Megan E. Bennett

**** * ******** **.

Orfordville, WI 53576

585-***-****

ac8nt7@r.postjobfree.com

Discipline: Analytical and radiochemistry

Research Interests

My interests involve the production, separation and use of e l e m e n t s a n d isotopes in a variety of applications. I have been involved in a wide range of reasearch and development activities, ranging from element discovery to the commercialization of critical medical isotopes. Throughout my career I have been involved in a variety of analytical separations and analysis. I have developed quality assurance, chemical safety and radiological safety programs, standard operating procedures, and analysis. My analysis expertise include radiological detection (alpha, beta, gamma, spectrometries, liquid scintilation counting, gas proportional counting), FT-IR, UV-VIS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS (on simple matricies), and standard analytical analysis, such as pH meters. I also have experience with cGMP, USP, ICH, FDA, NRC, DOE and ISO practices, standards, interrpretation and execution.

Research Highlights

I was involved in the commercial scale-up of the chemical production on molybdenum-99, a critical medical isotope. During this experience, I assisted the enginneering team in design, with input regarding chemical reactions and separations. I was also involved in the development of new radioisotope product lines.

Previously I was a certified analyst and manager of the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at Argonne National Laboratory. The laboratory was responsible for analysis of samples with in the Department of Energy programs, including enviornmental, waste and custom samples. The samples wer processed from reciept of the sample through instrumental analysis. The instrumentation included ICP-OES, ICP-MS, GC, GC-MS, C/S Analysis, SEM, EDS, AFM, STM, gamma spectrometry (HPGe), alpha spectrometry, liquid scintilation counting, gas proportional counting, titrations, UV-VIS, FT-IR and Ion Chromatography. In addition to managing the analytical laboratory, I managed my own research projects, which included separation schemes for 99Mo, development of new separation and detection instruments for national security, treaty verification samples for the US Department of Energy, among others. P r e v i o u s l y I a l s o e stablished radiochemistry laboratories, and research at Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute. Developed a rotating target wheel for use in cyclotron irradiations, lead and participated in many cyclotron based experiments at Texas A&M University. Prior to Texas A&M I was involved in the development of analytical radiochemical separation schemes for the study of the chemistry of the transactinides (Z>103) using column chromatography and solvent extraction. This includes intra- and inter- chemical group separations, determination of chemical species and automation of the chemical system due to the short half-lives of the transactinide elements. I was also a member of the international collaboration that discovered Element 117.

Education

University of Nevada – Las Vegas 2007- 2011 PhD in Radiochemistry Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2005-2007 MS in Chemistry State University of New York College at Brockport

Employment History

2001-2005 BS in Chemistry

2018-2019 Senior Radiochemist, SHINE Medical Technologies 2016 – 2018 Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Manager, Nuclear Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory

2013 - 2016 Assistant Chemist, Nuclear Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory

2012 - 2013 Postdoctoral Research Appointee, Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory 2011 - 2012 Postdoctoral Fellow, Texas A&M University 2007 - 2011 Graduate Assistant, University of Nevada – Las Vegas 2009 - 2010 Nuclear Forensics Summer Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

2005 - 2007 Graduate Assistant, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2001 – 2005 Teacher Assistant, State University of New York College at Brockport. Honors, Fellowships and Awards

2015 Recipient of Argonne National Laboratory’s Pacesetter Award 2014 Recipient of the United State Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration’s Outstanding Achievement Award

2010-2011 Recipient of the Nuclear Energy University Program Fellowship 2010 Recipient of the Nuclear Forensics Summer Internship (LLNL) 2009 Recipient of the Nuclear Forensics Summer Internship (LLNL) 2008 Participant in the International WE-Heraeus Summer School “Atomic Properties of the Heaviest Elements - from “hot” fusion to ultracold ions” 2005 Sigma Chi Research honors recipient

2005 Honors BS in chemistry

2005 American Chemical Society certified BS

2002-2005 Recipient of the Rochester Midland Corporation Fellowship Committee Memberships

