Analyzing Organic Surfaces -
From Biomaterials To Conducting Polymers
Luke Hanley
Department of Chemistry (mc 111)
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL 60607-7061
Abstract
Organic and polymeric surfaces present a variety of difficulties during analysis, including disorder on the molecular level and facile radiation damage. Furthermore, the spectral data resulting from organic surfaces is often ambiguous. Our group focuses on the modification and analysis of organic surfaces for applications ranging from biomaterials to conducting polymers. We apply a combination of traditional and less popular methods to study these surfaces in both their dry state and where relevant, their hydrated state. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with chemical derivatization, atomic force microscopy, radiolabelling, amino acid analysis, and x-ray surface scattering are all used to probe the chemistry and structure of these diverse surfaces.