Current Group Members

Alicia (she/her) grew up in Brampton, ON and completed her B.Sc. at the University of Western Ontario. Her honours thesis project explored the synthesis and properties of inorganic nanoclusters supported by stable organic radicals under the supervision of Dr. Joe Gilroy and Dr. John Corrigan. She is currently investigating organic materials for energy storage applications. When not in the lab, Alicia enjoys rereading the Harry Potter series, trying out new dance classes, baking anything that involves chocolate, and petting as many cats and dogs as she can. Undercover @SeferosGroup social media coordinator.

Bryton (he/him/they/them) grew up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He completed his BSc and his MSc at Simon Fraser University under the supervision of Steven Holdcroft and Daniel Leznoff respectively. His MSc thesis focused on using luminescent coordination polymers for the detection of chemical vapours. He is currently interested in the chemical recycling of conjugated polymers. Outside of the lab, Bryton likes to unwind by playing guitar, running, and rock climbing.

Eloi was born in France and raised in Toronto. He found a good middle ground between the two in Montréal, where he obtained his BSc from McGill University. There, he explored high-throughput techniques for the discovery of lithium-ion battery cathode materials as well as AFM methods for the identification of gold nanostructures. He is currently investigating polymers for use in energy storage systems. Eloi’s other interests include football, hiking, reading, and cycling around Toronto.

Victor grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. He completed his BSc at the University of Waterloo, and his thesis focused on the chain dynamics of pyrene-labelled poly(alkyl methacrylate)s under the supervision of Prof. Jean Duhamel. He completed his MSc at McGill University in Prof. Ashok Kakkar's group, where he synthesized redox-responsive miktoarm star polymers for drug delivery. Currently, Victor is interested in the self-assembly of polymers with complex architectures. Aside from chemistry, Victor's hobbies include tabletop games, reading, and getting lost on Wikipedia.

Tom (Hao) was born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan province in China and obtained his BSc. at Sichuan University. His undergraduate thesis, "Adsorption of heavy metal ions and organic dyes via polymer microparticles," was completed under the supervision of Prof. Changsheng Zhao. Currently, Tom is working on the synthesis of homodisperse oligomers and polymers. Outside the lab, Tom enjoys coding in Python, playing the piano, photography, and video games.

Peter (Jiang Tian) Liu was born in China and completed his BSc at Concordia University. After a brief period in industry, he obtained his MSc at Concordia University under the supervision of Prof. Pat Forgione. His MSc thesis focused on decarboxylative cross-coupling. He is currently interested in the synthesis of novel conjugated polymers. Outside of the lab, Peter likes to cook and collecte rare books.

Heba grew up in Cairo, Egypt and completed her B.Sc. at Cairo University (Chemistry major). Her M.Sc. thesis project focused on the development of metal oxide nanostructures for photoelectrochemical solar energy-related applications under the supervision of Dr. Ahmad M. Mohammed and Dr. Nageh K. Allan at Cairo University and American University in Cairo. She is currently investigating organic materials for energy storage applications. Outside the lab, she enjoys spending time with her daughter and watching movies.

Jacob grew up in Keswick, Ontario. He completed his BSc at the University of Toronto, where he briefly worked in Doug Stephan's group on phosphine chemistry, and did his undergraduate thesis work in Dwight Seferos' group on oligothiophene chemistry. His current focus is continuing his undergraduate thesis work on using oligothiophenes as light-absorbing materials for producing hydrogen. Outside of the group, Jacob enjoys cooking and baking, playing video games, making cocktails, and spending time with friends.

Jonatas (he/him) grew up in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and his Ph.D. at the University of Saskatchewan. While at USask, he studied the indophenine reaction as a metal-free approach to synthesizing new pi-conjugated polymers. He previously worked as a research assistant at Braskem and the SENAI Institute of Innovation for Polymer Engineering. Jonatas' other interests include PC games, astronomy, and working out.

Kristen (she/her) grew up in Pickering, ON and completed her B.Sc. at Western University in Integrated Science with a Chemistry specialization. Her honours thesis focused on synthesizing organometallic compounds for the reduction of carbon dioxide using secondary coordination sphere effects under the supervision of Dr. Marcus Drover. She is currently exploring modifications of polymers for use in energy storage and polymer self-assembly. Outside of the lab, she loves baking, painting, and playing games with friends.

Ebad Noman grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. He completed his B.Sc. at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he worked in Adler's group to complete his undergrad thesis on porphyrin-siloxanes. He completed his M.Sc. at McMaster University in Brook's group, where he synthesized alpha-lipoic acid-based sustainable silicone materials. Currently, Ebad is looking to develop sustainable membranes for CO2 capture. Ebad's other interests include working out, cooking, and watching live sports.

Kimia (she/her/hers) completed her BSc at the University of British Columbia where she worked in Prof. Laurel Schafer’s group for her undergraduate thesis on zirconium catalyzed hydroaminoalkylation and mechanistic investigations. She also worked in Prof. Parisa Mehrkhodavandi’s lab as a USRA student on mechanistic elucidation for indium catalyzed synthesis of spiro-orthoesters. She is currently exploring modifications of polymers for use in energy storage. Outside of the lab, Kimia likes to play tennis, go to the gym, explore new scenic places and cook.

Ailsa (she/her) grew up in Dundee, Scotland, and completed her integrated Masters MChem (Hons) degree in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. She then continued on at the University of St Andrews for her PhD co-supervised by Prof. Russell Morris and Dr Euan Kay, researching the surface functionalisation of MOF nanoparticles with groups capable of undergoing dynamic covalent exchange and the creation of nanoassemblies. During her PhD, Ailsa also visited the Technical University of Munich for a 3 month research stay with Prof. Roland Fischer’s group. Outside of the lab Ailsa enjoys baking, finding nice coffee spots, and attending spin classes.

Qiao (Kim) was born and raised in Xi'an, Shaanxi province in China. Currently, she is participating in a one-year visiting program in the Seferos Group. Her home university supervisor is Prof. Zong-Qiong Lin from the Institute of Flexible Electronics at Northwestern Polytechnical University. Her research focuses on applying organic semiconductors in aqueous batteries and elucidating their ion storage mechanisms by DFT calculations and electrochemical in situ characterization. Her hobbies include climbing, biking, and hiking, or reading and cooking at home.

Serena was born in Vancouver, Canada, and raised in Beijing, China. She is currently a fourth-year chemistry undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. Serena is working on her CHM499 project in the Seferos research group. For her project, she is investigating synthetic methods to functionalize polyether with bio-derived molecules for use in organic batteries. Outside of school, Serena enjoys snowboarding, hiking, working out, and playing boardgames with friends.

Aaron (he/him) grew up in the Caribbean before moving to Toronto for his undergraduate studies. He is currently working on a B. Sc. in chemistry. His previous work focused on superconductors and batteries. His interests lie in organic materials for batteries. His hobbies include going out for walks and trying new food.