rlg_fadeRonald L. Grimm (he/him)
Associate Professor

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Primary)
Department of Physics (Affiliate)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA
01609

ORCID 0000-0003-0407-937X
Room 3027, Gateway Park
grimm at WPI’s typical…
phone: 508-831-4165
fax: 508-831-4116

Students on a first name basis with him call him Grimm. Really.  Don’t let the name fool you.  The name Grimm is supposed to mean dour and forbidding, but he prefers the term acidic because it sounds more chemistry-y.  (Apologies to Prof. Nicola Cioffi for that joke.)

Ron earned his undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Chemistry ascertaining the radiative recombination rates of gas phase transition metal cations with aromatic compounds with the late Rob Dunbar.

As a graduate student, Ron worked with Jack Beauchamp in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech investigating the properties and applications of electrospray ionization and Field-Induced Droplet Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

For postdoctoral studies, Ron characterized the interaction between adsorbed water and oxidized organic surfaces relative to “aged” organic aerosol with John Hemminger in the Department of Chemistry at UC Irvine.

In follow-up postdoctoral research with Nate Lewis in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech, Ron studied the passivation and surface chemistry of silicon relevant to photoelectrochemical stability and solar fuels production.

Immediately prior to starting at WPI, Ron spent a year as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College.

Ron joined the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2014. It was the first time he had seen snow in fifteen years.

Publications affiliated with WPI

The group publication list is here.

Publications not affiliated with WPI

Enhanced Stability and Efficiency for Photoelectrochemical Iodide Oxidation by Methyl Termination and Electrochemical Pt Deposition on n-Type Si Microwire Arrays.
Shane Ardo, Elizabeth A. Santori, Hal S. Emmer, Ronald L. Grimm, Matthew J. Bierman, Bruce S. Brunschwig, Harry A. Atwater, Nathan S. Lewis*
ACS Energy Lett. 2019, 4, 2308-2314.
10.1021/acsenergylett.9b01529

Photoelectrochemical Behavior of n-Type GaAs(100) Electrodes Coated by a Single Layer of Graphene.
Fan Yang, Adam C. Nielander, Ronald L. Grimm, and Nathan S. Lewis.
J. Phys. Chem. C, 2016, 120 (13), 6989-6995.
10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b00232

Operation of lightly doped Si microwires under high-level injection conditions
E. A. Santori, N. C. Strandwitz, R. L. Grimm, B. S. Brunschwig, H. A. Atwater, N. S. Lewis
Energy & Environmental Science, 2014, 7, 2329-2338.
10.1039/c4ee00202d

Photoelectrochemical Behavior of n-type Si(100) Electrodes Coated with Thin Films of Manganese Oxide Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition
N. S. Strandwitz, D. J. Comstock, R. L. Grimm, A. C. Nichols-Nielander, J. Elam, and N. S. Lewis
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2013, 117, 4931-4936.
10.1021/jp311207x

Comparison of the Photoelectrochemical Behavior of H-Terminated and Methyl-Terminated Si(111) Surfaces in Contact with a Series of One-Electron, Outer-Sphere Redox Couples in CH3CN
R. L. Grimm, M. J. Bierman, L. E. O’Leary, N. C. Strandwitz, B. S. Brunschwig, and N. S. Lewis
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2012, 116, 23569-23576.
10.1021/jp308461q

820 mV open-circuit voltages from Cu2O/CH3CN junctions
C. Xiang, G. M. Kimball, R. L. Grimm, B. S. Brunschwig, H. A. Atwater, and N. S. Lewis
Energy & Environmental Science, 2011, 4, 1311-1318.
10.1039/c0ee00554a

Hygroscopic Growth and Deliquescence of NaCl Nanoparticles Mixed with Surfactant SDS
C. W. Harmon, R. L. Grimm, T. M. McIntire, M. D. Peterson, B. Njegic, V. M. Angel, A. Alshawa, J. S. Underwood, D. J. Tobias, R. B. Gerber, M. S. Gordon, J. C. Hemminger and S. A. Nizkorodov
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2010, 114, 2435-2449.
10.1021/jp909661q

D2O Water Interaction with Textured Carboxylic Acid-Terminated Monolayer Surfaces Characterized by Temperature-Programmed Desorption and Molecular Dynamics
R. L. Grimm, D. J. Tobias and J. C. Hemminger
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2010, 114, 1570-1579.
10.1021/jp9064642

Evaporation and Discharge Dynamics of Highly Charged Multicomponent Droplets Generated by Electrospray Ionization
R. L. Grimm and J. L. Beauchamp
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2010, 114, 1411-1419.
10.1021/jp907162w

Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Adsorbed Water on Self-Assembled Monolayers: Understanding the Interaction of Water with Atmospherically Relevant Surfaces
S. G. Moussa, T. M. McIntire, M. Szori, M. Roeselova, D. J. Tobias, R. L. Grimm, J. C. Hemminger and B. J. Finlayson-Pitts
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2009, 113, 2060-2069.
10.1021/jp808710n

D2O water interaction with mixed alkane thiol monolayers of tuned hydrophobic and hydrophilic character
R. L. Grimm, N. M. Barrentine, C. J. H. Knox and J. C. Hemminger
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2008, 112, 890-894.
10.1021/jp710257q

Surface Structure of KIO3 Grown by Heterogeneous Reaction of Ozone with KI (001)
M. A. Brown, Z. Liu, P. D. Ashby, A. Mehta, R. L. Grimm and J. C. Hemminger
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2008, 112, 18287-18290.
10.1021/jp807113d

Probing interfacial chemistry of single droplets with field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry: Physical adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and ozonolysis of oleic acid and related compounds
R. L. Grimm, R. Hodyss and J. L. Beauchamp
Analytical Chemistry, 2006, 78, 3800-3806.
10.1021/ac0601922

Dynamics of field-induced droplet ionization: Time-resolved studies of distortion, jetting, and progeny formation from charged and neutral methanol droplets exposed to strong electric fields
R. L. Grimm and J. L. Beauchamp
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2005, 109, 8244-8250.
10.1021/jp0450540

Complexation of gas-phase metal ions with furan: Experimental and quantum chemical binding energies
R. L. Grimm, J. B. Mangrum and R. C. Dunbar
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2004, 108, 10897-10905.
10.1021/jp047121w

Field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry
R. L. Grimm and J. L. Beauchamp
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2003, 107, 14161-14163.
10.1021/jp037099r

Hypervelocity microparticle impact studies using a novel cosmic dust mass spectrometer
D. E. Austin, R. L. Grimm, H. L. K. Manning, C. L. Bailey, J. E. Farnsworth, T. J. Ahrens and J. L. Beauchamp
Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, 2003, 108, 5038.
10.1029/2002je001947

Evaporation and discharge dynamics of highly charged droplets of heptane, octane, and p-xylene generated by electrospray ionization
R. L. Grimm and J. L. Beauchamp
Analytical Chemistry, 2002, 74, 6291-6297.
10.1021/ac025889b