The Ohio State University

Abstract: 

In spite of the importance of interfacial water in chemistry, atmospheric science and tribology, it is surprising that so little is still known about its structure, reactions and growth.  Important questions include the structure of the first layer of water in contact with the surface, the occurrence of dissociative reactions, the role of O and H bonds with the surface and with other molecules, etc. Equally important is the structure of the 2^nd, 3^rd and subsequent water layers and how their structures differ from that of the first layer until becoming equal to bulk water. We use microscopy and spectroscopy tools, including Scanning Probes (AFM, STM) and Spectroscopies, particularly the new Ambient Pressure Photoelectron spectroscopy, that operate in vacuum and under ambient conditions. I will discuss the results obtained with metal, oxide and alkali halides substrates, where solvation, dissolution and dissociation are important reactions.

Bio:

Prof. M. Salmeron is the Director of the Materials Science Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley Materials Science and Engineering Department. He is the Scientific Director of the Imaging and Manipulation Facility of the Molecular Foundry, the Department of Energy Nanoscience Institute in Berkeley.  He received his B.A. in Physics from the University of Barcelona, and his Ph.D. from the University Autonoma of Madrid, Spain, in 1975.  In 1984 he moved to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a Divisional Fellow, becoming a Senior Scientist in 1996.

His research focuses on atomic scale structure and properties of surfaces and nanomaterials for applications in electronics, catalysis, tribology and environmental science. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1996 and of the American Vacuum Society in 2003.  He received the Outstanding Research Award in 1996 and the Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment Award in Materials Chemistry in 1995 from the U.S. Department of Energy.  In 2004 he received the Klaus Halbach Award for the development of innovative instrumentation at the Advanced Light Source.  In 2008 he received the Medard Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society and the Langmuir Lectureship Award of the American Chemical Society.

Prof. Salmeron is the President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the "Institut Catala de Nanotecnologia" in Barcelona, Spain.  He has published 390 Journal articles and book chapters.