Peng Chen

Peng Chen is the Peter J. W. Debye Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University. His research focuses on developing and applying single-molecule techniques to study molecular processes in physical, bioinorganic, and biophysical systems. His work aims to uncover fundamental chemical knowledge for advancing energy conversion and disease prevention. Chen's research areas include single-molecule catalysis, bioinorganic/biophysical chemistry, and method development for single-molecule, single-particle, and single-cell measurements. His group investigates nanomaterials and biomacromolecules to understand their function and dynamics under realistic conditions.

Peng CHEN is the Peter J.W. Debye Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University, specializing in Single-Molecule Catalysis, Single-Molecule Bioinorganic Chemistry, and Biophysics. His research explores oxygen activation, catalytic dynamics, and nanocatalytic processes at the single-molecule level. He investigates the reactivity of nanocatalysts, including gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and copper proteins, using advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques. His work reveals heterogeneous reaction pathways, site-specific activity, and spatiotemporal dynamics in catalytic systems. CHEN's studies also focus on the electronic structure and reactivity of copper complexes, as well as the role of noncoupled binuclear copper sites in enzymatic reactions. His research has implications for sustainable catalysis and energy conversion.