Bruce Kay
Laboratory Fellow, Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate, Chemical and Material Sciences Division, Chemical Structure and DynamicsCurrent Activities and Projects
Molecular beam studies of physicochemical phenomena on the surface and in the bulk of Amorphous Solid Water (ASW), Crystalline Ice, Crystalline and Amorphous Materials. Physisorption and chemisorption on metal and oxide surfaces related to catalysis. Synthesis and charaterization on nanoporous amterials using molecular beams.
Research Interests
My colleagues and I are applying and extending molecular-beam surface scattering techniques to ice surfaces to examine the chemical kinetics and reaction dynamics of molecular processes occurring both on the surface and within the bulk of amorphous and crystalline ice films. We use these "chemically tailored" nanoscale films as model systems to elucidate the mechanistic details of the complex physiochemical processes that take place in aqueous solutions, deeply super-cooled liquids, astrophysical dust and comets, and at the aqueous-mineral geochemical interface. In related experiments, we are examining hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions between water and various other materials using thermal desorption and surface spectroscopic techniques to probe interphase transport and phase separation. Elucidation of these processes will further our understanding of solvation and reactions in multi-phase, multi-component solutions and in determining reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous systems. These molecular-level studies are germane to Department of Energy programs in environmental restoration, waste processing, and contaminant fate and transport.
We are also using molecular beam scattering instrumentation to study physisorption and chemisorption on oxide surfaces. Recently we have shown that physisorption of weakly bound gases can be used to titrate small concentrations of surface defects and to determine their binding energies on magnesium oxide(100). Currently we are also engaged in adsorption studies on the surfaces of nanoporous thin MgO films. This work was initiated by our discovery of the deposition angle dependent porosity of amorphous solid water films grown under ballistic deposition (BD) conditions. We have found that the MgO films created under reactive BD conditions are composed of a tilted array of porous nanoscale crystalline filaments with high porosity (~ 90%) and high-surface area (~ 1000 m2/g). These films have chemical binding sites analogous to those on MgO(100). However the fraction of chemically active, high energy binding sites is greatly enhanced on the nanoporous film. This unique collection of properties makes these materials attractive candidates for chemical applications such as sensors and heterogeneous catalysts.
Past Experience
Nov. 1991- Laboratory Fellow, Chemical Structure and Dynamics Department, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
1982-1991 Member of Technical Staff, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Interfacial Chemistry Division, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Education
University of Illinois, Chicago, IL: B. S., in Chemistry, Mathematics (minor) (1976) with Honors and Highest Distinction
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO: Ph. D., in Chemical Physics (1982) Advisor: Prof. A. W. Castleman Jr. Dissertation: "Dynamics, Energetics and Structure of Hydrogen-Bonded Clusters: Elucidating the Transition from the Gaseous to the Condensed State"
Awards, Honors, & Appointments
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2005)
Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS, 2000)
Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS, 2000)
British Vacuum Council John Yarwood Medal (1991)
Elected to Sigma Xi (1980)
ACS Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry (1976)
Affiliate Professor of Chemical Engineering, U. of Washington, 1998-2006
Affiliate Professor of Physical Chemistry, U. of Washington, 1997-present
Visiting Professor of Chemical Physics,University of Liverpool, UK, 2006-present
Editioral Advisory Board, Journal of Physical Chemistry (2005-2007)
International Advisory Board, Academica Sinica Institute for
Atomic and Molecular Science, Taiwan (2004-2007)
DOE BES Chemical Sciences Division 2005 Committee of Visitors
DOE BES Materials Sciences Division 2003 Committee of Visitors
Elected to a leadership role in the American Chemical Society
Physical Chemistry Division serving a five year rotation as vice chair elect through past chairman during the period 2003 through 2008
Co-Chair of the Dynamics and Kinetics working group at the DOE-BES Workshop on Nanoscience and Catalysis, Gaithersburg MD, May 14-16, 2002
PNNL-University of Washington Joint Institute for Nanotechnology Steering Committee 2001-
Editorial Board of the Review Journal, Progress in Surface Science (2000-2006)
Vice Chairman (1999) and Chairman (2001), Gordon Conference on Dynamics at Surfaces
