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Nuclear physics technique helps companies detect dangerous compound

National Science Foundation

Professor Graham Peaslee and Hope Chemistry and Physics students are identifying toxic chemicals in consumer products using Particle Induced Gamma Emission (PIGE).   Read more…

David Lunderberg and Evelyn Ritter in the Hope HIBAL Facility

Congratulations Kiley Spirito (2013 graduate)

Kiley at MTU

Kiley Spirito has had a busy 2 years since graduating from Hope! In May 2015, she completed her masters degree in Physics at Michigan Tech, where she won the won the Outstanding Teaching Award.  She has just begun a new position as Visiting Faculty in Physics at Weber State University, where she will be teaching introductory physics laboratories.

Congratulations Kiley!

Andrew Johnson – 2015

WEBJohnsonImpact of the Ferroelectric Polarization State on Conductivity Through Thin-film SrTiO3/Si Heterostructures

Research Advisor: Dr. Joshua Veazey

Certain thin-film ferroelectric oxide-semiconductor heterostructures allow for reversible, local changes in conductivity, with potential applications including non-volatile memory devices. Force microscopy techniques were used to investigate the impact of the ferroelectric polarization state on local conductive properties of ferroelectric SrTiO3 (STO) thin films deposited by molecular beam epitaxy onto both p- and n-type Si(001) substrates. Under certain conditions, local current voltage (I-V) curves exhibited pronounced hysteresis under forward bias. These characteristics are not, however, well-correlated with the polarization state of the ferroelectric STO. Alternative explanations for the current hysteresis are presented.

This work was generously supported by the Hope College Department of Physics Frissel Research Fund, and the National Science Foundation under NSF-MRI Grant No. CHE-1126462. Portions of this work were conducted in the CMP group facilities at Michigan State University; we would like to gratefully acknowledge R. Loloee and the MSU physics department for their support.

Margaret Dickinson – 2015

WEBDickinson2Development of a Novel Method to Measure Per- and Polyfluoralkyl Substances in Paper and Textiles

Research Advisor: Dr. Paul DeYoung and Dr. Graham Peaslee

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are chemical compounds used as powerful, long-lived surfactants in many consumer products. Because of the environmental persistence of PFASs, their ability to bioaccumulate, and their suspected human toxicity, new methods to identify these chemicals in consumer products are needed. Current techniques to measure PFASs involve liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) which requires significant time and expense per sample for analysis. Particle Induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy is an established ion beam analysis method used to measure total fluorine concentrations in various objects, typically sediments and minerals. PIGE utilizes a beam of accelerated protons to excite 19F nuclei in a sample. As these nuclei return to their ground state, they emit characteristic gamma rays that can be used to identify and quantify the total fluorine content in a sample. In this study, paper and textile samples were analyzed with LC-MS/MS, paired with the total oxidizable precursor (TOP) assay, and with PIGE. A comparison of the results reveals that PIGE is an effective tool to determine the presence or absence of PFASs added to these consumer products. Limits of detection and the application of this method for rapid, non-destructive screening for certain consumer products were explored.

This work is made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF-RUI 1306074), the Department of Energy (DE-SC0007352), and the Hope College Department of Physics Guess Research Fund.