My area of expertise and research is in the broad field of analytical chemistry. This branch of chemistry is tasked with developing experimental methods to determine a specific chemical species of interest (the analyte) in different samples. An example of a project that an analytical chemist might work on is the measurement of lead ion concentration in drinking water.

Numerous techniques and instrumentation exist that measure the quantity of an analyte based on some physical property of the analyte, such as the polarity, electrochemical characteristics, or how the analyte responds to electromagnetic radiation.

My research interests involve measuring concentrations using the electrochemical characteristics of the analyte. This subbranch of analytical chemistry is known as electroanalytical chemistry and uses electrodes and an electrochemical workstation for quantification of electroactive analytes. The Chemistry Department at Rockhurst has an impressive array of basic instrumentation in electrochemistry so that measurements of electrical quantities such as voltage, current, and charge, can be made.

Some of my recent research projects involving electroanalytical measurements are the characterization of platinum/rhodium nanoparticles, electrocatalysis of formic acid oxidation using the nanoparticles, and the electrocatalysis of NADH oxidation at a modified glassy carbon electrode. These projects have been presented at various regional meetings of the American Chemical Society.

Other research interests include the measurement of analyte concentrations by physically separating the analyte from complex mixtures based on polarity. This can be done with an instrumental technique known as chromatography. The Chemistry Department owns a gas chromatograph that is interfaced with a mass spectrometer (known by the acronym, GC/MS). This instrument is quite powerful for the identification and the determination of a wide variety of volatile analytes. The Department also owns several high-performance liquid chromatographs (HPLC), which are useful for the separation and quantification of less volatile analytes or for those that are found in aqueous solution.

Some of my recent research projects in the field of chromatography involve the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous samples. The method that my research students and I have developed uses GC/MS and employs a silanization reaction that chemically derivatizes the less volatile BPA to form a more volatile substance, thus increasing the sensitivity of the BPA analyte in the GC/MS instrument. The silanization reaction is actually done on a SPME fiber, which is a small synthetic fiber that is used to collect and concentrate the BPA analyte from a dilute aqueous sample. Another recent project in chromatography is the determination of formaldehyde in household cleaning products via HPLC.

I’m also interested in developing laboratory projects in electroanalytical chemistry or in chromatography that teach and illustrate principles of analytical chemistry and that would be suitable for a 3 to 4-hour undergraduate teaching laboratory (research in chemical education). Some of these projects are designed to teach a specific aspect and utilize inexpensive, easily attainable materials and equipment.

As examples of my research in chemical education, I point to two projects involving the measurement of an acid concentration and the measurement of the chloride ion concentration via different coulometric titrations. Using simple, inexpensive equipment, these projects illustrate the quantitative aspects of analytical chemistry and the basic electrochemical measurement of electrical charge, or quantity of electricity.

Another project that is in the chemical education area illustrates the basic principles of chromatographic separation of a spinach extract. The chromatographic separation is done in a glass tube, which allows students to see the separation of the highly colored components (chlorophylls and carotenes) in real time. The experimental setup also allows the student to see how a chromatogram (a plot of detection signal versus time) is generated.