Paul A. Fenter

Paul Fenter an Argonne Distinguished Fellow, Senior Physicist, and Group Leader for Interfacial Processes in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division. He was the Director of the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science, a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Energy Frontier Research Center from 2014-2020. 

Dr. Fenter joined Argonne in 1997 from Princeton University where he was a research staff scientist and previously a post-doctoral fellow.  He earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He studies the structure and reactivity of solid-liquid interfaces through the use and development of novel synchrotron X-ray scattering, spectroscopy, and microscopy techniques at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. His studies range in topic from geochemistry, energy storage, electrochemical interfaces, and petroleum production.

Dr. Fenter was awarded the 2012 Bertram E. Warren Diffraction Physics Award from the American Crystallographic Association and was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, and Geochemical Society.

Education:

1990    Ph.D. (Physics) University of Pennsylvania
1984    B.S. (Physics)  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Awards:

2012    Bertram E. Warren Diffraction Physics Award (American Crystallographic Association)
2018    Argonne National Laboratory Board of Governors’ Distinguished Performance Award

Honors:

2007    Fellow, American Physical Society

Selected Publications:

More than 190 refereed publications, plus edited books, book chapters, and review articles:

• P. Fenter, P. Geissbühler, E. DiMasi, G. Srajer, L. B. Sorensen, N. C. Sturchio, ​“Surface Speciation of Calcite Observed In Situ by High Resolution X-ray Reflectivity”, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 64, 1221-1228 (2000).
• Applications of Synchrotron Radiation in Low-Temperature Geochemistry and Environmental Science, Edited by P. Fenter, M. Rivers, N. C. Sturchio and S. Sutton (Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Vol. 49), Geochemical Society (2002).
• P. Fenter and N. C. Sturchio, ​“Mineral-Water Interfacial Structures Revealed by Synchrotron X-ray Scattering” Progress in Surface Science 77, 171-258 (2004).
• P. Fenter, C. Park, and Z. Zhang, Y. Wang ​“Observation of Subnanometre-high Surface Topography with X-ray Reflection Phase-Contrast Microscopy”, Nature Physics 2(10) 700-704 (2006). 
• P. Fenter, S. Kerisit, P. Raiteri, J. D. Gale, ​“Is the Calcite-Water Interface Understood?  Direct Comparisons of Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Specular X-ray Reflectivity Data”, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 117(10), 5028-5042 (2013).
• Fenter and S. S. Lee, ​“Hydration Layer Structure at Solid/Water Interfaces”, MRS Bulletin, Special issue: ​“Water at Functional Interfaces”, S. Garde and M. Schlossman, Editors, (2014).
• T. T. Fister, X. Hu, J. Esbenshade, X. Chen, J. Wu, V. Dravid, M. Bedzyk, B. Long, A. A. Gewirth, B. Shi, C. M. Schlepütz, P. Fenter, ​“Dimensionally-controlled lithiation of chromium oxide”, Chemistry of Materials, 28(1), 47–54 (2015).
• S. S. Lee, P. Fenter, K. L. Nagy, and N. C. Sturchio, ​“Real-time observation of cation exchange kinetics and dynamics at the muscovite–water interface”, Nature Communications, 8, 15826 (2017).
• J. Neumann, SS S. Lee, E.J. Zhao, P. Fenter, ​“Direct Experimental Observations of Ion Distributions during Overcharging at the Muscovite-Water Interface by Adsorption of Rb+ and Halides (Cl-, Br-, I-) at High Salinity”, ChemPhysChem, 24(22) e202300545(1-9) (2023).
• P. Fenter, I. Calvo Almazan ​“Imaging Interfacial Reflectivity with Coherent X-ray Reflectivity”, Physical Review B, 109, 094112 (1-13) (2024).