Research Areas:
Organic surfaces and thin films; surface modification of solids; interfacial phenomena; interactions of synthetic materials with biological systems; biomaterials; heterogeneous nucleation; microfabrication

Within the last ten years, the degree of sophistication with which organic surfaces have been studied and manipulated has increased dramatically. The development of new analytical and computational techniques has complemented new synthetic strategies for engineering organic surfaces on a molecular scale. For example, scanning probe microscopy and dynamic molecular modeling of quasi-crystalline organic monolayers have been combined to enhance the understanding of the behavior of model organic surfaces. The ability to tailor the physical and chemical properties of surfaces precisely has enabled both the development of new materials and the elucidation of the mechanistic details of numerous interfacial phenomena.
We use several methods, based on molecular self-assembly, for creating well-defined, ultrathin organic films on solid surfaces. These structures serve as models in the study of interfacial phenomena and in the development of analytical techniques for the study of organic surfaces. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of w-substituted alkanethiolates on gold are particularly convenient model systems because of the ease in which they are prepared and the flexibility they allow in generating different surface chemistries. We have used these and other types of SAMs in the study of phenomena associated with the interactions of electron beams, condensing liquids, and proteins and mammalian cells with solid surfaces.
Our study of the interactions of electron beams and condensing liquids with the surfaces of SAMs has led to the development of general techniques for the microscopic analysis of organic thin films and surfaces. We have also demonstrated that well-defined surfaces can be useful in manipulating the interactions of proteins and cells with synthetic materials. The control of these interactions will be useful in the development of biosensors and in biotechnology.
Other processes for forming ultrathin organic films on a wide variety of substrates are based on

plasma deposition and treatment. We have used these techniques for surface modification of polymeric materials to make them biocompatible and to produce "smart" membranes for controlled drug delivery.

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