EASTERN NAZARENE COLLEGE

MANY DIFFERENCES, ONE FAITH

   Research, Dr. Wooster   

Having been trained as an analytical chemist with an emphasis on electrochemical techniques, my area of scholarly interest involves both the development of new and improved electrochemical methods and their application to the investigation of relevant chemical systems. Electrochemical methods provide the opportunity to probe directly the electron transfer events that occur in chemical systems. Electron transfer reactions (redox reactions) are of fundamental importance in chemistry.  Many chemical reactions and biological pathways are comprised of redox events. The central probe in electrochemistry, the electrode, can be controlled to act as either an electron donor or acceptor. The electrode can substitute for a reactant in a redox reaction in order to investigate a specific mechanism of interest or can serve as a sensor to detect the presence of a redox active compound.

            There are many characteristics of electrochemical measurements which limit the chemical systems to which electrochemistry is applicable. Development of new electrochemical methodologies and chemically modifying the electrode surface are two techniques to try to overcome these limitations. I propose to take advantage of both methods to try to broaden the scope of electrochemical application and gain new insight into the events occurring at the electrode surface. My research is focused on the investigation of chemical microstructures on electrode surfaces and the study of long-range electron transfer in organized monolayer films on metal electrodes. Electron transport within organized molecular assemblies and materials has been intensively studied, due in part to the applications envisioned for such materials in molecular electronics, chemical and biochemical sensing, xerography, display technology, and other areas. Of particular interest is the phenomenon of long-range electron transfer within redox-active monolayer films on electrodes. Such structures have proved useful as model systems since they permit electrochemical techniques to be used to explore the chemistry and physics of heterogeneous electron transfer across well-defined molecular bridges. Monolayers of alkanethiol derivatives on metals such as gold have been particularly heavily studied. hich chemists can look beneath the surface of nature to undicine, and draws from physics, mathematics and computer science to help give us better insight into our world.

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