Associate Professor
Analytical Chemistry

Chemistry & Biochemistry

Fahrenkrug Lab

Eli Fahrenkrug's CV

Biography:

Eli Fahrenkrug received his B.S. in Chemistry from the Evergreen State College in 2011. His fascination with electrochemistry and materials science started while he was an engineer at Hummingbird Scientific, where he helped develop some of the first tools that would allow researchers to visualize electrochemical reactions at the atomic scale. He was hooked. He channeled those interests into research at the University of Michigan where he earned his PhD in 2016. There he helped pioneer a new electrochemical strategy for growing semiconductor crystals at liquid metal electrodes. Mixing science with a bit of wanderlust, Eli ventured to China to serve as a visiting scientist at the Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beyond the lab he also found refuge for his interest in brewing chemistry by helping construct one of the world’s highest (in elevation) microbreweries on the Tibetan Plateau.

He joined the faculty at Colorado College as Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2017 and teaches a variety of courses including general, analytical, instrumental, and inorganic chemistry, along with newer courses like Snow Science and Environmental Chemistry. In the lab, he likes growing crystals, building sensors, and making snow. In 2018, he co-founded the Fountain Valley Water Project (501c3), a citizen-science initiative responding to decades of PFAS pollution in local aquifers. Eli has held 30+ jobs in his life (ask him about the worst!); he moonlights as a wedding officiant (8 and counting); he loves to travel, cook Sichuan food, hike with his dog Pizza, see live music, and enjoys any activity involving Types 2 and 3 fun. He’s currently half-way into his goal of skiing Colorado’s 14ers.

 

Publications

Selected Publications:

Humphrey, N., Miranda, J., Thomas, B., Kinney, R., Mondaca, E., Freedman, R., Fahrenkrug, E., On-chip Optical Anodic Voltammetry with Closed Bipolar Cells and Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence Reporting. ACS Sensors, (6), 11, 4136-4144, (2021).

Mondaca, E., Wright, K., Chavarria, N., Fahrenkrug, E., A Design-Based Learning Framework for Introducing Factorial Experimental Design and Lab-on-a-Chip Separations in the Instrumental Analysis Laboratory. J. Chem. Ed., 97 (5), 1327-1335, (2020).

Buckley, P., Fahrenkrug, E., The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis as a Case Study for Introducing Concepts of Equity and Power into an Analytical Chemistry Curriculum. J. Chem. Ed., 97 (5), 1327-1335, (2020).

Fahrenkrug E., DeMuth, J., Ma, L., Maldonado, S., Electrochemical Liquid Phase Epitaxy (ec-LPE): A New Methodology for the Synthesis of Crystalline Group IV Semiconductor Epifilms. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139, 6960-6968 (2017).

Fahrenkrug, E., Alsem, D. H., Salmon, N., Maldonado, S., Electrochemical Measurements in In Situ TEM Experiments. J. Electrochem. Soc., 164, H358-H364 (2016).

Fahrenkrug, E., Gu, J. & Maldonado, S. Electrodeposition of Crystalline GaAs on Liquid Gallium Electrodes in Aqueous Electrolytes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135, 330-339 (2012).