Colorado State University NSF-REU Summer
Program in Materials Chemistry Research:
Synthesis, Characterization, and Device Fabrication
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Thomas
Meersmann
For
more information, visit our group webpage...
Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) is a very powerful tool for the study of
solid materials and molecules in solutions. However, sensitivity and
selectivity pose constant challenges in NMR studies of surfaces. The number of
nuclei residing on the surface of a material may be too small for NMR
observation, and potentially detectable signals may not be separable from the
spectrum of the bulk material. Major technical and scientific developments in the
recent past have made the investigations of surfaces and nano-structured
materials now possible. Optical pumping (i.e. laser-enhanced spin-polarization)
opens up a whole new field in surface studies for NMR and is one of the major
research endeavors in the Meersmann Group.
In
addition, the technique will also be applied for the study of diffusion in
one-dimensional nanochannel systems. The molecules in these channels undergo
single-file diffusion that differs dramatically from diffusion in macroscopic
systems. Although single-file diffusion may play an important role in a wide
range of industrial catalytic, geologic and biological processes, experimental
evidence is very scarce despite the fact that the dynamics differs
substantially from ordinary diffusion.
The
proposed work could accommodate undergraduate students with strong interests in
research. The research will contain theoretical aspects of physical chemistry
and chemical physics as well as experimental work. REU students would benefit
from the ideal learning environment of the projects.