| |
Associate Professor, Physical Chemistry
E-mail: wducker@vt.edu
Office: 304 Davidson Hall
Phone: 540-231-2249
Fax: 540-231-3255
Group Web Pages: http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-dept/ducker/TTIndex.html
Education
Ph.D. 1991 Australian National University
Research Interests
The properties of materials and the progress of chemical reactions are often controlled by the properties of surface molecules. Surface molecules are molecules that sit at the border between two phases, e.g., at the boundary between liquid water and a crystal. Surface molecules usually behave differently to molecules in the middle of a phase because they are surrounded by different molecules. The aim of my research is to understand both the organization of surface molecules and how surface molecules affect the physical properties of materials. My work is presently focused on the study of surfactant surface layers and colloids. The atomic force microscope (AFM) is the primary tool for studying the forces between colloidal particles and for mapping the distribution of molecules at surfaces.
Selected Publications
- "Celery (Apium graveolens L.) parenchyma cell walls examined by atomic force microscopy: effect of dehydration on cellulose microfibrils." J. C. Thimm, D. J. Burritt, W. A. Ducker, and L. D. Melton. Planta 2000, 212, 25-32.
- "Counterion effects on adsorbed micellar shape: Experimental study of the role of polarizability and charge." V. Subramanian and W. A. Ducker. Langmuir 2000, 16, 4447-4454.
- "Self-assembled supramolecular structures of charged polymers at the graphite/liquid interface." J. F. Liu and W. A. Ducker. Langmuir 2000, 163467-3473.
- "Surface-induced transformations for surfactant aggregates." R. E. Lamont and W. A. Ducker. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1998, 120, 7602-7.
- "Direct measurement of colloidal forces using an atomic force microscope." W. A. Ducker, T. J. Senden, and R. M. Pashley. Nature,1991, 353, 239-241.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
About the Department
News & Events
Faculty & Staff
Graduate Program
Undergraduate Program
Class Information
Directory
Contact Us
Search
Site Map
|
