Chemical Instrumentation

Electrochemical measurement and instrumentation, with special attention to ion transport and electron transfer at small scales.

Surface and interfacial phenomena, including charge transport in organic molecules, nanoparticle catalysis, semiconducting and 2D nanomaterials, plasmonics, tribology, "smart" surfaces, and self-organizing nanoscale materials for device applications.

The Bluemel research interests span from inorganic, organometallic, and surface chemistry, to catalysis and polymer chemistry. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy of dia- and paramagnetic liquids and solids is applied and further developed as a powerful method in all fields.

Development and application of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy with hyperpolarization methods, for elucidating molecular structure, reaction mechanisms and dynamics.

The use of fluorescence spectroscopy of jet-cooled molecules and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and laser Raman spectroscopies, along with quantum mechanical calculations to investigate the dynamics of conformational energy changes in electronic ground and excited states of molecules.

Experimental physical/analytical chemistry focusing on the development of models to describe chemical reactivity and energy transfer on a microscopic, molecular, level with applications in atmospheric chemistry, combustion, and aerospace engineering.

Protein structure/dynamics focusing on metalloproteins and membrane proteins, effects of hydration on peptide/protein conformational preferences, and development of ion mobility-mass spectrometry for studies of peptide/protein/protein complex structure/dynamics.

Development of mass spectrometry instrumentation and methodology for molecular surface analysis at the nanoscale, applications include the characterization of nano-objects, macromolecular architectures, 2D-materials and the co-localization of molecules at catalytic sites and on biological surfaces.

Spectroscopy, optical and scanning probe microscopies, materials science, nanoscience, focusing on optical behavior of nanoscale materials with applications in solar energy, photocatalysis, and more broadly, photochemistry and nanophotonics.

The Thomas group focuses on the development of new synthetic methods by investigating the kinetics and chemical reactivity of highly reactive intermediates via rapid injection NMR spectroscopy.

Synthetic strategies for degradable polymers derived from natural products, unique macromolecular architectures and complex polymer assemblies, designed for practical implementation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, as non-toxic anti-biofouling or anti-icing coatings, as materials for microelectronics device applications, or as pollutant remediation systems.

Development and application of novel mass spectrometric methodologies in disease diagnosis, reaction mechanistic study, and development of new synthetic methods.