1) ASTM D-19 (water) 2016-2018

2) ASTM C-26 (nuclear fuel cycle) 2013-2018

Patents:

1) Separation of lanthanide elements. Filed 2018 with SHINE Medical Technologies Publications:

1) Published and accepted papers in peer reviewed journals i. R.M. Essex, J.L. Mann, R.W. Williams, W.S. Kinman, A. Hubert, M.E. Bennett, A. Gourgiotis. A new thorium-229 reference material. Applie Radiation and Isotopes, 134, 23-31 (2018).

ii. D. A. Mayorov, T.A. Werke, M.C. Alfonso, E.E. Tereshatov, M.E. Bennett, M.M. Frey, C.M. Folden. Evaporation residue excitation function measurements in Ti-50- and Cr-54-induced reactions with lanthanide targets. Phys. Rev. C.

(2015).

iii. T. A. Werke, D.A. Mayorov, M.C. Alfonso, M.E. Bennett, M.J. DeVanzo, M.M. Frey, E.E. Tereshatov, C.M. Folden. Hot Fusion-Evaporation Cross Sections of Sc- 45-Induced Reactions with Lanthanide Targets (2015). iv. J.D. Despotopulos, J.M. Gostic, M.E. Bennett, N. Gharibyan, R.A. Henderson, K.J. Moody, R. Sudowe, D.A. Shaughnessy. Characterization of Group 5 dubnium homologs- n diglycolamide extraction chromatography resins from nitric and hydrofluoric acid matrices. J. Rad. Nucl. Chem, 303(1), 485-494 (2015). v. M.C. Alfonso, M.E. Bennett, C.M. Folden. Extraction chromatography of the Rf homologs, Zr and Hf, using TEVA and UTEVA resins in HCl, HNO3, H2SO4 media. J. Rad. Nucl. Chem in print (2015).

vi. M.C. Alfonso, E.E. Tereshatov, M.J. DeVanzo, J.A. Sefcik, M.E. Bennett, D.A. Mayorov, T.A. Werke, C.M. Folden. New recoil transfer chamber for thermalization of heavy ions produced in fusion-evaporation reactions. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 798, 52-61 (2015). vii. M.E. Bennett, D. Stepinski, S. R. Naik, D. DeVries, G. Isensee, J. T. Harvey, G.F. Vandegrift. Removal of Tc from Irradiated natMo Targets using Eichrom’s ABEC Resin. Mo-99 2014 Topical Meeting on Molybdenum-99 Technological Development (2015). viii. D.A. Mayorov, T.A. Werke, M.C. Alfonso, M.E. Bennett, C.M. Folden. Production cross section of elements near the N=126 shell in 48Ca-induced reaction with Gd-154, Tb-159, Dy-162 and Ho-165 targets. Phys. Rev. C 90(2) (2014). ix. M.E. Bennett, D. DeVries, G. Isensee, J. T. Harvey, G.F. Vandegrift. Removal of Tc from Irradiated natMo Targets using Eichrom’s ABEC Resin. Mo-99 2014 Topical Meeting on Molybdenum-99 Technological Development (2014). x. M.E. Bennett, D.L. Bowers, C. Pereira, G. F. Vandegrift. Conversion of Uranyl SulfateSolution to Uranyl Nitrate Solution for Processing in UREX. Mo-99 2014 Topical Meeting on Molybdenum-99 Technological Development (2014). xi. C.M. Folden III, D.A. Mayorov, T.A. Werke, M.C. Alfonso, M.E. Bennett, M.J. DeVanzo. Prospects for the discovery of the next new element: Influences of projectiles with Z > 20. J. Phys: Conference Series. 420 (2013). xii. M.E. Bennett, M.C. Alfonso, J.P. Greene, C.M. Folden III. Heavy element facilities at Texas A&M University. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 299, 1107-1112 (2013). xiii. M.E. Bennett, D.A. Mayorov, K.D. Chapkin, T.A. Werke, C.M. Folden III. Measurement of the natLu(p,x)175Hf excitation function. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 276, 62- 65 (2012).

