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2008-present Professor, Umeå University, Sweden 2004-2008 Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA 2000-2004 Post-doc ETH-Zürich, Switzerland 1999 Ph.D. Umeå University, Sweden 1997 M.Sc. McGill University, Canada 1994 B.Sc. McGill University, Canada |
nnews
News
- January 6, 2021: New paper in Langmuir on water in layered manganese oxides!
- October 29, 2020: The Swedish Research Council grants 3.9 Mkr for a new 4-year project on the geochemistry of rust in cold environments!
- October 24, 2020: New paper our on antibiotic transport in Environmental Research with Khalil Hanna (Rennes Institute of Chemical Sciences)
- August 10, 2020: Our Science Advances article in the news: Smart Water Magazine, Phys.org, Yale U., UmU, News Beezer, aitnews, Today Headline, Forskning.se, My News Desk
- July 24, 2020: We imaged water films on single minerals! See paper in Science Advances!
- June 19, 2020: Our latest research on the surface chemistry of ferrihydrite is now out in Nature Communication Chemistry! See blog and Goldschmidt Geochemistry conference presentation.
- May 19, 2020: Ice nucleation paper with Allan Bertram group of UBC. We show that K+ drives ice nucleation on K-feldspar.
- February 20, 2020: Cover art in Environmental Science: Nano features our CO2 on ice paper!
Research
Reactions at mineral surfaces have shaped Earth’s ever-changing environments throughout geological times. They are of central interest for Atmospheric Chemistry, Biogeochemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Technology, as well as in the study of Space Chemistry.
My research activities are largely focused on geochemical reactions at mineral surfaces, and connect scales of molecules, single mineral particles, to single macroscopic crystals. Examples of interest include thin water and ice films, ice nucleation & growth, interfacial electrochemistry.
Our approach is multidisciplinary, and we routinely blend experiment with theory. Main experimental approaches include vibrational (FTIR, Raman, Sum Frequency Generation) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Electrochemical methods include Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM). Interpretations of laboratory observations are always assisted by molecular simulations (Molecular Dynamics, Density Functional Theory) of representative systems. Reaction mechanisms are often packaged into thermodynamic/kinetic models that can be used to predict atmospheric and geochemical processes.
pprojects
Projects
The Swedish Research Council is currently supporting our project “Chemistry Within the Confines of Water Films” 
- Photocatalytic and mineralogical transformation within thin water films (Tan Luong, Ph.D. student)
- Interfacial chemistry of clay minerals (Jerry Lindholm, Ph.D. student)
- Isotopic Fractionation of CO2 (Dmitry Shevela, Research Engineer). See Umeå Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory here!
- Water condensation in unsaturated organic-mineral assemblages (under the User program of the Environmental Sciences Laboratory, PNNL)
- Electrochemistry of gas bubbles (Veton Haziri, Erasmus Plus exchange Ph.D. Student)
- Atmospheric ice nucleation (in collaboration with Allan Bertram, University of British Columbia)
- Fate of antibiotics in nature (in collaboration with Khalil Hanna, École nationale supérieure de chimie de Rennes (ENSCR))
Links to Previous Group Members
Dr. Wenting Feng (postdoc 2012-2014). Researcher at Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Dr. Philipp Kozin, (Ph.D. 2014, Postdoc at University of Vienna). Researcher Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, France.
Dr. Masakazu Kanematsu (Postdoc from LBNL, 2014) Environmental Scientist at Anchor QEA, Portland, OR)
Dr Marie Lucas, (Postdoc, 2014–2016)
Dr. Kenichi Shimizu (postdoc 2009-2014). R&D at Northvolt
Dr. Xiaowei Song (Ph.D. 2013; Postdoc at Fritz-Haber Institute, Max-Planck). Material and Product Developer at IKEA
Dr. Julie Tolu (postdoc 2012-2015). Researcher at EAWAG
Dr. Mushel Uddin Munshi (M.Sc. 2014) Ph.D. at Radboud University, 2019.
Dr, Merve Yeşilbaş (Ph.D. 2018). Now VR and NASA postdoc at SETI
publications
Publications
- Complete list (1995-present)
- On Research Gate
- On Google Scholar
ccontact
Contact
Jean-François Boily
Department of Chemistry
Linnaeusv. 6
Umeå University
SE-901 87 Umeå
Sweden
jean-francois.boily@chem.umu.se