About

Tewodros (Teddy) Asefa is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Rutgers University. His research interests include catalysis and nanocatalysis, nanomaterials, nanoparticles, and drug delivery systems. He focuses on nanoparticles and core-shell nanoparticles with novel structures and multifunctional groups, multifunctional self-assembled monolayers on surfaces and nanoparticles, and multifunctional nanopororous and mesoporous materials for drug delivery. His work also encompasses nanomaterials in cancer treatment and dye-sensitized solar cells. Professor Asefa has held various academic and research positions internationally, including visiting professorships at ETH Zürich, Maringá State University in Brazil, Kyoto University in Japan, and the South China University of Technology in China. He has received numerous honors and awards, such as the Rutgers Board of Trustees Research Fellowship, NSF-CBET NanoEHS Award, NSF Special Creativity Award, and NSF CAREER Award. His professional experience includes his current roles at Rutgers University since 2015, with additional visiting research fellowships and professorships abroad. His educational background includes a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Addis Ababa University, an M.A. in Chemistry from the University of New York at Buffalo, a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the University of Toronto, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Materials Chemistry at McGill University.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Organic chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Composite material
• Physical chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Selected publications

• Highly Stable and Electrocatalytically Active Microflower‐Shaped, Fe ₂ /Ni‐Coordinated N‐Doped Carbons With Vacancy Sites for Oxygen Redox Reactions

  Advanced Energy Materials · 2026-02-15

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT Developing highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is vital for the large‐scale deployment of rechargeable zinc‐air batteries (ZABs). Herein, a novel ternary‐atom catalyst, composed of Fe 2 ‐ and Ni‐coordinated, flower‐shaped, N‐doped carbon microparticles containing carbon vacancy sites (Fe 2 /Ni‐N‐C CV MFs), is synthesized using a facile two‐step heat‐treatment strategy. The material possesses Fe 2 ‒N 6 and Ni‒N 4 co‐structures as well as abundant carbon vacancy sites. These render the material remarkable bifunctional electrocatalytic activity and outstanding stability in alkaline media. Density functional theory simulations indicate that: i) the Fe 2 ‒N 6 sites stabilize the reaction intermediate *OOH through bidentate adsorption, ii) the Ni‒N 4 sites favorably modulate the electronic states of Fe 2 ‒N 6 sites, and iii) the carbon vacancy sites around the metallic species hinder the dissolution of the metallic centers. Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits a high peak power density of 264.4 mW cm ‒2 and excellent long‐term cycling stability for 1000 h in rechargeable ZABs. This work will not only guide the development of robust multi‐atom catalysts through the rational modulation of multi‐metallic and vacancy sites, but also provide a new approach to optimizing the electronic structures of the metal centers in such catalysts to enhance electrocatalytic performance.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Synergistic dual active sites in metal-organic framework-on-metal hydroxide heterostructures for enhanced electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia

  Journal of Colloid and Interface Science · 2025-09-27 · 7 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Using Host‐Guest Chemistry to Examine the Effects of Porosity and Catalyst‐Support Interactions on CO₂ Reduction

  Angewandte Chemie · 2025-03-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Bis‐porphyrin nanocages ( M 2 BiCage , M = FeCl, Co, Zn) and their host‐guest complexes with C 60 and C 70 were used to examine how molecular porosity and interactions with carbon nanomaterials affect the CO 2 reduction activity of metalloporphyrin electrocatalysts. The cages were found to adsorb on carbon black to provide electrocatalytic inks with excellent accessibilities of the metal sites (≈50%) even at high metal loadings (2500 nmol cm −2 ), enabling good activity for reducing CO 2 to CO. A complex of C 70 bound inside (FeCl) 2 BiCage achieves high current densities for CO formation at low overpotentials (| j CO | >7 mA cm −2 , η = 320 mV; >13.5 mA cm −2 , η = 520 mV) with ≥95% Faradaic efficiency (FE CO ), and Co 2 BiCage achieves high turnover frequencies (≈1300 h −1 , η = 520 mV) with 90% FE CO . In general, blocking the pore with C 60 or C 70 improves the catalytic performance of (FeCl) 2 BiCage and has only small effects on Co 2 BiCage , indicating that the good catalytic properties of the cages cannot be attributed to their internal pores. Neither enhanced electron transfer rates nor metal‐fullerene interactions appear to underlie the ability of C 60 /C 70 to improve the performance of (FeCl) 2 BiCage , in contrast to effects often proposed for other carbon nanosupports.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using Host‐Guest Chemistry to Examine the Effects of Porosity and Catalyst‐Support Interactions on CO ₂ Reduction