xiv. J. H. Hamilton, Yu. Ts. Oganessian,, F. Sh. Abdullin, P. D. Bailey, D. E. Benker, M. E. Bennett, S. N. Dmitriev, J. G. Ezold, R. A. Henderson, M. G. Itkis, Yu. V. Lobanov, A. N. Mezentsev, K. J. Moody, S. L. Nelson, A. N. Polyakov, C. E. Porter, A. V. Ramayya, F. D. Riley, J. B. Roberto, M. A. Ryabinin, K. P. Rykaczewski, R. N. Sagaidak, D. A. Shaughnessy, I. V. Shirokovsky1, M. A. Stoyer5, V. G. Subbotin1, R. Sudowe3, A. M. Sukhov, Yu. S. Tsyganov, V. K. Utyonkov, A. A. Voinov, G. K. Vostokin, and P. A. Wilk. Synthesis of New Element with Z=117. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 312, 082026 (2011).

xv. Yu. Ts. Oganessian,, F. Sh. Abdullin, P. D. Bailey, D. E. Benker, M. E. Bennett, S. N. Dmitriev, J. G. Ezold, J. H. Hamilton, R. A. Henderson, M. G. Itkis, Yu. V. Lobanov, A. N. Mezentsev, K. J. Moody, S. L. Nelson, A. N. Polyakov, C. E. Porter, A. V. Ramayya, F. D. Riley, J. B. Roberto, M. A. Ryabinin, K. P. Rykaczewski, R. N. Sagaidak, D. A. Shaughnessy, I. V. Shirokovsky1, M. A. Stoyer5, V. G. Subbotin1, R. Sudowe3, A. M. Sukhov, Yu. S. Tsyganov, V. K. Utyonkov, A. A. Voinov, G. K. Vostokin, and P. A. Wilk. Eleven new heaviest isotopes of elements Z=105 to Z=117 identified among the products of 249Bk+48Ca reactions. Phys. Rev. C. 83, 054315 (2011). xvi. Yu. Ts. Oganessian,, F. Sh. Abdullin, P. D. Bailey, D. E. Benker, M. E. Bennett, S. N. Dmitriev, J. G. Ezold, J. H. Hamilton, R. A. Henderson, M. G. Itkis, Yu. V. Lobanov, A. N. Mezentsev, K. J. Moody, S. L. Nelson, A. N. Polyakov, C. E. Porter, A. V. Ramayya, F. D. Riley, J. B. Roberto, M. A. Ryabinin, K. P. Rykaczewski, R. N. Sagaidak, D. A. Shaughnessy, I. V. Shirokovsky, M. A. Stoyer, V. G. Subbotin, R. Sudowe, A. M. Sukhov, Yu. S. Tsyganov, V. K. Utyonkov, A. A. Voinov, G. K. Vostokin, and P. A. Wilk. Synthesis of a new element with atomic number Z=117. Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 142502 (2010).

xvii. M.E. Bennett, W.A. Alexander, J. W. Lu, D. Troya, J.R. Morris. Collisions of Polar and Nonpolar Gases with Hydrogen Bonding and Hydrocarbon Self-Assembled Monolayers. Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2008), 112(44), 172**-*****. xviii. M.M.Hoffmann, M.E. Bennett, J.D. Fox, D.P. Wyman. Water partitioning in "dry" poly(ethylene oxide) alcohol (CmEn) nonionic surfactant-a proton NMR study. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (2005), 287(2), 712-716. 2) Published conference abstracts

i. M.E. Bennett et. al. Near Real-time Separation and Detection of Uranium Enrichment Levels. Radiobioassay and Radiochemical Measurements Conference. Honolulu, HI

(2017)

ii. M.E. Bennett, D. Stepinski, S.R. Naik, G.F. Vandgrift. Removal of Tc from Neutron- Capture Mo-99 using Eichrom’s ABEC Resin. 10th International Conference on Methods and Application of Radioanalytical Chemistry. Kona, HI, April 12-17, 2015. iii. S.D. Chemerisov et. al. Development of Accelerator Based Production of Mo-99. Mo-99 topical meeting. Boston, MA, 2015.

