People

Benedikt (Ben) Lassalle-Kaiser

Benedikt was trained as a molecular chemist from the Universities of Strasbourg (BSc) and Paris-Sud (MSc) in France. He completed his PhD at the Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay of the Université Paris-Sud under the guidance of Dr. Elodie Anxolabéhère-Mallart and Pr. Ally Aukauloo. His research project was focused on the synthesis and characterization of high valent manganese complexes, models of the Oxygen Evolving Complex of Photosystem II.

He did a first post-doc with Dr. A. W. Rutherford at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, where he worked on the electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry of Photosystem II. In 2009, he moved to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the group of Drs. Junko Yano and Vittal Yachandra. During this period, he worked on both natural and artificial photosynthesis using synchrotron and free electron laser sources. He has collaborated with several groups from the DOE-funded energy hub Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (Pr. P. Alivisatos, Pr. C. Chang, U.C. Berkeley) and from other universities in the USA (Pr. T. Jaramillo, Stanford University; Pr. D. Nocera, Harvard University). His activities in the field led him to be the co-chair of the Gordon Research Seminar on Renewable Energy : Solar Fuels in 2012.

In 2014, he was hired as a beamline scientist on the LUCIA beamline of the Synchrotron SOLEIL, where he develops spectroelectrochemical techniques to couple X-ray spectroscopies with electrocatalytic reactions. His research focuses on the study of materials and molecules for energy-related electrocatalytic reactions such as the OER, HER or CO2RR. From 2014 to 2021, he headed the microfluidic laboratory of Synchrotron SOLEIL, which aim is to combine microfluidic systems with synchrotron-based X-ray techniques. In 2022, he was awarded a fellowship from the University of Strasbourg Institute of Advanced Studies, to study the synthesis of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites under microfluidic conditions using X-ray techniques and electron microscopy.

In 2024 he was appointed as a CNRS Junior Professor in the ITODYS Laboratory of the Université Paris Cité in Paris, France. There, he will focus on the structure and behavior of electrolytes at the solid-liquid interface under electrocatalytic conditions using in situ spectroscopic tools.

Education

2004 BSc in Chemistry, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

2005 MSc in Chemistry, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France

2008 PhD in Chemistry, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France

2019 Habilitation in Chemistry, université Paris-Saclay, Saclay, France

Appointments

2008 - 2009 Post-doctoral fellow at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) in Saclay, France.

2009 - 2012 Post-doctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, CA, USA.

2012 - 2014 Post-doctoral fellow at Synchrotron SOLEIL in Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

2014 - present Beamline Scientist at the LUCIA Beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL.

2015 - 2021 Responsible for the Microfluidic Laboratory at Synchrotron SOLEIL.

2025 - present Junior Professor at the CNRS/Université Paris Cité in Paris, France.

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Current group members

Dr. Soumya Kumar Das

Soumya earned his B.Sc. in Physics from Calcutta University in 2017, followed by an M.Sc. from IIT Madras, where he studied ferroelectric materials. He then joined the Erasmus Mundus MaMaSELF program in Materials Science, studying at TUM and University of Rennes 1. His Master thesis at ILL, France, focused on nanoconfinement in thin films.

He completed his Ph.D. at Ghent University and ESRF, France, researching the elements of a dry reforming catalyst and a multifunctional looping material using X-ray based Spectroscopy (XRS, XAS, XES) along with FDMNES simulations to study the electronic structure and phase evolution. His efforts resulted in several publications as first author.

Currently, he is working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at ITODYS in Paris, focusing on solid-liquid interfaces through soft/tender XAS and IR spectroscopy.

Outside research, Soumya enjoys traveling and dancing.

Ms. Clara Garcia

Clara followed a double Bachelor of Science in Physics and Chemistry at the Université Paris Cité, which she obtained in 2023. She then enrolled in the CHENS (Chimie - Energie - Nanosciences - Surfaces) Master program from the Université Paris Cité. She joined the group as a Master 1 intern, working on in situ Infra-red spectroscopy coupled to electrocatalytic reactions (CO2 reduction and alcohol oxidation). Clara is strongly involved in the life of the Université Paris Cité, as she is the vice-dean representative for students.

Besides Infra-red spectroelectrochemistry, Clara enjoys roller-skate riding in Paris.

Joint students

Mr. Victor Chemineau

Victor obtained a technical diploma in Physics from the Université de Rouen and an engineering degree from the Université Paris Cité in France. He joined the group in 2023 as a engineer for the LUMA PEPR project, where SOLEIL acts as a plateform for the study of photo(electro)catalytic systems. He was in charge of the design, fabrication and test of photo(electro)catalytic cells for in situ/operando X-ray spectroscopic experiments on photocatalytic materials.

He is now enrolled as a PhD student at the Université Paris Cité, in collaboration with the group of Jan Kern and collaborators at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His project aims at developing electrochemical systems that are compatible with free electron laser tehcniques.

Besides designing photochemical cells, Victor plays and follows basketball.

Cem Celikutku

Cem (pronounced “Djem”) completed his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. He then joined the Erasmus Mundus MaMaSELF+ Master’s program in Materials Science and obtained a joint degree from the Université de Rennes and the Università di Torino. He conducted his Master’s research in the group of Prof. Elisa Borfecchia, focusing on synchrotron-based investigations of catalytic materials and their structural stability.

He is currently a PhD student at the Université Paris Cité, where his work is carried out in collaboration with the team of Prof. Aurélie Perrier at the Laboratoire des Énergies de Demain. His research focuses on how carbon supports influence the catalytic behavior of transition metal macrocycles, combining X-ray absorption spectroscopy with DFT calculations to probe support–catalyst interactions under electrochemical conditions.

Cem enjoys swimming and firmly believes that good science is best followed by good food.