Faculty Profile Image

Ellen Matson

she/her/hers

Marshall D. Gates, Jr. Professor of Chemistry

Professor of Chemistry

PhD, Purdue University, 2013

Office Location
B45 Hutchison Hall
Telephone
(585) 276-7792
Web Address

Research Overview

The worldwide push to generate electricity from renewable sources has created a critical need to develop improved energy storage and fuel-production strategies. Recent advances in the conversion of solar and wind energy into electrical energy have been increasingly economical, yet without effective methods for storage, it is impossible to integrate these intermittent resources into the commercial sector without compromising reliability. Research in the Matson Group focuses on using a synthetic inorganic chemistry perspective to address current global issues related to Energy Storage and Production.

An attractive solution to the broad challenge of energy storage is to store chemical energy in molecular bonds by converting inert, abundant molecules into energy-rich chemical fuels. As such, the development of new, carbon neutral fuels is a viable approach for sustainable electricity generation. The development of alternative fuels from secure and sustainable resources would decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, and as a result is among the greatest environmental and economic challenge that society faces today. The development of sustainable methods to convert energy-poor substrates to fuels requires the generation of catalysts that can perform a complex series of multi-electron and multi-proton transformations. The Matson Group is investigating new approaches to catalyst design that applies fundamental knowledge from bioinorganic systems and heterogeneous catalyst-support interactions. We have recently discovered a new class of metal-oxide metalloligands capable of participating in cooperative small molecule activation. The main objectives of this research include (i) determining how the electronic properties and activity of a homogeneous, heterometallic catalyst can be influenced by a reducible metal-oxide support and (ii) revealing the role of metal/metalloligand interactions in the cooperative intramolecular electron and proton transport that enables substrate activation. Insights from these investigations will translate broadly into improved designs for homogeneous catalysts targeting the sustainable production of chemical fuels.

Additionally, the Matson Group is developing earth-abundant, metal-oxide cluster complexes to serve as electrolytes for redox-flow batteries. Redox-flow batteries are among the most promising technologies for grid-scale energy storage. While traditional battery cells rely on internal solid electrodes for energy storage, redox flow batteries use the circulation of two soluble redox couples as electrolytes, rendering these energy storage systems highly modular and functional. In order to make redox flow batteries commercially viable, inexpensive electrolytes that provide dense electrical output must be developed. Our approach to electrolyte design capitalizes on the stability, solubility, and rich redox chemistry of the transition metal-functionalized polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters discovered in our laboratory. These heterometallic complexes are generated via single-step, self-assembly pathways from inexpensive, commercial starting materials and undergo multiple highly reversible redox events, making them promising candidates for flow-battery applications.

