CAREER: Chiral Ceramic Sensors

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Specific: A variety of technologies (e.g. fuel cells, catalysis, sensors) rely on electro/chemical phenomena that occur at ceramic surfaces and interfaces. Our overall understanding of these interfaces is however immature, in that we generally lack mechanistic and predictive structure-property relations. The ultimate goal of this research is to advance such relations for the surface properties that are the basis of sensor and catalyst applications. It will be approached within the framework of developing a new class of metal oxide gas sensors, based on chiral (handed) surfaces, capable of detecting and differentiating chiral molecules. Hence, the underlying experimental objective is to develop a mechanistic understanding of the interactions between organic molecules and chiral oxide surfaces. This will include surfaces that are chiral on the atomic scale, e.g. Mo8O23(010), and those that are tailored to have chiral nano/microstructures. Surface properties will be investigated through the fabrication and testing of model sensors and temperature programmed desorption spectroscopy, while surface and bulk structure will be interrogated using appropriate probes. This study will advance our general understanding of the roles surface and molecular structure play in oxide reactivity (i.e. surface structure-property relations) as well as new and powerful sensor functionalities. Complementary education and outreach activities include, (1.) the development, in collaboration with secondary science instructors, of multimedia course modules centered on electrochemical technologies that will enhance middle/high school science curricula and raise students' awareness of materials science, (2.) the establishment of an outreach program with a local community college to provide research and mentoring opportunities to students from underrepresented groups, and (3.) an outreach program designed to align the PI's research goals with the needs of industry and augment his development as a researcher and educator. This will include extended visits to industrial and government laboratories (U.S. and abroad) focused on electrochemical and interfacial technologies.General: Metal oxides have unique surface properties that make them useful for detecting, synthesizing, and purifying chemicals and our environment. Sensory applications include detecting poisons (such as carbon monoxide) and monitoring the fuel mix in automobiles to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Metal oxide catalysts are vital to the large-scale production of plastics and pharmaceuticals and can be used to purify our air and water. While the surface properties of metal oxides are already exploited on large and diverse scales, our overall understanding of these properties is limited, particularly our ability to engineer and predict them. As a result, we often rely on time consuming and costly trial-and-error methods of development. Hence, the ultimate goal of this research is to advance our fundamental understanding of the structure and chemical properties of metal oxide surfaces. The knowledge gained will lead to powerful new types of sensors and, more importantly, enhance our ability to efficiently engineer metal oxide surfaces for a variety of applications. Concurrent with this research, the PI will conduct a number of education and outreach activities intended to (1.) enhance science education at the secondary and undergraduate levels, (2.) recruit new students to the vital fields of materials and electrochemical sciences, and (3.) augment the PI's own development as an educator and researcher.