Prof. Carita Kvarnström, Group Leader
Carita obtained her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland (1996) and spent some pre and post-doc periods in the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry at Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany and at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. She became a professor of Materials Chemistry at University of Turku (2009) having a main research interest in materials as conducting and redox polymers, fullerenes, graphene-like materials, hybrid materials, ionic liquids, and perovskites. She has a special liking for everything that concerns in situ spectroelectrochemistry (FTIR, UV-Vis-NIR, Raman).
Adjunct Prof. Mikko Salomäki
Mikko obtained his master’s degree (2000) and Ph.D. (2006) in chemistry in University of Turku. His Ph.D. work included a detailed study of properties and buildup processes of layer-by-layer assembled thin films. His current research interests are on developing deposition and characterization methods of ultra-thin films directing to electroactive composite materials.
Adjunct Prof. Pia Damlin
Pia is a research scientist in the Materials chemistry group and joined the group in 2011. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry in 2001 from Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. Her Ph.D. work involved electrosynthesis and characterization of different conjugated materials by spectroelectrochemical techniques. Her current work centers around electroactive composite materials, specifically conducting polymers and various carbon-based materials. These materials hold promise for applications in energy conversion. Notably, she investigates thin conducting films created using the patented atmospheric pressure vapor phase polymerization method (AP-VPP). These films serve as components for flexible touch screens and biophotovoltaic devices. Additionally, she employs spectroelectrochemical methods (including UV-Vis, Raman, and FTIR) to characterize these materials.
Dr. Lokesh Kesavan
Dr. Lokesh Kesavan is a TCSM (Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine) Post-Doctoral Fellow, who joined the materials chemistry group in January 2018. He obtained his Master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry (2007) from University of Madras, India and graduated Ph.D. (2012) from Cardiff University, United Kingdom, in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. During his Ph.D., he developed catalyst materials for C-H activation under eco-friendly oxidation reaction conditions. His research interests focus on developing novel hybrid materials for renewable energy, chemicals, and environmental remediation.
Dr. Plawan Jha
Dr. Plawan Jha joined the Materials Chemistry Research Group in 2022 as a postdoctoral researcher. Plawan obtained his Ph.D. (2019, Chemistry) from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune India (IISER Pune) and Master’s degree (2012, Physical Chemistry) from Banaras Hindu University, India (BHU). He has experience also as a postdoc at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea (DGIST). Plawan’s research work is focused on the synthesis and characterizations of 2D materials, metal oxides, quantum dots, and conducting polymers for energy storage, electrocatalysis, and magnetism.
Sachin Kochrekar
Sachin completed his post-graduation (M.Sc) studies in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Mumbai (G. J college, Ratanagiri), India. He joined MCRG as a doctoral student in 2017. Before joining, he worked as a junior research fellow in the department of applied chemistry, DIAT, Pune, India, under the DST-funded project. Here, his main research focus will be on the electrochemical reduction of CO2.
Adefunke Koyejo
Adefunke obtained her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from Osun State University, Nigeria. She completed her Masters Degree in the International Masters Degree program for Research Chemists at the University of Eastern Finland. She has working experience as a high school teacher and a pharmaceutical marketing executive. Adefunke joined the Materials Chemistry research group in January 2018. Her research is focused on materials for CO2 electrocatalysis. Her other research interest includes the synthesis of hybrid materials, Electrocatalysis, and spectroelectrochemistry.
Ashwini Jadhav
Ashwini graduated with a BS-MS degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India. She joined the Materials Chemistry research group as a doctoral student in November 2019. Her research is focused on the electrochemical synthesis of 2D materials for energy storage applications. Her other research interests include the study of Metal-Organic Frameworks, conducting polymers, and their composites.
Ali Tuna
Ali graduated with a BSc degree in Chemistry at the Istanbul University in Turkey and obtained his MSc in Chemical and Molecular Sciences at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. He is currently a doctoral candidate jointly at the materials chemistry research group and Professor Pekka Peljo´s group at the Faculty of Technology. His research interests include but are not limited to: Metal complexes, photochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, DFT calculations, and Electrocatalysis.
