Home > About > Faculty Profiles > Bizuneh Workie, PhD

Bizuneh Workie, PhD

bizuneh workie phdProfessor
Chemistry Department
College of Agriculture, Science & Technology
Delaware State University
302.857.6545
bworkie [at] desu.edu 

Education

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX  (09/1996 -08/1997)

Ph. D.   Analytical Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA (1996)

M.S.  Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, MA (1993)

B.S.  Chemistry, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1982)

Teaching

  • CHEM. 305 Analytical Chemistry
  • CHEM. 306 Instrumental Analysis
  • CHEM. 507 Molecular Spectroscopy
  • CHEM. 530 Advanced Analytical Chemistry
  • CHEM. 630 Electroanalytical Chemistry

 Research Interests

Workie research interestMy research interests lie in the area of electrochemistry.  Currently, I am involved in electrochemical reductive grafting studies of diazonium gold (III) salts that may have applications in biomedical science, energy production, organometallic electrode preparation, grafting polymers, and nanoscale patterning.  The primary objectives of this research project are to conduct material characterizations of the electrografted films, study the effect of the films on oxygen reduction, and determine their electrochemical reductive grafting mechanism.  My second research interest is centered in a project dealing with the determination of arsenic(III) using gold nanoparticles modified screen-printed carbon electrodes immobilized with acetylcholinesterase enzyme using chronoamperometric technique.   I am also involved in electrochemical studies of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) to develop technologies for the reductive treatment of contaminated water.

Professional Memberships

  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry (SEAC)

Selected Recent Publications

  1. “Arylated gold nanoparticles have no effect on the adipogenic differentiation of MG‑63 cells nor regulate any key signaling pathway during the differentiation”, M.  Abdulwahab, A. A. Khan, S. H. Abdallah, M. N. K. Khattak, B. Workie, M. M.  Chehimi, and A. A. Mohamed, BMC Res Notes 2021, 14:192.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-021-05594-9.
  2. “Organometallic gold nanoparticles and thin films from cis- and trans-tetrazonium gold(III) salts for electrochemical and photothermal mirror properties”, S. Panicker, A. Marcano, S. Isah, B. Kenney, B. Workie, C. Han, H. Lee, M. M.Chehimi, and A. Mohamed, J. Organomet. Chem., 2021, 935, 121681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2021.121681. 
  3. “Polyaniline coated gold-aryl nanoparticles: electrochemical synthesis and efficiency in methylene blue dye removal”, B. A. AlMashrea, F. Abla, M. Chehimi, B. Workie, C. Han, A. A. Mohamed, Synth. Met., 2020, 269, 116528; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2020.116528
  4. “Diazonium gold salts as novel surface modifiers: What have we learned so far?”, A. A. L. Ahmed, B. Workie, and A. A. Mohamed, Surfaces, 2020, 3(2), 182-196; https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces3020014.
  5. “Inhibition of Amyloid Fibrillation, Enzymatic Degradation and Cytotoxicity of Insulin at Carboxyl Tailored Gold-Aryl Nanoparticles Surface”, N. D. Albab, M. K. Hameed, A. Maresova, I. Ahmady, M. Aroou, C. Han, B. Workie, M. Chehimi, M. Hameed, and A. A. Mohamed, Colloidals Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp., 2020, 586, 124279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2019.124279.
  6. “Green and Cytocompatible Carboxyl Modified Gold-Lysozyme Nanoantibacterial for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Superbugs”, I. Ahmady, M. Hameed, A. Almehdi, B. Workie, E. Sahle-Demessie, C. Han, and A. A. Mohamed, Biomater. Sci, 2019, 7, 5016-5026. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9BM00935C.
  7. “Gold-Aryl nanoparticles coated with polyelectrolytes for adsorption and protection of DNA against nuclease degradation”, S. Panicker, I. M. Ahmady, A. M. Almehdi, B. Workie, E. Sahle-Demessie, C. Han, M. M. Chehimi, and A. A. Mohamed, Appl. Organometal Chem., 2019; e4803. https://doi.org/10.1002/aoc.4803 (Journal Cover).
  8. “Synthesis of Gold Organometallics at the Nanoscale”, A. Mohamed, S. Neal, B. Atallah, N. AlBab,  H. Alawadhi, H. Abdou, B. Workie, E. Sahle-Demessie, C. Han,  M. Monge, J. Lopez-De-Luzuriaga, J. Reibenspies, and M. Chehimi, J. Organomet. Chem., 2018, 877, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2018.07.032
  9. “Gold-carbon nanoparticles mediated delivery of BSA: Remarkable robustness and hemocompatibility”, M. Hammed, I. Ahmady, H. Awadhi, B. Workie, E. Sahle-Demessie, C. Han, M. M. Chehimi, and A. A. Mohamed, Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp., 2018, 558, 351-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2018.09.004
  10. “Photothermal Mirror Method for the Study of Thermal Diffusivity and Thermo-Elastic Properties of Opaque Solid Materials”, A. Marcano, G. Gwanmesia, and B. Workie, Int. J. Thermophys., 2017, 38, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-017-2276-9 
  11. “Gold-organic Thin Films from the Reductive Grafting of Diazonium Gold(III) salts”, S. Neal, B. Workie, B. McCandless, and A.  Mohamed, Journal of Electroanal. Chem, 2015, 757, 73-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2015.09.017
  12. “Electrophoretic Deposition of Aluminum Nitride from its Suspension in Acetylacetone using Iodine as an Additive”, B. Workie, B. E. McCandless, and Z. Gebeyehu, Journal of Chemistry, 2013, 2013, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/489734