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Steven Baldelli
Assistant Professor
Office: 5 Fleming
Phone: (713) 743-5107
Email: SBaldelli@uh.edu

Education
B.S., Framingham State College, 1992
Ph.D., Tufts University, 1998

Honors, Fellowships, etc.
Postdoctoral fellow University of California, Berkeley
Visiting Professor Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Publications
Homepage

Research Interests
Surface Chemistry
     Our research interest is in the field of physical chemistry, specifically adsorption and reactions of molecules at the solid–liquid electrochemical interface. These areas of chemistry represent some of our broad research interests. We will use surface specific laser spectroscopy to gain information about how molecules behave at the electrified interface. The goal will be to bring a molecular perspective to these systems to advance this field. This area overlaps with many subfields in physical chemistry, such as electrochemistry, photochemistry, surface chemistry, and materials science. The applications are widely varied from solar cells, photocatalysis, and environmental remediation to biomaterials, corrosion, and energy conversion (fuel cells). Our group has specific research projects in each of these areas.

Surface Electrochemistry
      Electrochemistry is an effective method to control adsorption and reactions at the solid-liquid interface. When electrochemical measurements are combined with spectroscopic probes, an unprecedented amount of knowledge is obtained. This approach will be used to study organic monolayers on a copper electrode since this serves as a model system to test corrosion inhibitors.
     Until recently, these interfaces were inaccessible to molecule specific techniques due to the obscuring effect of bulk solution. The development of nonlinear spectroscopy and scanning probe techniques significantly improved our access to these systems. Although there is a wealth of macroscopic information on these interfaces, there is a distinct lack of molecular level detail, which inhibits our understanding of the chemistry that occurs there. By choosing specific systems that broadly model large classes of interfaces, our goal is to correlate the microscopic information with the macroscopic properties, thus providing an essential view of the behavior of molecules at these surfaces. We will use SFG in conjunction with ECM (electrochemical microscopy) and electrochemical methods to develop a more complete description of the system.

Laser Spectroscopy
     The main techniques we use are nonlinear optical spectroscopies, specifically sum frequency generation (SFG) and second harmonic generation (SHG). These spectroscopic methods have the advantage of being sensitive only to the interface between two bulk media, thus allowing us to investigate the surface region without interference from bulk phase molecules. Further, SFG provides a vibrational spectrum of the surface molecules, which is useful in determining the orientation and chemical environment of the interfacial molecules.

Recent Publications
(1) "Surface Orientation of Alkylimidazolium-based Ionic Liquids, [MMIM]+, [EMIM]+, and [BMIM]+ with [PF6]- and [MS]- ions" C. Santos and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. B 2007, In Press.

(2) "Ions at the Surface of a Room-temperature Ionic Liquid" C. Santos, S. Rivera-Rubero, S. Dibrov and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. B 2007, Accepted.

(3) "Orientation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium Based Ionic Liquids at a Hydrophobic Quartz Interface Using Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy" C. R. Romero, H. J. Moore, T. R. Lee and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 240.

(4) "Alkanethiol Monolayers at Reduced and Oxidized Zinc Surfaces with Corrosion Protection: A Sum Frequency Generation and Electrochemistry Investigation" H. P. Zhang and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 24062.

(5) "Characterization of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium and its Derivatives at the Liquid/quartz Interface using Sum Frequency Generation" Romero, C. R.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 6213.

(6) "Sum Frequency Generation and Electrochemical Measurements of 5-Methylbenzotriazole on Copper, Gold and Platinum Electrodes" C. Romero and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 11936.

(7) "Sum Frequency Generation on the Surface of Water/Room-Temperture Ionic Liquid Mixtures" Rivera-Rubero, S.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 110, 15499.

(8) "Surface Characterization of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-based Ionic Liquids, [BMIM][X], X= Br-, I-, PF6-, BF4-, (CF3SO2)2N-, SCN-, CH3SO3-, CH3SO4-, or (CN)2N- by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy" Rivera-Rubero, S.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 4756.

(9) "Sum Frequency Generation Imaging of CO on Platinum Surfaces" K. A. Cimatu and S. Baldelli J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 16016.

(10) "Sum Frequency Generation Microscopy of Microcontact-Printed Mixed Self-Assembled Monolayers" Cimatu, K. C.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 1807.

(11) "Surface Alignment of the N-Octadecylazatriquinacenium Cation as Determined by Sum Frequency Generation on the Surface of H2O and D2O" S. Baldelli, M. Mascal and J. C. Bertran Chem. Phys. Lett. 2006, 427, 72.

(12) "Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy and Double Layer Capacitance Studies of the 1-butyl 3-Methylimidazolium Dicyanamide - Platinum Interface." C. Aliaga and S. Baldelli J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 18481.

(13) "Preparation of Alkanethiol Monolayers on Mild Steel Surfaces Studied with Sum Frequency Generation and Electrochemistry" Zhang, H.; Romero, C. R.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 15520.

(14) "A Sum Frequency Generation Study of Acetic Acid at the Air/water Interface 1. : Speciation at the Surface of Acetic Acid/Water Mixtures" Tyrode, E.; Rutland, M.; Johnson, M.; Leygraf, C.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys . Chem. B 2005, 109, 321.

(15) "A Sum Frequency Generation Study of Acetic Acid at the Air/water Interface 2. : Orientation of Acetic Acid at the Gas-Liquid Interface" Johnson, M.; Leygraf, C.; Tyrode, E.; Rutland, M.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B. 2005, 109, 329.

(16) "Probing Electric Fields at the Ionic Liquid-Electrode Interface Using Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy and Electrochemistry" Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 13049.

(17) "Surface Spectroscopy of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids on a Platinum Electrode: A Sum Frequency Generation Study" Rivera-Rubero, S.; Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 15133.

(18) "Influence of Water on the Surface of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids" Rivera-Rubero, S.; Baldelli, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 11788.

(19) "Structure of the Glycerol Liquid/Vapor Interface Studied by Sum-Frequency Vibrational Spectroscopy" Oh-E, M.; Yokoyama, H.; Baldelli, S. Appl. Phys Lett. 2004, 84, 4965.

(20) "Influence of Water on the Orientation of Cations at the Surface of a Room Temperature Ionic Liquid Studied with Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy" Baldelli, S. J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 6148.

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