Welcome | Blank Research Group in Chemistry

Welcome to the Blank Research Group in the Chemistry Department at the University of Minnesota.

Our research group investigates a variety of dynamic events in condensed media. The investigations range from basic chemical reaction dynamics in solution to energy and charge transfer dynamics in new materials with targets including applications in solar energy conversion. Our primary experimental tools are nonlinear time domain spectroscopies and this includes new methods developed in our laboratory. Computational tools such as time dependent density functional methods and molecular dynamics simulations are used to complement the experiments and aid in the interpretation of our data.

Recent news and publications

	Michael successfully defended his thesis!
	Jacob Wins Paul and Gerda Gassman Award
	Two-Photon Uncaging of Bioactive Thiols in Live Cells at Wavelengths above 800 nm	Hammers, M; Hodny, M; Bader, T; Mahmoodi, M.M; Fang, S; Fenton, A; Nurie, K; Trial, H,O; Xu, F; Healy, A; Ball, Z.T; Blank, D.A; Distefano, M.D. Org. Biomol. Chem, 2020.
	Rachel successfully defended her thesis!
	Probing Electronic Communication and Excited-State Dynamics in the Unprecedented Ferrocene-Containing Zinc MB-DIPY	Zatsikha, Y.V.; Shamova, I.L.; Schaffner, J.W.; Healy, A.T; Blesener, T.S.; Cohen, G.; Wozniak, A.B; Nemykin, V.N. ACS Omega, 2020.
	Photodetachment and Electron Dynamics in 1-Butyl-1-methyl-pyrrolidinium Dicyanamide	Knudtzon, M.N.; Blank, D.A. Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2020.
	Probing Enhanced Exciton Diffusion in a Triplet-Sensitized Organic Photovoltaic Cell	Shi, K.; Curtin, I.; Healy, A.; Zhang, T.; Rai, D.; Blank, D.A.; Holmes, R.J. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2020, 124, 6, 3489–3495
	Congrats to Meghan!
	Excited State Electron Transfer from Donor−π System–Acceptor Dyes to ZnO Nanocrystals	Swedin, R.; Badgurjar, D.; Healy, A.; Harkins, R.; Greenlund, L.; Alshebber, M.; Ripp, N; Anderson, A.T.; Honzay, B.R.; Pappenfus, T.M.; Janzon, D.E.; Blank, D.A.; Gladfelter, W.L. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2020, 124, 28, 15565–15573.
	Methoxy-Substituted Nitrodibenzofuran-Based Protecting Group with an Improved Two-Photon Action Cross-Section for Thiol Protection in Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis	Bader, T.K.; Xu, X.; Hodny M.H.; Blank, D.A.; Distefano, M.D. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2019, 85, 3,1614–1625.