Grp photo 2025 Fall

Our research focus can be summarized as analytical surface-science. Nearly all of our research is based on measurements of chemical interactions with surfaces, and most of our instrumentation is specifically designed to examine interfacial phenomena. If you've ever wondered why oil spreading on water looks like a rainbow, why you can only make sand castles with wet sand, or how Rain-X® keeps your windshield so clean, you might be interested in our work. We use precice measurements of chemical behaviors to create new, fundamental understanding of these types of questions to address important challenges in environmental remediation, materials development, and energy science. 

Detailed descriptions of our research projects and some laboratory pictures can be found within this website.  If you have questions, feel free to send us an email or arrange a visit to our lab.  Follow us on Twitter @shawschem (group) or @shawchem (Prof Shaw)

Research for All

The Shaw group accepts that scientific advancement suffers without participation from all varied communities. We proactively engage all people regardless of status or ability. We acknowledge institutional challenges within the sciences, both for and against, certain groups of people. To counter this and provide clearer pathways to success, we work to create an inviting and enjoyable environment to do, and share, good science for all. Through formal training and informal interactions, we continuously strive to improve ourselves while advocating for each others’ success. We hope our efforts will support positive changes within our field.

 

Event and news feeds

Departmental Events

Three Month Seminar- Nevindee Samararathne Muhandiramge (MacGillivray Group)

Monday, February 23, 2026 10:30am
Chemistry Building

"Crystal Engineering Towards Solid State Reactivity Control - From Cocrystals to Metal-Organic Materials"

Three Month Seminar- Andres Mora Mata (Haes/Tivanski Groups)

Monday, February 23, 2026 12:30pm
Chemistry Building

Development of Methods for Nanoparticle Deposition, Characterization, and Activation for SERS Detection

Library Workshop: Reading Scientific Articles

Thursday, February 26, 2026 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Sciences Library

Learning to efficiently read and understand scientific literature can be a time-consuming process. In this workshop, improve your understanding of scientific literature in both your field and others. Presented by Laurie Neuerburg, sciences head engagement librarian at the Sciences Library. 

This workshop will be presented virtually and in-person.

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Professional Development Events

Common Ground: Applications of Eminent Domain promotional image

Common Ground: Applications of Eminent Domain

Tuesday, February 24, 2026 12:45pm to 2:00pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)
Join GPSG and Faculty Senate for an interdisciplinary panel over the lunch hour. Hear perspectives from engineering, law, and planning/land use on eminent domain.
Departmental Brown Bag: Koushani Biswas and Hazal Arpaci promotional image

Departmental Brown Bag: Koushani Biswas and Hazal Arpaci

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Psychological and Brain Sciences Building

Brown Bag events feature presentations by Psychological and Brain Sciences graduate students from the Cognitive and Behavioral Cognitive Neuroscience training areas.

Koushani Biswas is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Koushani is in the Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience training area and is a member of the Freeman Lab.

Hazal Arpaci is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Hazal is in the Behavioral & Cognitive...

Application Deadline: Obermann-Humanities Without Walls Graduate Student Summer Internships promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann-Humanities Without Walls Graduate Student Summer Internships

Monday, March 2, 2026 5:00pm
111 Church Street

The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies invites UI graduate students in humanities and humanities-adjacent programs to apply for paid summer internships with Iowa City nonprofit organizations Public Space One, Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, and the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation. Six positions are available (two at each site).

This eight-week summer program will give UI graduate students the chance to gain hands-on professional experience outside the classroom while...

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Guest Speaker: Dr. Stephani Sutherland, PhD promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Guest Speaker: Dr. Stephani Sutherland, PhD

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 4:00pm
General Hospital

The Neuroscience Graduate Program is pleased to welcome Stephani Sutherland, PhD, a neuroscientist and science communication professional, for a guest seminar focused on careers in science communication.

Dr. Sutherland will begin with an overview of career paths in science communication, drawing on her own wide-ranging professional journey. Trained as a neuroscientist, she has built a multifaceted career as a science communicator, writer, journalist, and educator, translating complex research for...

Data Centers in Iowa: Perspectives from Community, Government, and Research promotional image

Data Centers in Iowa: Perspectives from Community, Government, and Research

Monday, March 9, 2026 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Boyd Law Building
This panel will offer a high-level overview of how community, government, and industry considerations shape data center development in Iowa and the broader Midwest.
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Articles

Publications

Scott K Shaw's Google Scholar

2024

DeYoung, J.L.; Akporere, U.G.; Cheng, Z.; China, S.; Vandergrift, G.W.; Anderton, C.R.; Zhou, Y.; Zhu, Z.; Shaw, S.K. Chemical Differences in Environmental Films Collected on Surfaces with Different Hydrophilicity. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2024, 8 (12), 2411-2419. DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00170

Van Den Top, M.B.; Horvath, A.; Koutsoukos, S.; Philippi, F.; Rauber, D.; Welton, T.; Shaw, S.K. Increasing Cation Ion Symmetry Reduces Ionic Liquid Ordering in Thin Films. J. Phys. Chem. B 2024, 128 (45), 11251-11257. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c04413

Duke, R.; Sweet, A.; Stumme, N.C.; Ordikhani-Seyedlar, R.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Yang, C.; Yang, H.; Perera, A.; Green, L.; Endres, K.; Losch, M.E.; Ganapathysubramanian, B.; Mason, S.E.; Sarkar, S.; Shaw, S.K.; Risko, C.; Jenkins, J.L.; Teague, C.M. In the Mix: A Workshop Merging Computational Chemistry and Electrochemistry Alongside Data Science. J. Chem. Educ. 2024, 101 (11), 5060-5067. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00727

Nelson, B.; Huang, W.; Shen, N.; Shaw, S.K.; Lamuta, C.; Ding H. Evolving surface wettability in laser-powder bed fusion printed metal parts. Manuf. Lett. 2024, 40, 45-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.mfglet.2024.02.003

Bi, J.; Witt, E.; McGovern, M.K.; Cafi, A.B.; Rosenstock, L.L.; Pearson, A.B.; Brown, T.J.; Karasic, T.B.; Absler, L.C.; Machkanti, S.; Boyce, H,; Gallo, D.; Becker, S.L.; Ishida, K.; Jenkins, J.; Hayward, A,; Scheiflinger, A.; Bodeker, K.L.; Kumar, R.; Shaw, S.K.; Jabbour, S.K.; Lira, V.A.; Henry, M.D.; Tift, M.S.; Otterbein, L.E.; Traverso, G.; Byrne, J.D. Oral carbon monoxide enhances autophagy modulation in prostate, pancreatic, and lung cancers. Advanced Science 2024, 11 (9), 2308346. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202308346

Duke, R.; Mahmoudi, S.; Kaur, A.P.; Bhat, V.; Dingle, I.C.; Stumme, N.C.; Shaw, S.K.; Eaton, D.; Vego, A.; Risko, C. ExpFlow: a graphical user interface for automated reproducible electrochemistry. Digital Discovery 2024, 3 (1), 163-172. DOI: 10.1039/D3DD00156C

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