iv. M.E. Bennett, D. Stepinski, S.R. Naik, G.F. Vandgrift. Removal of Tc from Neutron- Capture Mo-99 using Eichrom’s ABEC Resin. Mo-99 topical meeting. Boston, MA, 2015 v. M.E. Bennett, D. Stepinski, S.R. Naik, G.F. Vandgrift. Removal of Tc from Neutron- Capture Mo-99 using Eichrom’s ABEC Resin. Mo-99 topical meeting. Washington D.C., 2014.

vi. M.E. Bennett, D. Bowers, G.F. Vandegrift. Conversion of Uranyl Sulfate Solution to Uranyl Nitrate Solution for Processing in UREX. Mo-99 topical meeting. Washington D.C., 2014.

vii. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Depotopulos, M.C. Alfonso, R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy, R. Sudowe, C.M. Folden III. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Abstract of Papers, TAN ’11. Sochi, Russia, September 5- 11, 2011.

viii. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Despotopulos; R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Book of Abstracts, American Nuclear Society National Meeting, Hollywood, CA, June 26-30, 2011.

ix. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Despotopulos; R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Abstracts of Papers, 241st American Chemical Society National Meeting, Anaheim, CA, March 27-31, 2011. NUCL-063

x. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Book of Abstracts, Asian-Pacific Symposium On RadioChemistry(APSORC) ’09, Napa, CA, November 29 – December 4, 2009

xi. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Book of Abstracts, The 7th Workshop on the Chemistry of the Heaviest Elements, Mainz, Germany, October 11-13, 2009. xii. R.A Henderson; K.J. Moody, D.A. Shaughnessy, J.M Gostic, M.E Bennett; R. Sudowe. Automated Chemistry Efforts at LLNL using Eichrom’s DGA resin. Book of Abstracts, The 7th Workshop on the Chemistry of the Heaviest Elements, Mainz, Germany, October 11-13, 2009.

xiii. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Abstracts of Papers, 237th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, March 22-26, 2009, NUCL-041.

3) Dissertation/Thesis

i. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rutherfordium and Dubnium Homologs. PhD, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, May 2011

ii. Energy Transfer Dynamics in Collisions of Polar and Non-Polar Gases with Functionalized Self-Assembled Monolayers. MS, chemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, May 2007.

iii. Intermolecular Interactions of two non-ionic surfactants with water: Studied through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. BS, honors in chemistry, State University of New York College at Brockport, May 2005.

Invited Presentations

i. M.E. Bennett. Element Synthesis: From Element Discovery to Medical Radioisotopes. University of Memphis Chemistry Department. October 30, 2015. ii. M.E. Bennett. Element Synthesis: From Element Discovery to Medical Radioisotopes. State University of New York, College at Brockport. Chemistry Department. October 8, 2015.

iii. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Despotopulos; R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Abstracts of Papers, 242nd American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, CO, August 28-September 1, 2011. NUCL

iv. M.E. Bennett. The Discovery of Element 117 and the Hunt for the Island of Stability. Presented to the National Security Theme summer students of Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL. August 21, 2013.

v. M.E. Bennett. The Discovery of Element 117 and the Hunt for the Island of Stability. Iota Sigma Pi and Society of Women Engineers Meeting. Chicago, IL. January 31, 2014.

