Zhulin (Sam) Xie is a postdoctoral researcher in Solar Energy Conversion Group at Argonne National Laboratory. His research focuses on developing molecular and biomimetic complexes for energy conversion and small molecule transformation. His research spans bioinorganic chemistry, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. By designing and synthesizing novel molecules, and utilizing various spectroscopic (optical and X-ray) and computational methods, his study explores fundamental physics of charge transfer processes between donors and acceptors under illumination, electro- and photocatalysis for solar fuel generation, and biomimetic synthetic models for the understanding of functionalities of metalloenzymes relevant to nature’s energy conversion.

Education

• Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 2019
• B.S., Chemistry, University of Jinan, 2012

Awards

• Leon O. Morgan Fellowship, UT Austin, 2018
• Ethel Gene Kahmer Endowed Presidential Fellowship, UT Austin, 2018
• Professional Development Award, UT Austin, 2016

Selected publications

• G. Durgaprasad†, Z.-L. Xie† and M. J. Rose*. Iron Hydride Detection and Intramolecular Hydride Transfer in a Synthetic Model of Mono-Iron Hydrogenase with a CNS Chelate. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 386-389. (†co-first author)
• Z.-L. Xie, G. Durgaprasad, A. K. Ali and M. J. Rose*. Iron(II) Carbamoyl-Thioether Pincer as a Structural Model of Mono-Iron Hydrogenase: Substitution Reactions and DFT Study of a Five-Coordinate Complex. Dalton Transactions. 2017. 46, 10814-10829.
• Z.-L. Xie, D. Pennington, J. Lo, D. Boucher and M. J. Rose*. Effects of Thiolate Ligation in Mono-Iron Hydrogenase (Hmd): Stability of the {Fe(CO)²}²⁺ Core with NNS Ligands. Inorg. Chem. 2018. 57, 10028-10039.
• Z.-L. Xie, W. Chai, G. A. Henkelman, M. J. Rose*. Bioinspired CNP Iron(II) Pincers Relevant to [Fe]-Hydrogenase (Hmd): Effect of Dicarbonyl versus Monocarbonyl Motifs in H₂ Activation and Transfer Hydrogenation. Inorg. Chem. 2020, 59, 2548–2561.
• Z.-L. Xie, X. Liu, A. J. S. Valentine, V. M. Lynch, D. M. Tiede, X. Li*, K. L. Mulfort*. Bimetallic Copper/Ruthenium/Osmium Complexes: Observation of Conformational Differences Between the Solution Phase and Solid State by Atomic Pair Distribution Function Analysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202111764. (ACIE hot paper and journal cover)
• M. W. Mara, B. T. Phelan, Z.-L. Xie, T. W. Kim, D. J. Hsu, X. Liu, A. J. S. Valentine, P. Kim, X. Li, S. Adachi, T. Katayama, K. L. Mulfort*, L. X. Chen*. Unveiling ultrafast dynamics in bridged bimetallic complexes using optical and X-ray transient absorption spectroscopies. Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 1715-1724.