Development of our electrochemical characterization facility

本提案是为我们的电化学表征设备的发展请求资金。这包括两个恒电位器/恒流仪，由于我实验室的电气问题，它们都被损坏了。这些设备对于支持我们在修饰电极领域的研究工作至关重要。我们所有的研究都涉及低维系统（分子层和薄膜）以及由于界面的产生或存在而导致的材料特性变化的重要性。我们的研究计划目标是：1)利用各种化学和物理表面修饰技术，如电沉积、自组装和在Si-H表面上的共价附着，获得对表面分子（和原子）组织的理解；2)利用我们在扫描探针方法和电化学方面的专业知识研究这些薄膜的相关性质；3)最终了解这些材料的形成，并将它们的结构和形态与它们的电化学/电子、催化或/和磁性联系起来。该工作涉及多种系统，如电沉积结晶铋薄膜作为磁传感器；以金属酞菁为模型催化剂，利用染料和三元合金半导体薄膜对纳米多孔二氧化钛进行化学改性，在低成本太阳能电池器件中的应用。所有这些项目和其他一些项目都严重依赖于我们的电化学表征设备。

This proposal is to request funds for the development of our electrochemical characterization facility. This includes two potentiostat/galvanostat instruments that were both damaged due to electrical problems in my laboratory. These pieces of equipment are essential to support our research efforts in the area of modified electrodes. All of our research deals with low dimensionality systems (molecular layers and thin films) and the importance of changes in material properties due to the creation or presence of interfaces. Our research program objectives are 1) to gain understanding of the organization of molecules (and atoms) at surfaces using various chemical and physical surface modification techniques such as electrodeposition, self-assembly and by covalent attachment on Si-H surfaces; 2) to study relevant properties of these films using our expertise in scanning probe methods and electrochemistry; and 3) ultimately to understand the formation of these materials and to relate their structures and morphology to their electrochemical/electronic, catalytic or/and magnetic properties. The work involves a variety of systems such as electrodeposited crystalline bismuth thin films as magnetic sensors; metal phthalocyanines as model catalysts and the chemical modification of nanoporous titanium dioxide using dye and ternary alloy semiconductor films for applications in low costs solar cell devices. All these projects and a few others rely heavily on our electrochemical characterization facility.