CO2-Triggered Switchable Surfaces

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The hydrophilicity of a solid surface (the degree to which it prefers water over oil) controls the ability of different chemicals to adhere to that surface. Controlling adhesion of organic chemicals to solid surfaces is important for a wide variety of applications. Traditionally, research in this area has focused on the design of surfaces that are either highly hydrophobic (oil-loving and water hating) or highly hydrophilic (water-loving, oil hating), but there is added value in materials that can switch from hydrophobic to hydrophilic and back again upon command. The proposed work will start with a basic study of the switching of flat surfaces and then look at the development of stimuli-responsive stationary phases for chromatography. Chromatography, a method for separating a mixture of organic chemicals, uses a solvent to carry the mixture of chemicals through a column containing small particles (the "stationary phase"). If some of the chemicals spend a lot of time stuck to the surface of the particles, they travel (elute) slowly through the column, while other chemicals elute more quickly. Traditionally, the users of chromatography adjust the solvents to get better separation of the chemicals, but if this work is successful, users would also be able to adjust the properties of the stationary phase during a separation. This will significantly reduce the amount of organic solvent required to separate compounds of interest and will provide users with another dimension of control.