Eshani Hettiarachchi, Ph.D.
I started these projects from the scratch. I had lot of fun learning, planning, designing, and executing experiments, and really carving out the direction of these projects.
Current Research - Adsorption behavior and reactivity of biomolecules (DNA, protein) at the air-seawater interface
Some marine relevant biomolecules and organic compounds enrich the sea surface micro layer (SML) and eventually ends up in micro droplets. Chemistry and reactivity of these micro droplets are important in understanding the environmental processes at a fundamental level as well as to human health, marine life conservation to name a few. Here, I study these chemical reactions relating to biomolecules such as proteins and DNA in the presence and absence of marine surfactants using Infrared reflectance absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) coupled with Langmuir trough, and other vibrational spectroscopic tools such as ATR-FTIR, and tensiometer, and imaging techniques including O-PTIR, Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM), and AFM-IR.
Additionally, through collaborations, we are looking at these complex systems and their reactivity using molecular simulations.
Created by E.Hettiarachchi (2025)
Current Research - Adsorption & transformation of eDNA at the mineral-water interface
The chemistry at the aqueous geochemical interface is complex due to the presence of many different components including natural organic matter, coordinating oxyanions and biological molecules. In this project I study the adsorption and interactions of environmental DNA (eDNA) and protein on geochemical interfaces, as well as their transformations, using vibrational spectroscopic and micro-spectroscopic probes, as well as mass spectroscopy. I am interested in understanding the molecular level characteristics of the adsorption, e.g., which nucleotides are prone to interact with various mineral surfaces.
Created by E.Hettiarachchi (2024) in BioRender
Postdoctoral Experience
Study of heterogeneous and multi-phase reactions of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds with pollutant gases leading to the secondary organic aerosol formation on mineral dust surfaces, using FTIR spectroscopy, High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Spartan Computational Calculations.
Ph.D. Research
1
"Understanding the mineralogy dependent atmospheric processing of mineral dust aerosols and their impact on the growth of marine diatoms. Especially the presence of elevated Ti in mineral dust, either as internally mixed (FeTiO3), or as externally mixed (TiO2) in the presence of different acidic gas compositions and solar radiation can enhance the Fe solubility."
2
"Understanding the solubility of heavy metals in inhaled dust, and the possible health implications. Mining lands usually have higher heavy metal contamination (U, V, As) in the dust and smaller particles containing these heavy metals can be inhaled and dissolve in body fluids thereby causing health risks."
3
"Studying structurally and compositionally tuned metal organic frameworks for understanding their potential on selective gas adsorption. Use of such materials in emission points can selectively adsorb & store gases such as carbon dioxide."
Undergraduate Thesis Study
"Synthesis of activated coconut coir (ACC) via both chemical and heat treatment for desalination of hard water and seawater, and improving the regeneration conditions of the ACC for reuse."