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2025-03-11 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Bis‐porphyrin nanocages ( M 2 BiCage , M = FeCl, Co, Zn) and their host‐guest complexes with C 60 and C 70 were used to examine how molecular porosity and interactions with carbon nanomaterials affect the CO 2 reduction activity of metalloporphyrin electrocatalysts. The cages were found to adsorb on carbon black to provide electrocatalytic inks with excellent accessibilities of the metal sites (≈50%) even at high metal loadings (2500 nmol cm −2 ), enabling good activity for reducing CO 2 to CO. A complex of C 70 bound inside (FeCl) 2 BiCage achieves high current densities for CO formation at low overpotentials (| j CO | >7 mA cm −2 , η = 320 mV; >13.5 mA cm −2 , η = 520 mV) with ≥95% Faradaic efficiency (FE CO ), and Co 2 BiCage achieves high turnover frequencies (≈1300 h −1 , η = 520 mV) with 90% FE CO . In general, blocking the pore with C 60 or C 70 improves the catalytic performance of (FeCl) 2 BiCage and has only small effects on Co 2 BiCage , indicating that the good catalytic properties of the cages cannot be attributed to their internal pores. Neither enhanced electron transfer rates nor metal‐fullerene interactions appear to underlie the ability of C 60 /C 70 to improve the performance of (FeCl) 2 BiCage , in contrast to effects often proposed for other carbon nanosupports.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Synthesis of AlPO4-11 in Double Salt Ionic Liquids Under Microwave and Fast Resistive Heating

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A soft touch with electron beams: Digging out structural information of nanomaterials with advanced scanning low energy electron microscopy coupled with deep learning

  Ultramicroscopy · 2024-04-10 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Atomically Dispersed Fe ₂ and Ni Sites for Efficient and Durable Oxygen Electrocatalysis

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2024-12-15 · 42 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Developing highly efficient, cost‐effective, and robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is paramount for the large‐scale commercialization of renewable fuel cells and rechargeable metal‐air batteries. Herein, a new ternary‐atom catalyst that is composed of paired Fe sites and single Ni sites (as Fe 2 −N 6 and Ni−N 4 ) coordinated onto hollow nitrogen‐doped carbon microspheres is developed. The as‐synthesized catalyst exhibits remarkable activities toward both the ORR and OER in alkaline media, with superior performances to those of the control materials that contain only Fe 2 −N 6 or Ni−N 4 sites. Density functional theory calculations and in situ infrared (IR) spectroscopic studies clearly reveal that the Fe 2 −N 6 centers are the active sites for both ORR and OER, and their electrocatalytic activities are synergistically enhanced through optimization of their d‐band centers by the Ni−N 4 sites. This ternary‐atom catalyst can potentially be a promising, alternative, sustainable catalyst to commercially used Pt‐ and Ru‐based catalysts to drive both the ORR and the OER in rechargeable zinc‐air batteries and other related applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• CCDC 2272261: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

  The Cambridge Structural Database · 2024-01-21

  datasetOpen access

  An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

  PublisherDOI

• Atomically Dispersed Fe ₂ and Ni Sites for Efficient and Durable Oxygen Electrocatalysis

