Dr. Kenneth McDonald Photo

Dr. Kenneth J. McDonald

Deputy Director - Chemistry Program

Associate Professor

kenneth.mcdonald2@westpoint.edu

Biography


Dr. McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Life Science (CLS) and teaches courses in physical chemistry, materials engineering, and general chemistry. Dr. McDonald earn his B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from Illinois State University in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Dr. McDonald received his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry in 2012 from Purdue University where he studied the electrochemical synthesis of semiconductors for use in photoelectrochemical cells to split water into H2 and O2 using solar energy. 

After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. McDonald worked for Toyota Research Institute of North America for 2 years before shifting his focus back to higher education.  Dr. McDonald has been at West Point since 2016 and has taught in both the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME) (Engineering Materials and the Fundamentals of Engineering Mechanics and Design) and CLS (General Chemistry I/II and Physical Chemistry I/II).

Ongoing Research Projects


Dr. McDonald’s research efforts are focused on the synthesis and characterization of materials in support of the Army’s growing energy and supply chain needs.  His group primarily uses electrochemical synthesis routes to produce thin films of polycrystalline electrodes that can then easily be adapted to electrochemical and photoelectrochemical devices.  Examples of his group’s projects include the synthesis of polycrystalline n-type semiconducting electrodes for use in a photoelectrochemical cell to purify wastewater into potable water and the synthesis of metal-organic- frameworks (MOFs) thin films for use in the decomposition of chemical warfare agents.

Publications & Presentations


Peer-Reviewed Publications

Koleci, C.; Kowalski, E.M.; McDonald, K.J. The STEM Faculty Experience at West Point. Journal of College Science Teaching. 2022, 51 (6).

Koleci, C.; Kowalski, E.M.; McDonald, K.J. STEM Education within The West Point Experience. Journal of College Science Teaching. 2021, 50 (6).

Cardiel, A. C.; McDonald, K. J. and Choi, K. S.*  Electrochemical growth of copper hydroxy double salt films and their conversion to nanostructures p-type CuO photocathodes. Lagmuir. 2017 33 (37), 9262-9270.

McDonald, K. J.; Zhang, R.; Ling, C.; Zhou, L. Q.; Zhang, R.; Whittingham, M. S.; Jia, H. Hydrothermal synthesis, structure refinement, and electrochemical characterization of Li2CoGeO4 as an oxygen evolution catalyst. J Mater. Chem. A. 2014, 2, 18428-18434.

McDonald, K. J.; Quandt, R. W. Ground state surface formation of Cl2 in the dissociation of CCland CHCland the comparisons with Br species. Comp. Theo. Chem. 2014, 1037, 28-34.

Park, Y., McDonald, K. J. and Choi, K. S.  Progress in bismuth vanadate photoanodes for use in solar water oxidationChem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 2321-2337 

Huang, Z., Lin, Y., Xiang, X., Rodríguez-Córdoba, W., McDonald, K. J., Hagen, K. S., Choi, K. S., Brunschwig, B. S., Musaev, D. G., Hill, C. G., Wang, D., and Lian, T. In situ probe of photocarrier dynamics in water-splitting hematite (α-Fe2O3) electrodes Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 8923-8926.

McDonald, K. J. and Choi, K. S.  New Electrodeposition Route to BiOI and its Conversion to BiVOfor Use in Solar Energy Conversion. Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 8553-8557.

McDonald, K. J. and Choi, K. S. Synthesis and Photoelectrochemical Properties of Fe2O3/ZnFe2O4 Composite Photoanodes for Use in Solar Water Oxidation. Chemistry of Materials 2011, 23, 4863-4869.

McDonald, K. J. and Choi, K. S. Photodeposition of Co-Based Oxygen Evolution Catalysts on a-Fe2O3 Photoanodes. Chemistry of Materials 2011, 23, 1686-1693.

Spray, R. L., McDonald, K. J., and Choi, K. S. Enhancing Photoresponse of Nanoparticulate a-Fe2O3 Electrodes by Surface Composition Tuning. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2011, 115, 3497-3506.

McDonald, K. J.; Buettner, A. D.; Petro, B. J.; Quandt, R. W. Reactive formation of dicarbon from the reactions of electronically excited radicals, CH (A2D) and CCl (A2D). Chemical Physics Letters 2008, 464, 26-30.

McLauchlan, C. C. and McDonald, K. J. Cocrystallization of dichloro(N,N-dimethylformamide)[hydrotris(pyrazol-1-yl)borato]vanadium(I, II) with its partially oxidized analog chloro(N,N-dimethylformamide)-[hydrotris(pyrazol-1-yl)borato]oxovanadium (IV).  Acta Crystallographica Section E-Structure Reports Online 2006, 62, M588-M590.

McLauchlan, C. C. and McDonald, K. J. Chloro[hydrotris(pyrazol-1-yl)borato]oxo-(1H-pyrazole)vanadium(IV).  Acta Crystallographica Section E-Structure Reports Online 2005, 61, M2379-M2381.

Abstracts & Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

Sang, D, Llantero, P, Eckstein, A, Nguyen, C, Nowicki, M, & McDonald, K. "Materials Characterization of Recycled and Mixed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene and Polylactic Acid for Use in Additive Manufacturing." Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2023. 4.

Callahan, M.; Romsland, R.; McDonald, K.J.*; McCoy, B. Corrosion Mitigation For Mechnically-Fastend Fiber-Reinforced-Polymer Composites. Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2022. 3.

Bibb, M.; Nowicki, M.*; McDonald, K. J.; Zander, N. Strength and Quality of Recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2022. 3.

Addeo, S.; Nowicki, M.*; McDonald, K. J.; Zander, N. Strength and Qualities of Mixed Additive Manufacturing Materials. Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2022. 3.

Campanella, J.; Figuerroa-Cecco, I.; Fujinaka, I.; Sasek, A.; Nowicki, M.*; McDonald, K.J.; Vargas-Gonzalez, L.; Ku, N. Additive Manufacturing with Ceramics. Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2022. 3.

Romsland, R.; McDonald, K.J.* Corrosion Evaluation of a Navy Mk50 Weapon Station Friction Brake Assembly. Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, 2020. 12.(Oral)

Conference Presentations

Kowalski, E.M*.; McDonald, K.J., Koleci, C. Comparison of learning objectives and mid-term exam questions from traditional and guided-inquiry general chemistry courses. American Chemistry Society Mid-Atlantic Regional MeetingJune 5-9, 2024

McDonald, K. J.; Jia, H.; Ling, C.; Zhou, L. Q. Optimizing the Oxygen Evolution Properties of Various Cobalt Based Materials. Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, December 2-5, 2013.

Patents

McDonald, K. J.; Jia, H.*, “Surface Modified Electrodes For Electrochemical Syngas Production” U.S. Patent 2020/0063275 A1, 2020.

McDonald, K. J.; Rowe, M. P.*, “Electrodes containing iridium nanoparticles for the electrolytic production of oxygen from water” U.S. Patent 10125429 B2, 2018.

Jia, H.*; McDonald, K. J., “Microwave synthesis of cobalt tungstate for use as stable oxygen evolution catalyst” U.S. Patent 10040050 B2, 2018.

McDonald, K. J.; Jia, H.*, “Water oxidation catalyst including cobalt molybdenum” U.S. Patent 9809889 B2, 2017.

McDonald, K. J.; Jia, H*.; Ling, C., “Water oxidation catalyst including lithium cobalt germanate” U.S. Patent 9512526 B2, 2016.

*Corresponding author