Charles Sykes

E. Charles Sykes is the John Wade Professor of Chemistry at Tufts University's School of Arts & Sciences, with a joint appointment in Chemical and Biological Engineering. He leads the Sykes Lab at 62 Talbot Avenue, where his team investigates surface chemistry phenomena using scanning probe microscopy techniques. His educational background includes a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge (2002) and a BS/MS in Chemistry from the University of Oxford (1998).

Research focuses include:

• Physical chemistry of catalytic surfaces
• Design of single-atom alloy catalysts
• Molecular motor systems and nanoscale motion
• Chiral surface phenomena
• Radiation effects in nanomaterials
• Self-assembled molecular systems

His recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on catalyst design principles, with 2023-2025 works emphasizing single-atom alloys, surface restructuring phenomena, and reaction selectivity control in heterogeneous catalysis.

Major scientific recognition includes:

• ACS Catalysis Lectureship (2019)
• Fellow of AVS (2018)
• Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (2015)

He currently advises 6 graduate students and 2 undergraduates, while securing research funding from NSF, NIH, and DOE for projects including:

• Atomic-scale catalyst design (NSF)
• Low-energy electron nanomaterials (NIH)
• Mesoscale catalytic architectures (DOE)

The Sykes Lab develops cutting-edge instrumentation for studying surface reactions and molecular motion, with applications in energy conversion and nanomedicine.