Research Interests

  • Inorganic and Materials Chemistry

Selected Publications

  • Cooney, S. E.; Fertig, A. A.*; Buisch, M.R.; Brennessel, W. W.; Matson, E. M.* “Coordination-induced bond weakening of water at the surface of an oxygen-deficient polyoxovanadate” Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 12726-12737 (DOI: ).
  • Fertig, A. A.; Matson, E. M.* “Connecting Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Proton Coupled Electron Transfer at Polyoxovanadate Surfaces using the Marcus Cross Relation” Inorg. Chem. 2022, accepted article (DOI: ).
  • Valerio, L. R.; Hakey, B. D.; Brennessel, W. W.; Matson, E. M.* “Quantitative U=O bond activation via silyl radical transfer” Chem. Commun. 2022, 58, 11244-11247 (DOI: ).
  • Schreiber, E.; Fertig, A. A.; Brennessel, W. W.; Matson, E. M.* Oxygen-atom defect formation in polyoxovanadate clusters via proton-coupled electron transfer J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 5029-5041 (DOI: ).
  • Fertig, A. A.; Brennessel, W. W.; McKone, J.R.; Matson E. M.* “Concerted multiproton-multielectron transfer for the reduction of O2 to H2O with a polyoxovanadate cluster” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 15756-15768 (DOI: ).
  • Edwards, E. H.; Fertig, A. A.; McClelland, K. P.; Tilahun, M.; Chakraborty, S.; Krauss, T. D.*; Bren, K. L.*; Matson, E. M.* “Enhancing the activity of photocatalytic hydrogen production from CdSe quantum dots with polyoxovanadate clusters” Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 8792-8795 (DOI: ).
  • Schreiber, E.; Petel, B. E.; Matson, E. M.* “Acid-induced, oxygen-atom vacancy formation in reduced polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 9915-9919 (DOI: ).
  • Li, F.; Meyer, R.; Carpenter, S.H.; VanGelder, L.E.; Nichols, A.W.; Machan, C.W.; Neidig, M.L.; Matson, E. M.* “Nitric oxide activation facilitated by the cooperative multimetallic reactivity of iron-functionalized polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters” Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 6379-6389 (DOI: ).
  • Petel, B.E.; Brennessel, W.W.; Matson, E.M.* “Oxygen-atom vacancy formation at polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters: Homogeneous models for reducible metal oxides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 8424-8428 (DOI: ).
  • VanGelder, L.E.; Kosswattaarachchi, A.M.; Forrestel, P.L.#; Cook, T.R.*; Matson, E.M.* “Polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters as multi-electron charge carriers for symmetric non-aqueous redox flow batteries” Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 1692-1699 (DOI: ).
  • Schreiber, E.; Petel, B. E.; Matson, E. M. “Acid-induced, oxygen-atom vacancy formation in reduced polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 9915-9919.
  • Edwards, E. H.; Fertig, A. A.; McClelland, K. P.; Tilahun, M.; Chakraborty, S.; Krauss, T. D.; Bren, K. L.; Matson, E. M. “Enhancing the activity of photocatalytic hydrogen production from CdSe quantum dots with polyoxovanadate clusters” Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 8792-8765.
  • Meyer, R. L.; Love, R.; Brennessel, W. W.; Matson, E. M. “Conversion of a cyclic polyoxovanadate-alkoxide cluster to its Lindqvist congener: Insights into thermodynamic and kinetic products in polyoxovanadate clusters” Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 8607-8610 (selected by editor as “Hot Article”).
  • Petel, B. E.; Meyer, R. L.; Maiola, M. L.; Brennessel, W. W.; Müller, A. M.; Matson, E. M. “Site-selective halogenation of polyoxovanadate clusters: Atomically precise models for electronic effects of anion doping in VO2” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 143, 1049-1056.
  • Schreiber, E.; Hartley, N. A.; Cook, T. R.; McKone, J. P.; Matson, E. M. “Cation interactions with molecular vanadium oxide clusters: Observations of capacitive and pseudocapacitive behavior within a single complex” ACS Appl. Energ. Mat., 2019, 2, 8985-8993.
  • VanGelder, L. E.; Schreiber, E.; Matson, E. M. “Physicochemical implications of alkoxide ‘mixing’ in polyoxovanadate clusters for nonaqueous energy storage” J. Mat. Chem. A, 2019, 7, 4893-4902.
  • Li, F.; Meyer, R.; Carpenter, S.H.; VanGelder, L.E.; Nichols, A.W.; Machan, C.W.; Neidig, M.L.; Matson, E. M. “Nitric oxide activation facilitated by the cooperative multimetallic reactivity of iron-functionalized polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters” Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 6379-6389.
  • Petel, B.E.; Brennessel, W.W.; Matson, E.M. “Oxygen-atom vacancy formation at polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters: Homogeneous models for reducible metal oxides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 8424-8428.
  • VanGelder, L.E.; Kosswattaarachchi, A.M.; Forrestel, P.L.; Cook, T.R.; Matson, E.M. “Polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters as multi-electron charge carriers for symmetric non-aqueous redox flow batteries” Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 1692-1699 
  • (selected as part of the themed collections “Most popular 2018-2019 main group, inorganic and organometallic chemistry articles” and “Most popular 2018-2019 energy articles”).
  • VanGelder, L.E.; Brennessel, W.W.; Matson, E.M. “Tuning the redox profiles of polyoxovanadate-alkoxide clusters via heterometal installation: Toward designer redox reagents” Dalton Trans., 2018, 47, 3698-3704 (cover article).