- Chemistry of solutions and surfaces
- Biomineralization and characterization of
mineral surfaces - Heterogeneous nucleation
- Biophysical chemistry
- B. Sc., University of Wales United Kingdom (1948)
- Ph.D., University of Wales, United Kingdom (1951)
- D. Sc., University of Glasgow, Scotland (1964)
- Fellow of the University of Wales
- Research in Mineralization Award, International Association for Dental Research
- Jacob F. Schoellkopf Award, Western New York Section of the ACS (1977)
- New York Science Teachers Distinguished Service Award
- Dean’s Award for Meritorious Service, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- National Institutes of Health Research Merit Award
- Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (1982)
- Editorial Board of Current Chemical Biology (2007)
- Visiting Professor, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center (2007)
- Guangbiao Outstanding Professor, Zhejiang University, PR China (2007)
Chemistry of solutions and surfaces; biomineralization and characterization of mineral surfaces; surface structure and heterogeneous nucleation; biophysical chemistry
- Mechanistic studies of biomineralization.
- Material sciences: The mechanism of formation of calcium sulfate and calcium phosphate cements.
- Mechanism of nucleation of inorganic crystals at inorganic, organic, and modified polymer surfaces.
- Relationship between interfacial energy and the nucleation and growth of inorganic crystals.
Elucidation of the mechanisms of growth and dissolution of crystals is one of the most interesting aspects of modern solution and surface chemistry. It has applications in a wide variety of fields such as oceanography, natural water pollution, scale formation in the petroleum engineering and desalination industries, the development of geothermal energy, and biological mineralization.
In order to study the chemistry of these systems, we use a wide range of surface analytical methods to investigate the kinetics of crystal growth using techniques using the Dual Constant Composition method that enables the mechanism of crystallization to be elucidated even in mixed crystallizing systems. Surface characterization is made using instrumentation such as scanning electron and field emission microscopy, SIMS, electron microprobe, ESCA, Auger, x-ray diffraction, particle size and charge determination, specific surface area measurements, and microelectrophoretic determination of particle charge. Cement materials, resulting from these kinetic studies are characterized by compressive strength measurements and their ability to serve as suitable products in applications ranging widely from wallboard and dental cements to bone substitutes.
A recent research project involves the direct measurement of interfacial energy and its relationship to the ability of surfaces to nucleate inorganic crystals. Thus, even "inert" polymer surfaces may be modified to enable them to nucleate biominerals such as the calcium phosphates.
A parallel research project with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, involves atomic force microscopic investigation of step movement at crystal surfaces and the relationship between these microscopic rates with the macroscopic rates as measured in our laboratory by Dual Constant Composition.
List of Publications
Atomic force micrograph of a developing pit and step movement during the dissolution of a calcium phosphate crystal face. Each frame 5 x 5 µm.
