D. Richards, N. Singh, Catalysis Science & Technology, 2021, just accepted manuscript.
  2. Increasing Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction Activity by Controlling Adsorption through PtRu Alloying, Z. Wang, S.D. Young, B.R. Goldsmith, N. Singh, Journal of Catalysis, 2021, just accepted manuscript.
  3. 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, 2021, in press.
  4. Temperature Dependence of Aqueous-Phase Phenol Adsorption on Pt and Rh, J. Akinola, N. Singh, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 2020, just accepted manuscript.
  5. Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation of Biomass-Derived Organics: A Review, S. A. Akhade, N. Singh, O. Y. Gutiérrez, J. Lopez-Ruiz, H. Wang, J. D. Holladay, Y. Liu, A. Karkamkar, R. S. Weber, A. B. Padmaperuma, M. S. Lee, G. A. Whyatt, M. Elliott, J. E. Holladay, J. L. Male, J. A. Lercher, R. Rousseau, V. A. Glezakou, Chemical Reviews, 2020, 120, 11370-11419.[Review]
  6. Structures and Free Energies of Cerium Ions in Acidic Electrolytes, C. A. Buchanan, E. Ko, S. Cira, M. Balasubramanian, B.R. Goldsmith, N. Singh, Inorganic Chemistry, 2020, 59, 12552-12563.
  7. Adsorption Energies of Oxygenated Aromatics and Organics on Rhodium and Platinum in Aqueous Phase, J. Akinola, I. Barth, B.R. Goldsmith, N. Singh, ACS Catalysis, 2020, Just Accepted Manuscript.
  8. Role of Electrocatalysis in the Remediation of Water Pollutants, N. Singh, B.R. Goldsmith, ACS Catalysis, 2020, 10, 3365-3371.
  9. Aqueous phase catalytic and electrocatalytic hydrogenation of phenol and benzaldehyde over platinum group metals, N. Singh, U. Sanyal, G. Ruehl, K. Stoerzinger, O. Y. Gutiérrez, D. M. Camaioni, J. L. Fulton, J. A. Lercher, C. T. Campbell, Journal of Catalysis, 2020, 382, 372-384.
  10. 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, 2019, 4, 2368-2377.
  11. A Simple Bond-Additivity Model Explains Large Decreases in Heats of Adsorption in Solvents Versus Gas Phase: A Case Study with Phenol on Pt(111) in Water, N. Singh and C. T. Campbell, ACS Catalysis, 2019, 9, 8116-8127.
  12. Activity and Selectivity Trends in Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction on Transition Metals, J.X. Liu, D. Richards, N. Singh, B.R. Goldsmith, ACS Catalysis, 2019, 9, 7052-7064.
  13. Adsorption Energies of Oxygenated Aromatics and Organics on Rhodium and Platinum in Aqueous Phase, J. Akinola, I. Barth, B.R. Goldsmith, N. Singh, ACS Catalysis, 2020, 10, 4929-4941.
People
  • People
    • Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Affiliated Faculty
      • Lecturers
      • Research Faculty
      • Adjunct Faculty
      • Emeritus Faculty
      • All Faculty
  • Staff
  • Student Support
  • Faculty and Staff Directory
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellows
  • Graduate Students
Research Area
  • Biomolecular Engineering
  • Catalysis & Reactions
  • Cellular Engineering
  • Computing & Simulation
  • Energy
  • Materials
  • Microfabricated Systems
  • Nanotechnology
  • Polymers & Complex Fluids
College of Engineering | University of Michigan
Chemical Engineering

3074 H.H. Dow

2300 Hayward Street

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136

Phone: (734) 764-2383

Fax: (734) 763-0459

cheme@umich.edu

Give to Chemical Engineering »

Follow The College

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

ALWAYS INNOVATING. FOREVER VALIANT.

The Michigan Engineering Bicentennial Web Project is a multimedia story collection.

See all stories »

  • © The Regents of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Non-Discrimination Policy
  • Campus Safety
  • U-M Gateway
  • Give Feedback