This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focuses on developing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodologies for the study of environmental catalysis. In particular, the surface chemistry involved in the thermal and photocatalytic decomposition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will be investigated using new NMR probes which permit study of these reactions in situ. Professor Raftery and his students will use NMR methods to study the structure of various adsorbed species, their proximity to active sites on the solid catalyst surfaces, and monitor dynamic surface processes. This CAREER project includes the use of group-based, interactive and Web-based learning tools as a means to better connect classroom and laboratory experiences and provide a contextual framework to introducing emerging technologies in undergraduate and graduate curricula. The study of catalytic reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the surface of a wide range of materials is important to a number of energy and environmentally-related technologies. New spectroscopic tools are required to gain intimate knowledge of the dynamics of the gas-solid interactions to better tailor processes to the reduction of air polution, for example. Professor Raftery and his students at Purdue University are developing such methodologies for the study of the thermal and photocatalytic degradation of VOCs, which could have implications in reducing ozone-depleting emissions. The use of of group-based, interactive, and Web-based teaching methods will be used at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to enhance students' connectivity between their experiences and fundamental science.
