Paul Duchesne
PhD Candidate
Email: paul.duchesne@dal.ca
Why Dal?
Excellence in academic research, field-leading professors and a very welcoming student community.
What inspires me
My research focuses on the study of platinum-based bimetallic nanomaterials using specialized X-ray spectroscopic techniques. The goal of these experiments is to synthesize more efficient platinum nanomaterial catalysts and to obtain a better understanding of how their structure affects their performance. With this knowledge we'll be able to develop materials that can be used in a variety of chemical applications, including the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Teaching, labs, research groups
- First-year chemistry laboratory (Senior TA, 2010-2012)
- Chemistry Graduate Student Society (CGSS) Outreach Committee member (2010-2012)
- Ph.D. candidate under supervision of (2010-2012)
Publications
- 鈥淟ocal Structure of Fluorescent Platinum Nanoclusters.鈥� PN Duchesne and P Zhang. Nanoscale, 2012, 4(14):4199-4205.
- 鈥淕old Nanoparticles on Titanium and Interaction with Prototype Protein.鈥� JD Padmos, PN Duchesne, M Dunbar, and P Zhang. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A, 2010, 95A(1):146-155.
- 鈥淴-ray Spectroscopic Studies on the Surface Structural Characteristics and Electronic Properties of Platinum Nanoparticles.鈥� Z Bayindir, PN Duchesne, SC Cook, MA MacDonald, and P Zhang. Journal of Chemical Physics, 2009, 131(24):244716.
Awards, honours, conferences
- NSERC PGS D (2012-2013)
- President鈥檚 Award (2012)
- Killam Predoctoral Scholarship, M (2011-2012)
- NSERC CGS M (2010-2011)
- Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Prize (2010)