Cassie attended Gordon College a liberal arts school north of Boston, majored in Chemistry, and is now a graduate student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her previous research involved hemochromes (a 6-coordinated hemoglobin), bacterial reduction of iron in the environment, and other random but interesting things. In the last few years, Cassie has become passionate about using chemistry for the environment, especially in view of pollution, CO2 and climate change more broadly. She is pleased that the Friend lab has allowed her to combine her interest in molecular mechanisms and surface chemistry to her desire for environmental applicability.
Currently, Cassie is using silver and gold as model catalysts to look at coupling and cross-coupling reactions with amines, alcohols, and aldehydes. By studying these reactions using Temperature Programmed Reaction Spectrometry (TPRS), and various spectroscopic techniques (XPS, AES, IR, HREELS), she hopes to fully understand the catalyst-promoted reaction mechanisms and the intermediates on the surface.
Another aspect of her research interests includes working with Au/Ag alloys. Using alloys, one may be able to more carefully tune the reactivity of the metal and selectivity of a reaction process, depending on the alloy composition. Also, she hopes to mimic nanoporous gold, which has very interesting properties, especially in terms of potential as a photocatalyst component. By studying the potential reactivities and reaction mechanisms of Au/Ag alloys under UHV, we should be able to gain valuable insight into reaction possibilities and mechanisms for nanoporous gold.