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Welcome

Dr. Jason D. Nicholas PhotoWelcome to the Nicholas Research Group at Michigan State University! We develop new and improved materials, processing routes, characterization techniques, and devices to better understand and preserve the Earth. Presently we are focused on a) high-performance Solid Oxide Fuel/Electrolysis Cell (SOC) electrodes, b) mechano-electro-chemical coupling in electro-chemically active solids, c) SOC seals/circuits/current collectors, and d) thin films for geologic and technological applications. In addition to this web site, you can learn more about our group on Google Scholar and ResearchGate. Thanks for your interest in our group!

Recent Group News

GeoPLD January 2026- Our second Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) chamber and its associated glove box is now 100% operational! This dedicated aluminosilicate PLD chamber will allow us to make contaminant-free synthetic mineral thin films with tailored grain size, film stress, grain orientation, and composition. After deposition, these films (some of which may be hygroscopic and/or air-sensitive) can be directly transferred into the attached glove box for encapsulation, packaging, and/or loading in a Diamond Anvil Cell; all without ever exposing the sample to ambient atmosphere!
Click here for a picture of our new PLD Lab
OpticsLab July 2025- The Nicholas Group has begun outfitting our first dedicated Optics Lab! This new space and equipment will help us eliminate some of the vibration, temperature-instability, and sample contamination issues that have challenged some of our previous high temperature / controlled-atmosphere thin film characterization measurements.
Click here for a picture of our new Optics Lab
SOFC-XVIII February 2025- Our new paper on "Porous Interlayers that Getter Surface-Segregating Species for Improved Silver Wetting, Adhesion, and Electrical Contact on Stainless Steel SOFC Components" was published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.
Click here for the publication

PhD Program Advancement		 October 2024- Congratulations to Hirbod Maleki for joining the group and starting his PhD adventure!
NSF September 2024- We are grateful to the National Science Foundation EAR Geophysics Program for support of our newest project: "Collaborative Research: Thin Film Insights into Phase Transformations and Deep-Focus Earthquakes". Thanks NSF!
SOFC-XVIII March 2024- Symposium I05 "Mechanical Coupling in Energy Related Materials and Devices 5" at the 245th Meeting of Electrochemical Society held May 29-30, 2024 in San Francisco, CA, USA was a great success. Thank you to the ~250 people who attended this year's symposium.
Click here for a symposium description
Nature Comm Earth Environment February 2024- Our new paper showing how thin films can be used as model systems to understand deep-Earth phase transformations was published in Springer-Nature's Communications Earth & Environment.
Click here for the publication
PLD January 2024- Our first Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) chamber was installed! With conventional Pt-heater substrate temperatures up to 1000C, and even higher temperatures available with the included laser heater, this system promises to allow us to produce a range of contaminant-free transition-metal-oxide thin films with tailored grain size, film stress, grain orientation, and composition for a variety of catalyst, energy storage, and other applications.
Click here for a picture of our new PLD
Click here for a movie of our first deposition
...older group news