Contributed Presentations

i. M.E. Bennett, M.C. Alfonso, J.P. Greene, C.M. Folden III. Heavy element Chemistry at TAMU. Heavy Element Chemistry Facilities at Texas A&M University. International Nuclear Target Development Society Meeting. Mainz, Germany. August 19-24 2012. ii. M.E. Bennett, M.C. Alfonso, C.M. Folden III. Heavy Element Chemistry at Texas A&M University – From Off-line to On-line. TASCA Workshop 2012. Darmstadt, Germany. September 14, 2012.

iii. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Depotopulos, M.C. Alfonso, R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy, R. Sudowe, C.M. Folden III. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Abstract of Papers, TAN ’11. Sochi, Russia, September 5- 11, 2011.

iv. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Despotopulos; R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Book of Abstracts, American Nuclear Society National Meeting, Hollywood, CA, June 26-20, 2011.

v. M.E. Bennett; J.D. Despotopulos; R.A. Henderson, D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction Chromatographic Studies of Rf Homologs using Crown Ether Based Resins. Abstracts of Papers, 241st American Chemical Society National Meeting, Anaheim, CA, March 27-31, 201. NUCL-063

vi. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Book of Abstracts, Asian-Pacific Symposium On RadioChemistry(APSORC) ’09, Napa, CA, November 29 – December 4, 2009

vii. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Book of Abstracts, The 7th Workshop on the Chemistry of the Heaviest Elements, Mainz, Germany, October 11-13, 2009. viii. M.E. Bennett; R.A. Henderson; D.A. Shaughnessy; R. Sudowe. Extraction chromatographic studies of Rf and Db homologs. Abstracts of Papers, 237th ACS National Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, March 22-26, 2009 (2009), NUCL-041.

Skills and Techniques

December 2017- December 2018

Senior Radiochemist, SHINE Medical Technologies

Responsible for supporting engineering design and plant scale-up for production of Mo-99, a critical medical isotope. Participated in the development of a radiation protection plan, respiratory protection plan, chemical safety and hygine plan, materials control and accountability program, quality assurance and control plan. Responsible for implimentation of the radiation protection plan during prototype testing. Responsible for research and development of new isotope product lines. October 2012 – October 2017

Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory Established a sulfate to nitrate conversion for uranyl sulfate solution for use in the domestic production of 99Mo using Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). Evaluated and assessed the performance of Eichrom’s ABEC resin at various flow rates for use in medical Mo-99 applications. Assisted in the development of a Mo-99 dispensing hot cell line for Mo-99 distribution to radiopharmacies at MURR. Assisted in the hydrolysis of uranium hexafluoride from P-10 and Hoke tubes for down blending treaty verification. Responsible for the dissolution and analysis (liquid scintillation counting, alpha and gamma spectroscopy of dispersible, highly contaminated samples. These experiences also included respirator and Tyvek work. May 2011- October 2012

Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University Postdoctoral Fellow Responsible for establishing and outfitting two brand new radiochemical laboratory for the study of both long-lived (t1/2 < 120 d) and short-lived (t1/2 < 10 m) homologs of the heaviest elements. In the chemical study of long-lived homologs a traditional radiochemistry laboratory is necessary. In the case of chemical studies of short-lived homologs a laboratory environment is coupled to the MARS separator at the Cyclotron Institute. In the traditional radiochemistry laboratory development of solvent extraction and column chromatography separation schemes were developed while keeping the necessary requirements of transactinide chemistry in mind (low production rates, short half-lives (t1/2 < 80 s)). In the laboratory coupled to the cyclotron the techniques of extraction and column chromatography were employed, however on a much faster time scale using accelerator produced products. Techniques to make both isotopic and natural metal and metal oxide thin targets using electrodeposition were also developed. Included the use of cyclotron technology, including target and beam developments, high purity germanium

(HPGe) detectors, automated sodium iodide detectors, vacuum box for column chromatography, mentoring of graduate students.

Aug 2007- May 2011

University of Nevada- Las Vegas Graduate Research Assistant Development of column chromatography separation schemes for elements 104 and 105. Due to the short half-lives of the transactinide elements, fast and efficient separations are necessary so that the chemical properties of these can be studied and compared to those of their lighter homologs. Separations based on extraction chromatography resins show promise for achieving the required short separation times, high yields and high separation factors that are necessary for transactinide studies. Extraction systems that can be applied to the study of element 104, Rf and element 105, Db have been investigated. The adsorption of Zr and Hf, the lighter homologs of element 104, on different resins has been investigated from various acid matrices to evaluate the suitability of these systems for the study of Rf. Similarly, Nb and Ta have been used to assess the system for Db. Included the use of high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, infrared spectroscopy (IR), inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), electrospray mass spectrometry

