Yolanda Vasquez

Yolanda Vasquez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Her research interests include nanoscale materials, surface science, drug delivery, catalysis, materials science, and biointerfaces. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Texas A&M University. Dr. Vasquez received the Mary Fieser Fellowship during her postdoctoral work at Harvard University.

Research Interests:

One of her research directions focuses on developing binary and ternary nanoparticles using ion-exchange reactions between metal-oxide, metal-sulfide, and metal-phosphide nanoparticles. For instance, her team has used ion-exchange reactions to convert zinc oxide to zinc sulfide, and β-FeOOH to magnetite and pyrite. They have also demonstrated metal phosphide-to-metal sulfide conversions between zinc phosphide and zinc sulfide. Her group collaborates with Dr. Kaan Kalkaan to evaluate iron phosphide and iron sulfide nanomaterials as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Another research direction includes the development of gold nanoparticles as drug-delivery vehicles to treat rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease with no cure that affects approximately 1% of the world's populace. Her team is working with Prof. Weaver to develop the chemistry to attach drug molecules to the surface of the gold nanoparticles. Her group is evaluating the efficacy of these nanocarriers against in-vitro models of inflammation.