Team | Hodges Lab

Group Members

We are currently looking for students and postdocs interested in materials synthesis and solid-state chemistry! Contact Jim directly if you want to learn more about joining the group.

Contact

Principal Investigator

James M. Hodges

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemistry

The Pennsylvania State University

Contact
Email: hodges@psu.edu

Jim is a materials chemist with a background in exploratory synthesis and thermoelectrics. After earning a Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn State and postdoctoral studies at Northwestern, he's been developing new materials for catalysis and adsorbent technologies at Honeywell UOP.

Education and Training
R&D Scientist - New Materials Group, Honeywell UOP (2019-2021)
Postdoctoral Fellow - Northwestern University (2016-2019)

Advisor: Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

Ph.D. Chemistry - The Pennsylvania State University (2012-2016)

Advisor: Raymond E. Schaak

B.S. Chemistry - Rider University (2008-2012)

Graduate Students

Sonali Thanthrige

joined 2023

BS, Chemistry, 2020
University of Jayewardenepura

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Reading, Traveling, Cooking, Trying out new restaurants

kbt5408 at psu dot edu

Pedro R. Trinidad-Pérez

joined 2022

BS, Chemistry, 2022
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Woodworking, Metalworking, 3D Printing, Making Things

Flux Crystal Growth & Exploratory Synthesis

prt5096 at psu dot edu

Daniel Spainhouer

joined 2022

BS, Chemistry, 2022
Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida

dws6003 at psu dot edu

Alex Leffel

joined 2022

BS, Chemistry, 2022
Iowa State University

Crystal Lake, Illinois

Coffee, Videogames, Reality TV, cat

apl5868 at psu dot edu

Ayat Tassanov

joined 2021

BS, Chemistry, 2021
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

Aqtobe, Kazakhstan

Cooking, fishing, gaming, hiking, being a dad

Predictive Synthesis of Multi-Anion Chalcogenides Using Retrosynthetic Approach

akt5745 at psu dot edu

Brendan Troesch

joined 2021

BA, Chemistry, German, 2021

Washington & Jefferson College

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

bqt5271 at psu dot edu

Jaime Bruker

built 2021

Billerica, Massachusetts

jaimebruker at psu dot edu

The Wooden Duck

joined 2021

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

Safe guard the mints in the group room.

woodenduck at psu dot edu

Undergraduate Students

joined
Major:
at psu dot edu

Group Presentations

Tailoring Electronic Properties in Thermoelectric Materials through Site-Selective Doping

Pedro Trinidad
2024 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of ACS
University Park, PA
June 2024

Polyhedral rearrangement driven by anion ordering in metal chalcogenides

Ayat Tassanov
2024 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of ACS
University Park, PA
June 2024

Prediction and accelerated laboratory discovery of AMMQ3 compounds using tolerance factor approach

Ayat Tassanov
Penn State 39th Annual Graduate Exhibition
University Park, PA
April 2024

Anion Ordering in Metal Chalcogenides: Design Rules for Predictive Synthesis

Ayat Tassanov
2DCC Seminar Series
University Park, PA
February 2024

Anion Ordering in Metal Chalcogenides: Design Rules for Predictive Synthesis

Ayat Tassanov
2023 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit
Boston, MA
November 2023

Investigating the Synthesis of M1-Type Mixed-Metal Oxide Catalysts

Brendan Troesch
Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society Conference
University Park, PA
May 2023

Group Accomplishments

2024
- Pedro Trinidad is awarded the Second Year Graduate Student Award for his outstanding academic and achievements. July, 2024.
- Pedro Trinidad is awarded the 2024 NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Fellowship Award. May, 2024.
- Pedro Trinidad is selected for the ACS Lasting Encounters between Aspiring and Distinguished Scientists (LEADS) Conference. May, 2024.
- Pedro Trinidad is awarded the 2024 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Fellowship Award. April, 2024.
- Alex Leffel is awarded the 2023 Chemistry Graduate Student Teaching Award. April, 2024.
- Ayat Tassanov is awarded first place in Penn State's 39th annual Graduate Exhibition. April, 2024.
- Pedro Trinidad is awarded the 2024 National GEM Consortium Graduate Fellowship. March, 2024.
- Jim is chair of Solid State subdivision on ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry. January, 2024.
2023
- Ayat Tassanov is awarded the Dalalian Fund Travel Award for presenting his research at MRS 2023. November, 2023.
- Ayat Tassanov is awarded the Second Year Graduate Student Award for his outstanding achievements. August, 2023.
- Jim is chair elect of Solid State subdivision on ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry. January, 2023.
2022
- Pedro Trinidad is awarded the First Year Graduate Student Award for his outstanding academic and achievements. November, 2022.

Alumni

Former Postdoctoral Research Associates

Coming Soon!

Former Graduate Students

Coming Soon!

Former Undergraduate Students

Nathan Baumann, joined 2023
Paige Grice, joined 2023