Benedikt Lassalle

Benedikt Lassalle is a chemist interested in artificial photosynthesis and particulary in the understanding of energy-related reactions using electrochemistry and X-ray spectroscopies. He is a scientist on the [LUCIA beamline](https://www.synchrotron-soleil.fr/en/beamlines/lucia "The LUCIA beamline at the SOLEIL Synchrotron") of the [SOLEIL Synchrotron](https://www.synchrotron-soleil.fr/en "The SOLEIL Synchrotron in Paris-Saclay") on the Paris-Saclay campus. More information on his research work can be found [here](https://www.benlassalle.com/). **Short Bio.** Benedikt was trained as a chemist at the *Université de Strasbourg* and *Université d'Aix-Marseille*, France. He obtained his PhD in inorganic chemistry in 2008 at the *Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay*, under the guidance of Dr. Elodie Anxolabéhère-Mallart and Pr. Ally Aukauloo. His thesis was focused on the synthesis and characterization of biomimetic highly-valent manganese complexes, as intermediate models for the water oxidation reaction in Photosystem II (PS II). He then spent a year as a post-doc at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique in Saclay, where he worked on the electrochemistry of PS II in the team of Dr. A. Bill Rutherford. In 2009, He moved on to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the team of Drs. Vittal Yachandra and Junko Yano, where he spent three years as a post-doc. He worked both on the study of PS II and related model complexes using X-ray spectroscopy at synchrotrons and free electron lasers and on the *in situ/operando* study of electrocatalysts for water splitting. In 2014, he became a beamline scientist on the LUCIA beamline at SOLEIL and has been since then continuing his work on the study of electrocatalysts under operating conditions in collaboration with several teams in France and throughout the world. From 2015 to 2021, he was at the head of the microfluidics Laboratory of SOLEIL, combining microfluidic techniques with spectroscopy and energy-related electrocatalysis. In 2022, he was awarded a fellowship from the [*University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Studies*](https://www.usias.fr/fellows/fellows-2022/benedikt-lassalle/), to study the synthetis of hyrbid perovskite under microfluidic conditions using both X-ray spectroscopy and electron microscopy. **Research projects.** *In Situ/Operando spectroscopy of water-splitting electrocatalysts.* We use X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies to study the structure of nanocatalysts under oxygen and hydrogen evolving electrocatalytic conditions (OER and HER, respectively). We have been interested in the study of transition metal oxides (OER), molybdenum sulfides (HER) as well as transition metal borides. In collaboration with the team of Pr. Ovidiu Ersen, *Université de Strasbourg* and Dr. David Portehault, *Sorbonne Université*, this project has been recently funded by an ANR project (InSiChem). *Time-resolved spectroscopic studies of CO2-reducing electrocatalysts.* We are interested in understanding the local and electronic structure of transition metal electrocatalysts that are active for the reduction of CO2 into valuable chemicals. These studies require the development of specific techniques and methodologies that allow coupling time-resolved X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies with electrocatalytic processes. This project is run in collaboration with the teams of Zakaria Halime, *Université Paris-Sud* and Pr. Marc Robert, *Université Paris Diderot,* and has been funded by the Charmmmat and Michem LABEX, respectively. *Microfluidic devices for the sequential reduction of CO2 into valuable chemicals*. We have recently started a project where sequential microfluidic reactors are implemented with CO2 reduction catalysts, thus allowing complex synthetic sequences. This project was funded by a young researcher ANR grant (MF-CO2). *Microfluidic devices for the study of transient protein assemblies using cryo-EM.* We collaborate with the team of Dr. Yves Mechulam at the *Ecole Polytechnique* for the development of microfluidic mixers and time-controlled sample delivery onto cryo-EM grids. These methodological developments are applied to the study of the RNA translation initiation process and have been funded by the TREMTI ANR project. **Publications.** • 68 articles in peer-reviewed journals • h-index: 31 Full article list can be found here: [Google Scholars](https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=zAiqEK4AAAAJ&hl=fr) [ResearcherID](http://www.researcherid.com/rid/I-3748-2015) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2141-2496)