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Research in the labs of
Drs.
Joel A. Olson and Nasri Nesnas, using the newly installed DART system,
culminated in the discovery of a new application for the DART in the
analysis of Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAM). Although there are several
analytical methods available for the characterization of SAM, DART was shown
to have some significant complimentary advantages to the existing methods.
Moreover, DART (at $210K) is a relatively cheaper instrument that some of
the other available techniques (e.g. SIMS which could cost up to a million
dollars). Moreover, the information furnished from the collaborative work
was unique in its nature and displayed an unambiguous characterization of
the molecules present at the surface of a gold bead.
A gold bead treated with dodecanethiol, rinsed
thoroughly under ultrasonic conditions to insure removal of residual
material, was placed in front of the DART for analysis under specific
conditions. The peaks resulting from ionization were indicative of intact
molecules stripped off the gold surface. These findings were rapidly
communicated in an Analytical Chemistry.
It included the co-authorship of R. B. Cody (co-inventor of the DART Shown
above), research scientist: Dr. Kafui Kpegba, and an undergraduate student:
Tycho Spadaro.
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