Development of Micro-Nanostructured Metal Electrodes and Application to Electromodulated Chromatography

分析和表面化学项目支持亚拉巴马大学的Martin Bakker教授和他的研究小组开发用于电调制色谱应用的新型单片导电材料。Bakker小组将开发许多方法，这些方法使用表面活性剂和聚合物作为模板，金属被电沉积到其中，以在大孔金属支架上提供高表面积的介孔和微孔金属相。这项研究的一个目标是了解各种化学和质量传输因素，决定沉积的金属结构的生长在一些长度尺度（纳米到微米）;这种理解将有利于表面积的最大化以及优化纳米和微米尺度的地形不同的应用。这些材料的特性将在亚拉巴马大学和洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的微X射线荧光设施进行。本研究的第二个目标是评估这些多孔金属材料作为电极/固定相在电调制液相色谱。在电调制色谱中，溶质的分离受到施加到固定相的电压的强烈影响。将本程序中制备的材料加入色谱柱中，并评价分离性能以及化学和物理稳定性。电调制尺寸排阻色谱的潜力也将进行探索，特别关注溶质分析物的大小和几何形状的相互作用，以及多孔金属固定相的纳米和微米结构。在这项工作中开发的模板方法和多孔电极将具有超越分离科学的适用性，从超级电容器和先进电池到环境修复等领域。 该项目将支持研究生和本科生，他们将在化学和材料科学方面获得全面的研究经验。

The Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program supports Professor Martin Bakker and his research group at the University of Alabama to develop new monolithic conductive materials for electromodulated chromatography applications. The Bakker group will develop a number of methods that use surfactants and polymers as templates into which metals are electrodeposited to give high surface area meso- and micro-porous metal phases on macroporous metal scaffolds. One goal of this research is to understand the various chemical and mass transport factors that dictate the growth of deposited metal structures at a number of length scales (nanometer to micrometer); this understanding will facilitate the maximization of surface area as well as optimization of nano- and micro-scale topography for different applications. Characterization of these materials will be done at the University of Alabama, and also the micro-X-ray fluorescence facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The second goal of this research is to evaluate these porous metal materials as electrode/stationary phases in electromodulated liquid chromatography. In electromodulated chromatography, separation of solutes is strongly influenced by the voltage applied to the stationary phase. The materials prepared in this program will be incorporated into columns and evaluated for separations performance as well as chemical and physical stability. The potential for electromodulated size exclusion chromatography will also be explored, with particular focus on the interplay of solute analyte size and geometry, and the nano- and micro-structure of the porous metal stationary phase. The templating methods and porous electrodes that will be developed in this work will have applicability beyond separations science, in areas ranging from supercapacitors and advanced batteries to environmental remediation. The project will support both graduate and undergraduate students who will receive a well rounded research experience in chemistry and materials science.