The
University of Texasat Austin
Center for Materials Chemistry
Director: John M. White
Current Mission:
The Center for Materials Chemistry brings the strengths of synthetic, analytical and physical chemistry to bear on problems related to the design, synthesis, processing, characterization and properties of solid materials, particularly those of technological significance. Chemical problems associated with materials serves as the thrust of the Center. The scope of the Center's activities includes collaboration with materials scientists both on and off the UT campus. By bringing together the complementary skills of various experimentalists and theorists, problems can be addressed that previously were regarded as too difficult to solve. Another major objective of the Center is to provide excellent training for graduate and postdoctoral students. It is just this kind of broadly-based training, largely through collaborative research projects, that will prepare students for entry into next-generation industrial and academic positions.
Current Faculty Related to Center:
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Dr. John M. White, Physical Chemistry , Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dr. Michael J. Krische, Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Past Research Progress:
While silicon dioxide is still widely used in microelectronic devices, we are nearing its lower size limit. One of the CMC's efforts involves exploring other materials for use in scaled-down devices. We synthesized and analyzed zirconium oxide films on silicon and found they were largely amorphic, and only partly effective in inhibiting silicon oxide formation. Several organometallic compounds, containing ruthenium were evaluated for their potential use in chemical vapor deposition; one, [RuC5H5(CO)2]2, showed promise, and thin films were grown. In the area of catalysis, we examined thermal reactions of phenol on platinum to learn more about the reaction steps and bond-breaking processes. Finally, we developed a new technique for evaluating the chemical reactions. Called time-of-flight mass spectrometry-temperature programmed desorption (TOFMS-TPD), this tool yields a three dimensional spectrum that contains a complete set of conventional 2D TPD spectra of all the masses in the mass range of interest, rather than limiting the number of masses that can be followed.
Publications:
X.-M. Yan, C. Kim and J.M. White, "t-Butyl nitrite (TBN) and t-Butyl alcohol (TBA) reactions on clean and O-covered Rh," J. Phys. Chem. B 105(17), (2001) 3587-3593.
Future Plans:
The Center's future work will include photochemical studies of adsorbed species on surfaces. One such study will look at the photodissociation dynamics of adsobed alkyl nitrites on Ag(111) and Ag(110). Interestingly, the nitrite molecules on Ag substrates undergo direct photodissociation via direct electronic excitation of the adsorbate rather than using variable temperture scanning tunneling microscopy will help to establish a diffusion mechanism for the ad-dimers. Scanning at >470 K, we hope to follow the diffusion of these ad-dimer rows as a function of row length, substrate temperature, and initial ad-dimer surface density. Other research will use a variety of spectroscopies to examine (1) reactions of 2-naphthalenethiol and 2-quinolinethiol on metal surfaces such as Ag(111) and Al(111); (2) the electronic structure of self-assembled monolayer of these thiols on the metal surfaces; and (3) electronic structures of large organic molecules on clean and measurements of films and fibers of poly(organosiloxanes) and the development of the experimental capabilities of an interfacial force microscope (IFM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Dr. Yangming Sun is facilities coordinator for the CMC, please email him at yangming@mail.utexas.edu for further information.