Bio

L. Robert Baker received his B.S. degree from Brigham Young University in 2007 and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Gabor Somorjai in 2012. Following a postdoctoral fellowship with Stephen Leone, he joined The Ohio State University in 2014. 

His awards include the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Coblentz Award in Molecular Spectroscopy, Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy, Young Innovator Award in NanoEnergy, Journal of Physical Chemistry/PHYS Division Lectureship, DOE Early Career Award, and AFOSR Young Investigator Award. Baker was the John von Neumann Distinguished Fulbright Fellow to Hungary in 2023 where he performed research at the Extreme Light Infrastructure Attosecond Light Pulse Source (ELI-ALPS). He currently serves as Director of the NSF National eXtreme Ultrafast Science (NeXUS) Facility.  

His research program focuses on heterogenous catalysis, electrocatalysis, and developing spectroscopic tools to probe charge, spin, and solvent dynamics at functional surfaces and interfaces.

Research Overview

Research in the Baker group seeks to understand the critical role that surface electron dynamics and interfacial solvation have on the selectivity and efficiency of catalytic energy conversion processes.  Toward this goal our group has developed XUV reflection-absorption spectroscopy as a surface sensitive probe of ultrafast electron dynamics.  We also utilize sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy to understand how solvation structures and electric fields present inside the electrochemical double layer control the activity and selectivity of electrocatalytic reactions such as CO₂ reduction.  For additional information regarding research projects and current opportunities, visit the Baker Group website. 

Publications

A complete list of publications can be found here.

• T. Neves-Garcia, M. Hasan, Q. Zhu, J. Li, Z. Jiang, Y. Liang, H. Wang, L.M. Rossi, R.E. Warburton, L.R. Baker. " Integrated Carbon Dioxide Capture by Amines and Conversion to Methane on Single-Atom Nickel Catalysts", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c09744
• M.F. Kling, C. Menoni, C.G.R. Geddes, A. Galvanauskas, F. Albert, L. Kiani, M. Chini, R. Baker, K.A. Nelson, L. Young, J. Moses, S. Carbajo, S. Demos, F. Dollar, D.W. Schumacher, J.Y-J. Tsai, A. Fry, and J. Zuegel.  "Roadmap on basic research needs for laser technology", Journal of Optics, 2024, DOI: 10.1088/2040-8986/ad8458
•  S. Bandaranayake, A. Patnaik, E. Hruska, Q. Zhu, S. Das, and L. R. Baker , "Effect of Surface Electron Trapping and Small Polaron Formation on the Photocatalytic Efficiency of Copper(I) and Copper(II) Oxides", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c03941
• Q. Zhu, C.L. Rooney, H. Shema, C. Zeng, J.A. Panetier, E. Gross, H. Wang, and L.R. Baker, "The solvation environment of molecularly dispersed cobalt phthalocyanine determines methanol selectivity during electrocatalytic CO2 reduction", Nature Catalysis, 2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41929-024-01190-9.
• A. Dodin, G-H. Deng, J.A. Rebstock, Q. Zhu, D.T. Limmer, and L.R. Baker, "Sodium Carbonate ion complexes modify water structure at electrode interfaces", Applied Surface Science, 2024, DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2024.160345.
• E. Hruska, Q. Zhu, S. Biswas, M.T. Fortunato, D.R. Broderick, C.M. Morales, J.M. Herbert, C. Turro, and L.R. Baker, "Water-Mediated Charge Transfer and Electron Localization in a Co3Fe2 Cyanide-Bridged Trigonal Bipyramidal Complex", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c11451.
• H. Gajapathy, S. Bandaranayake, E. Hruska, A. Vadakkayil, B. P. Bloom, S. Londo, J. McClellan, J. Guo, D. Russell, F. M. F. de Groot, F. Yang, D. H. Waldeck, M. Schultze, and L. R. Baker, "Spin Polarized Electron Dynamics Enhance Water Splitting Efficiency by Yttrium Iron Garnet Photoanodes: A New Platform for Spin Selective Photocatalysis," Chemical Science, 2024, 15, 3300-3310. DOI: 10.1039/D3SC03016D.
• J. Rebstock, Q. Zhu, and L.R. Baker, "Exploring the influence of interfacial solvation on electrochemical CO2 reduction using plasmon-enhanced vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy" ChemCatChem, 2024, DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202301301.
• S. Bandaranayake, A. Patnaik, E. Hruska, Q. Zhu, A.Y. Sokolov, and L.R. Baker, "Electronic Structure and Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in CuO Photocatalysts Probed by Surface Sensitive Femtosecond X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure Spectroscopy" Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2023, 14, 15, 3643-3650.
• G. Deng, Q. Zhu, J. Rebstock, T. Neves-Garcia, and L.R. Baker, "Direct Observation of Bicarbonate and Water Reduction on Gold: Understanding the Potential Dependent Proton Source During Hydrogen Evolution" Chemical Science, 2023, 14, 4523-453