[1][2] After completing his doctorate, Martell returned his alma mater WPI as an instructor in the department of chemistry.
He cowrote a book on his pioneering research in the chemistry of metal chelate compounds with Nobel Laureate Melvin Calvin, and wrote or edited fourteen other textbooks that are in use by hundreds of chemists and biologists, including works on Critical Stability Constants (six volumes, with R.M.
[3] Martell also authored over 550 articles that were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, most of which dealt with equilibria, kinetics, and the physical properties of metal chelates, macrocyclic complexes and cryptates.
[2] In 1993, he, Motekaitis and Smith developed the first computer database to track the reaction rates of ligands and how they react with ions to form complex chemical compounds.
[4] After stepping down as department head in 1980, Martell served as a distinguished professor of chemistry at Texas A&M and continued his research.