Research Areas

My research focuses on the fundamental studies of model catalytic systems with an emphasis on utilizing recent technological advances to investigate a more flexible range of materials than typically afforded via conventional ultra-high-vacuum surface-science techniques. The two main effects that I am interested in exploring relate to changes in the nature of the support as a function of thickness, structure, and electronic properties and the ways by which various factors associated with conventional liquid-based catalyst preparation techniques may act to alter their resultant physical and chemical properties in ways that may be commonly neglected by more conventional model-catalyst research. This research will be performed within a state-of-the-art ultrahigh vacuum surface-science machine with capabilities for various photoemission techniques, ion scattering, electron diffraction, mass spectroscopy, and low-temperature scan-probe techniques. Future plans include the inclusion of an infrared reflection-absorption cell to allow for better comparisons with theory and the possibility for in situ pressure-dependent studies as well as collaborative efforts at various synchrotron facilities within the U.S.