Specialization:
Education:
Grace earned her PhD in Chemistry at MIT under the mentorship of Professor Timothy Swager, where she developed organic chromophores for photovoltaic applications. She continued her training as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT with Professor Jeffrey Grossman, investigating various designs and optical properties of organic and nanomaterials.
In 2018, Grace joined the faculty at Brandeis University, where she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2024. In 2025, she moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara, as an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her research centers on molecular solar thermal energy storage, optically controlled recycling of materials, and light-driven phase transitions. Her group combines synthetic chemistry with photophysical and materials characterization to develop systems for photon energy capture, storage, and release.
Her contributions have been recognized with honors, including the Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize, the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship, the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Sloan Research Fellowship, the NSF CAREER Award, the AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, and the AAAS Marion Milligan Mason Award.
Research:
Research Objective:
The major goal of my research is to develop functional organic material systems that exhibit phase transitions, solubility changes, and nanoscale mechanical changes, triggered by external stimuli, notably light. These photo-controlled materials have a game-changing potential in waste heat recycling, solar energy conversion and storage, recyclable catalysis, single-molecule sensing, and reversible nanomaterial assembly. Since the photo-isomerization of switches has been traditionally studied in dilute solution, there exists a critical need to unravel this process in a crowded environment of condensed liquid or solid for successful applications. My group focuses on designing photoswitches with controllable structural parameters that determine their conformational freedom, photon absorption, and isomeric stability in condensed phases to yield deeper understanding of molecular switching dynamics in such environments.
Publications:
Selected:
S. Chakraborty, W. S. R. Choudhuri, J. Usuba, Q. Qiu, C. Raju, and G. G. D. Han “Curved Anthracenes for Visible-Light Photon Energy Storage via Dewar Isomerization” Chem 2025, 102660. *Featured by C&EN News
S. Chakraborty, H. P. Q. Nguyen, J. Usuba, J. Y. Choi, Z. Sun, C. Raju, G. Sigelmann, Q. Qiu, S. Cho, S. M. Tenney, K. E. Shulenberger, K. Schmidt-Rohr, J. Park, and G. G. D. Han “Self-Activated Energy Release Cascade from Anthracene-Based Solid-State Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems” Chem 2024, 10, 3309–3322. *Highlighted in Joule Preview
H. P. Q. Nguyen, A. Mukherjee, J. Usuba, J. Wan, and G. G. D. Han “Large and Long-Term Photon Energy Storage in Diazetidines via [2+2] Photocycloaddition” Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 18846–18854.
S. Cho, J. Usuba, S. Chakraborty, X. Li, and G. G. D. Han “Solid-State Photon Energy Storage via Reversible [2+2] Cycloaddition of Donor-Acceptor Styrylpyrylium System” Chem, 2023, 9, 3159–3171.
Q. Qiu, Z. Sun, D. Joubran, X. Li, J. Wan, K. Schmidt-Rohr, and G. G. D. Han “Optically-controlled Recovery and Recycling of Homogeneous Organocatalysts Enabled by Photoswitches” Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202300723.
A. Gonzalez, M. Odaybat, M. Le, J. L. Greenfield, A. J. P. White, X. Li, M. J. Fuchter, and G. G. D. Han "Photo-Controlled Energy Storage in Azobispyrazoles with Exceptionally Large Light Penetration Depths." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 19430–19436.
Q. Qiu, S. Yang, M. A. Gerkman, H. Fu, I. Aprahamian, and G. G. D. Han “Photon Energy Storage in Strained Cyclic Hydrazones: New Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Compounds.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 12627–12631