  Angewandte Chemie · 2024-12-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Developing highly efficient, cost‐effective, and robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is paramount for the large‐scale commercialization of renewable fuel cells and rechargeable metal‐air batteries. Herein, a new ternary‐atom catalyst that is composed of paired Fe sites and single Ni sites (as Fe 2 −N 6 and Ni−N 4 ) coordinated onto hollow nitrogen‐doped carbon microspheres is developed. The as‐synthesized catalyst exhibits remarkable activities toward both the ORR and OER in alkaline media, with superior performances to those of the control materials that contain only Fe 2 −N 6 or Ni−N 4 sites. Density functional theory calculations and in situ infrared (IR) spectroscopic studies clearly reveal that the Fe 2 −N 6 centers are the active sites for both ORR and OER, and their electrocatalytic activities are synergistically enhanced through optimization of their d‐band centers by the Ni−N 4 sites. This ternary‐atom catalyst can potentially be a promising, alternative, sustainable catalyst to commercially used Pt‐ and Ru‐based catalysts to drive both the ORR and the OER in rechargeable zinc‐air batteries and other related applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using Host-Guest Chemistry to Examine the Effects of Porosity and Catalyst-Support Interactions on CO2 Reduction

  ChemRxiv · 2024-12-18

  preprintOpen access

  Nanoporous materials and carbon nanotubes are common supports for immobilizing molecular electrocatalysts, but the effects of these nano-supports on catalysis are not well understood. Thus, we developed bis-porphyrin nanocages (M2BiCage) for examining how porosity and interactions with carbon nanomaterials (C60 or C70) affect the CO2 reduction activity of metalloporphyrins. The porous structure of Zn2BiCage was characterized by SC-XRD, and the Fe and Co derivatives were found to adsorb on carbon black to provide inks with excellent accessibilities of the metal sites (~50 %) to H+ and e− even at high metal loadings (2500 nmol cm−2). A complex of C70 bound in (FeCl)2BiCage achieved good current densities for CO formation at low overpotentials (jCO > |5| mA cm-2, η = −330 mV; > |10| mA cm-2, η = −530 mV) with 95 % FE, and Co2BiCage achieved high TOF (~1300 h-1, η = −530 mV) with 90 % FE. Blocking the pore with C60 or C70 improved the activity of the M2BiCages (M = Fe) or had little effect (M = Co), indicating that good catalytic performance of the cages cannot be attributed to porosity. Neither enhanced electron transfer rates nor metal-fullerene interactions appear to underlie the ability of C60/C70 to improve the catalytic performance of (FeCl)2BiCage, in contrast to effects on electrocatalysis often proposed for carbon nano-supports.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• SusChEM: Rational Design and Synthesis of Stable Strain- and Defect-Rich Cu/Ceramic Nanocomposites for Efficient CO2 Reduction

  NSF · $358k · 2015–2019

• Controlled Synthesis of Mesoporous Silicon Oxynitride Ceramics by Nitridization of Mesoporous Organosilicas

  NSF · $383k · 2009–2014

• Controlled Synthesis of Mesoporous Silicon Oxynitride Ceramics by Nitridization of Mesoporous Organosilicas

  NSF · $140k · 2008–2009

• CAREER: Rationally Designing, Synthesizing and Self-Assembling Multifunctional, Hybrid Nanostructured Organosilica and Organosilica-Titania Materials for Catalysis

  NSF · $504k · 2007–2010

• CAREER: Rationally Designing, Synthesizing and Self-Assembling Multifunctional, Hybrid Nanostructured Organosilica and Organosilica-Titania Materials for Catalysis

  NSF · $161k · 2009–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Xiaoxin Zou

  State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry

  77 shared

• Ankush V. Biradar

  46 shared

• Xiaoxi Huang

  Shenzhen Polytechnic

  45 shared

• Anandarup Goswami

  Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology & Research

  43 shared

• Rafael Silva

  33 shared

• Zhimin Tao

  Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University

  25 shared

• Chaoyun Tang

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  24 shared

• Chang Won Yoon

  Pohang University of Science and Technology

  24 shared

Labs

• Asefa GroupPI

Awards & honors

• Rutgers Board of Trustees Research Fellowships for Scholarly…
• NSF-CBET, NanoEHS Award (2011–2014)
• NSF Special Creativity Award (2011–2013)
• NSF-DMR, American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fello…
• NSF CAREER Award (2007–2012)