Majid Al-waeel
Majid graduated with a BSc degree in chemical engineering from Anadolu University in Turkey. He then joined the Erasmus Mundus joint master’s degree “Excellence in analytical chemistry” and obtained a double degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Tartu in Estonia and Åbo Akademi University in Finland. Majid joined the Materials Chemistry Research Group in June 2022. His current research is focused on the deposition and characterization of electroactive thin films.
Vinh Nguyen
Vinh graduated with a master’s degree in materials chemistry from the Materials Chemistry Research Group at the University of Turku. He continued with his doctoral studies in 2023. His research is focused on the synthesis of new materials for energy applications.
Atte Kudjoi
Atte obtained a Master’s degree in materials chemistry from the University of Turku in 2021 and commenced doctoral studies in 2023. His primary research area now involves creating sustainable biodegradable ionically conducting materials using deep eutectic solvents.
Pulmu Eloranta
Pulmu graduated with a Master of Science degree from University of Turku Materials Chemistry research group in 2022. Currently she is a doctoral candidate co-supervised by MCRG and Photomicrobes research group at the Department of Life Technologies. Her research concentrates on investigating sustainable and biocompatible electrode materials for biophotovoltaic applications in Photo-e-mat -project funded by Research Council of Finland.
Joona Huopalainen
Joona graduated with a MSc degree in chemistry from the University of Turku in 2023. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant in the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku. In the late 2023 he started working as a research assistant in the MCRG and in the beginning of 2024, Joona started his journey as a doctoral student. He is studying the removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater using recyclable MXene composites in the Water purification project funded by Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki.
Emilia Hautala
Emilia graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry in the summer of 2020 from the University of Turku. During her Bachelor’s degree studies she worked on the Influence on chemical properties of glass and PET using different surface cleaning procedures. Right now, she is working on Photosynthetic PEDOT/cyanobacteria hybrid cell as an alternative future energy source for her Master’s thesis.
Siyuan Peng
Siyuan obtained his double Bachelor’s degree in engineering from Qilu University of Technology, China, and Tampere University of Applied Science, Finland, in 2022. In the same year, he started his master’s degree at the University of Turku. Currently, he is working on the use of PEDOT-nanoparticles composite as an electrode material for supercapacitors.
Ciara O’Gorman
Ciara obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemical physics from the University College Cork in 2022. She commenced her master’s degree in materials chemistry at the University of Turku in 2022. She is currently completing her laboratory project, which involves the synthesis and characterization of PEDOT for use in supercapacitors.
Kalle o. katavisto
Kalle graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Turku in 2022. For his Bachelor’s thesis, he studied composites of conductive polymers and graphene oxide and their use in supercapacitors. Now he is studying biophotoelectrochemical solar cells including PEDOT electrodes made by the VPP method.
Roni Hentula
Roni obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Turku. For his bachelor’s thesis, he studied the electrochemical production of conductive polymers. Now he works with area growth of hollow porous copolymer (TEOS/EDOT) using Vapour phase polymerization.
Misbah Saleem
Misbah graduated in 2018 from the Federal Urdu University of Science and Technology, Pakistan with a major in applied chemistry. She joined the materials chemistry research group in 2022 for her Masters’s degree. Currently, she is working on the removal of toxic dyes (Methylene blue) from water using mXene.
Salla Mäkinen
Salla graduated with a BSc degree in chemistry from the University of Turku in 2022. For her Bachelor’s thesis, she studied vapor phase polymerized PEDOT thin films in electrochromic applications. She is currently studying the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-cellulose composite.
Aman Kumar
Aman Kumar completed his bachelor’s degree in chemistry with honors and master’s degree in inorganic chemistry from Shoolini University Solan, India in 2021 and 2023 respectively. In 2023, he commenced his second master’s from the University of Turku in materials chemistry. Currently, his work is related in the synthesis of the PEDOT-Mn composite and its supercapacitor applications.
Nicola Nurmi (Viologeenit ja johtavat polymeerit sähkökromisina materiaaleina)
Paavo Suominen (Metalliyhdisteet sähkökemiallisissa superkondensaattoreissa)
Katariina Varpio (Superkondensaattorit – kestävän kehityksen energianvarastointilaitteina)
Sofia Karivieri
Akseli Korkeamäki
Riku Kovanen
