Research and Teaching Interests
Electrochemical processes form the basis for many chemical phenomena; the purification of metals, the detection method used in some biosensors, the creation of electrical energy in a fuel cell. Study of the chemistry that occurs on an electrode surface requires the use of many electrochemical techniques as well as in-situ spectroscopic and microscopic tools. Our main research focus is the study of molecular films adsorbed onto electrode surfaces. We investigate how the electric potential changes the nature of the molecules on the electrode surface. We probe these changes using electrochemistry (voltammetry, impedance, chronocoulometry) and in-situ spectroscopies such as FTIR, reflectance, Raman, and fluorescence in addition to AFM. We have also used these techniques to probe the electrocatalytic properties of Pt and Pt - alloy catalysts that may find use in fuel cell applications