Dr. Luis R. De Jesús was born and raised in the island of Puerto Rico. He completed his undergraduate degree at the Universidad de Puerto Rico – Cayey, where he received his B.S. with a concentration in chemistry. As an undergraduate, Luis had the opportunity to work in several research laboratories, exploring different tastes of chemistry. He worked in fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry, bio-materials chemistry, and materials chemistry. He was inspired by materials chemistry and pursued his graduate studies with Prof. Sarbajit Banerjee at Texas A&M University, from where he received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry. His work focused on understanding the mechanisms of Li-ion intercalation in cathode materials by using X-ray microscopy mapping in tandem with first-principles modeling.

As a postdoc in the Mallouk group, Luis focuses his research on novel layered transition-metal carbides, better known as MXene. He is investigating the use of alternative chemistries to synthesize these compounds, the growth of late transition-metal oxide nanoparticles on MXenes, and the use of X-ray spectroscopies to evaluate the changes in the electronic structure of MXene with the aforementioned modifications.

Outside of the research lab, Luis is an active and discerning citizen. He would like to share several thoughts:
1) Black Lives Matter
2) Academia’s toxic behavior needs to change
3) Take care of your physical, emotional, and mental health
4) Turbulent flow over laminar flow, non-equilibrium over equilibrium, crystal defects over crystalline solids, and reversible process over irreversible process.