DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Affiliations

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
NAISE Fellow, Nanoscience and Technology Division, Argonne National Labs
International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN)
Member of Trienen’s Institute for Sustainability and Energy

Research Statement

The Swearer Lab is actively engaged in developing new materials and systems that can effectively harness electromagnetic energy applied to problems in modern chemistry. Our interdisciplinary research redefines how we approach catalyst design by integrating elements of nanophotonics and heterogeneous catalysis to develop more energy-efficient and selective routes to chemical transformations of industrial and societal importance. Members in the group develop a variety of skills ranging from colloidal synthesis and nanofabrication to advanced spectroscopies and imaging techniques.

Selected Publications

•  Hershey, M., Liu, H., Rossi, A.W., Guo, X., Bourgeois, M.R., Clark, B.D., Gage, T.E., Arslan, I., Masiello, D.J., Swearer, D.F. Probing Plasmonic Near-fields in Oxide-Modified Aluminum Nanocubes using Photon Induced Near Field Electron Microscopy, ACS Photonics, (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.5c01421
• Lu, G., Vaghefi Esfidani, S.M., Lee, J., Wang, Y., Hershey, M., Aydin, K., Folland, T.G., Swearer, D.F. Harnessing Phonon Polaritons for Dynamic and Sensitive Hydrogen Detection in the Mid-Infrared, ACS Nano, (2025) ASAP DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5c02519
• Ho, J., Hershey, M., Swearer, D.F. Accelerated carbon dioxide mineralization and polymorphic control facilitated by non-thermal plasma bubbles, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, (2025) 27, 16435 -16446 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP01196E
• Newmeyer, E-R., Wang, Y., Long, Z., North, J.D., Shi, A., Swearer, D.F. Plasmonic Charge Localization and C–H Activation at Single-Atom Sites in Dilute Copper Platinum Alloys, Journal of the American Chemical Society, (2025), 147, 14, 11789–11799, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c14842
• Hershey, M., Lu, G., North, J.D., Swearer, D.F.**; Mie Resonant Metal Oxide Nanospheres for Broadband Photocatalytic Enhancements, ACS Nano, (2024), 18, 28,18493–18502DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c03913
• Swearer, D.F., Bourgeois, B.B., Angell, D.K., Dionne, J.A., Advancing Plasmon-Induced Selectivity in Chemical Transformations with Optically Coupled Transmission Electron Microscopy, Accounts of Chemical Research, (2021), 54, 19, 3632–3642 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00309
• Swearer, D.F., Knowles, N.R., Everitt, H.O., Halas N.J.; Plasmon-Assisted Chemical Looping for Ammonia Production ACS Energy Lett., (2019), 4, 1505 - 1512. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00860
• Zhou, L. Swearer, D.F., Zhang, C., Robatjazi, H., Zhao, H. Zhang, Y., Dong, L. Nordlander, P. Halas, N.J.; Quantifying Hot Carrier and Thermal Contributions in Plasmonic Photocatalysis Science, (2018), 362, (6410), 69 - 72. DOI:10.1126/science.aat6967
• Swearer, D. F., Zhao, H., Zhou, L., Zhang, C., Robatjazi, H., Martirez, J. M. P., Krauter, C. M., Yazdi, S., McClain, M. J., Ringe, E., Carter, E. A., Nordlander, P., Halas, N. J.; Heterometallic Antenna-Reactor Complexes for Photocatalysis Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., (2016), 113 (32), 8916 - 8920. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1609769113

Selected Honors/Awards

• C&EN Talented 12 (2025)
• Breakthrough Energy Explorer Fellow (2024)
• Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award (2025)
• Packard Fellowship - David & Lucile Packard Foundation 2023
• 3M Non-Tenure Faculty Award 2023
• Hershel M. Rich Invention Award - George R. Brown School of Engineering Rice University 2019
• Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship - Beckman Foundation 2019
• Schmidt Science Fellows (Finalist) 2019
• Student Training for Advising Research (SCI-STAR) Award - Rice University 2018
• Young Scientist U.S. Ambassador - 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Lindau, Germany 2017
• Harry B. Weiser Leadership Award - Rice University 2017
• John J. Fannaly Nanotechnology Award - Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University 2016
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - National Science Foundation 2015
• Bruce O. Hutchins Award - Drexel University 2014