(ESMS), vacuum box for column chromatography and work with hydrofluoric (HF) acid. Jun 2010 - Sep 2010

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nuclear Forensics Summer Internship Chemical separations of actinide elements from real world matrices. In the event of nuclear attack on the United States it will be necessary to assess the nature and extent of radiation exposure, as well as, determine where the device originated from. One method of achieving this is through separation of the radioactive elements from the surface on which they are deposited

(i.e. concrete) and then analyzing the isotopic ratios of the elements. Included the use of alpha spectroscopy, high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors and a vacuum box for column chromatography.

Jun 2009 - Sep 2009

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nuclear Forensics Summer Internship 2

Chemical separations of actinide elements and synthesis of transactinide elements. The separations of actinide element is critical not only in the treatment of used nuclear fuels but also in nuclear forensics applications. During the treatment of used nuclear fuels it is necessary to separate actinide elements from one another so they can be placed in the appropriate high or low level waste facility. In nuclear forensics the separation of actinides elements can provide information on the source of the radiological material used in an attack. The synthesis of transactinide elements furthers understanding of fundamental nuclear structure and theory. Included the use of a volatilizer for alpha source preparation, alpha spectroscopy, HPGe detectors, vacuum box for column chromatography, and the use of Fortran for data analysis during the synthesis of transactinide elements and work with HF acid. Jun 2005 – May 2007

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Graduate Teaching Assistant Investigation of energy transfer dynamics between ω-functionalized self-assembled monolayers

(SAMs) and protic and non-protic gases. Molecular beam scattering experiments -to are - used - explore collisions of 60 kJ/mol Ne, CD4, ND3, and D2O with long-chain CH3, NH2, and OH terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) created via the chemisorption of alkanethiols on gold. Time-of-flight measurements for the scattered gases reveal the extent of energy exchange and the propensity for a gas to thermally accommodate with the surface during a collision. Of the four gases studied, Ne transfers the least amount of translational energy into the monolayers and D2O the most. Neon atoms recoil from the OH-SAM with an average of 14.4 kJ/mol of energy, while D2O retains only 6.4 kJ/mol of its 60 kJ/mol incident energy when scattering from the same surface. Overall, the trend in final translational energies follows the order Ne > CD4 > ND3 > D2O for scattering from all three SAMs. The observed trend in the energy exchange is correlated with the gas−surface attractive forces, as determined by ab initio calculations. The thermal accommodation efficiencies of the four gases follow the opposite trend. Thermalization for the Ne atoms is nearly negligible for all three monolayers, whereas D2O and ND3 approach near complete accommodation on all of the monolayers studied. The overall energy exchange and thermal accommodation efficiencies also depend markedly on the terminal group of the SAM. For Ne scattering, the trend for the overall energy transfer follows: CH - > NH - OH-SAMs. In contrast, the overall D2O energy transfer is greater when colliding with the OH-SAM than the nonpolar CH3-SAM. Together, the results show that the extent of energy transfer depends on a balance between the rigidity of the surface, as affected by intrasurface hydrogen bonding, and the strength of the gas−surface attractive forces, as determined by intermolecular interactions. Included use of a molecular beam, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) equipment, IR, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry (MS).

May 2002 – June 2005

State University of New York College at Brockport Teaching Assistant Investigation on interactions of water and non-ionic surfactants. A proton NMR titration study is presented where in small increments quantities of water were added to “dry” CmEn nonionic surfactant. For a particular range of compositions, two resonances for the water/hydroxyl protons were observed that display large chemical shift increases as water content is increased indicating that water must partition between two chemical environments with a surprisingly slow chemical exchange rate. A detailed mechanism of how the increasing amounts of water are incorporated into the surfactant medium is presented accounting for all observed spectral changes. Included the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, an inert atmosphere glove box, oxygen torch and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Contact this candidate