Andrew A Gewirth

Andrew A. Gewirth is the Peter C. and Gretchen Miller Markunas Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University (1981) and a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1987). His research focuses on interfacial electrochemistry, surface reactivity, and materials science, with applications in energy storage and catalysis. Key techniques include atomic force microscopy (AFM), spectroscopic methods, and computational modeling.

Research interests include the electroreduction of oxygen to water, development of advanced catalysts for fuel cells, and understanding the structure of the electrochemical double layer. Recent work involves polymer-modified electrodes for CO2 reduction and supported phospholipid bilayers for protein interactions. Gewirth has pioneered electrochemical AFM and investigates electrodeposition processes for semiconductor metallization.

He has received numerous awards, including the AAAS Fellowship (2009), ECS Fellow (2012), and Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990). His lab collaborates on projects involving nanoscale material characterization and energy-related materials design.

Notable achievements include the discovery of interfacial water structures using vibrational spectroscopy and advancements in Cu-polymer composite electrodes for CO2 reduction. His work bridges fundamental surface science with applied energy technologies.