Nature Energy
§ PhD Candidate · Electrochemical Engineering
Maya R. Calderón
I turn captured CO₂ into the multicarbon molecules industry runs on — designing gas-diffusion electrodes and membrane-electrode assemblies that make electrochemical carbon utilization selective, durable, and economically real.
Chemical & Biological Engineering · The University of Alabama · Advised by Prof. Daniel H. Whitford
Tuscaloosa, AL
§ Recent News
What's happening lately
October 1, 2024
ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship
Recognized for work on durable CO₂ electrolysis interfaces.
April 10, 2025
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship renewed
Continued support for the carbon-utilization program through 2027.
January 14, 2026
Invited talk at the Gordon Research Conference
Presenting flood-resistant MEAs for durable CO₂ electrolysis.
§ Research
Three questions drive the lab work
Selective catalysis
How do we steer copper toward multicarbon products instead of hydrogen? Tandem catalysts and tuned microenvironments.
Durable interfaces
Why do gas-diffusion electrodes flood and fail? Membrane-electrode assemblies engineered for stable, weeks-long operation.
Techno-economics
What has to be true for CO₂-to-ethylene to pay? Rigorous cost modeling that keeps the chemistry honest.
5
Publications
~480
Citations
8
h-index
24
Invited talks
§ Publications
Work I'm proud of
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Energy & Environmental Science
§ Teaching & Mentoring
The next people to do this work
I teach reaction engineering and mentor undergraduate researchers — most arrive unsure they belong in a lab, and leave as co-authors.
6
Undergrads mentored
3
Courses taught
4
Student co-authors
2
Outreach programs
§ Collaborate
Building the carbon-utilization stack — want to collaborate?
Open to collaborations on CO₂ electrolysis, gas-diffusion electrodes, and techno-economic analysis — in academia or industry.