Paul Fenter

Group Leader, Interfacial Processes
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue
CHM 200, R133A
Argonne, IL 60439
Phone: 630-252-7053; Fax: 630-252-7415
E-mail: fenter@anl.gov

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (Physics) University of Pennsylvania, 1990
(Prof. Torgny Gustafsson, thesis advisor)

B.S. (Physics) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1984
(Magna cum Laude), (Prof. Toh-Ming Lu, thesis advisor)

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

American Physical Society, American Chemical Society,
Geochemical Society

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Atomic and molecular scale phenomena at solid-liquid interfaces, surfaces and
other complex interfaces, with an emphasis on in-situ measurements. Specific
areas of interest include:

• structure of mineral-water interfaces
• adsorption/association of ions at charged interfaces
  (electrical double-layer structure)
• structure and growth of organic thin-film structures
• real-time studies of mineral growth and dissolution

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES

A powerful set of synchrotron-based X-ray tools are used to achieve these goals
making use of the unique characteristics of the Advanced Photon Source. These
include high-resolution X-ray scattering (X-ray reflectivity, grazing incidence X-ray
scattering), X-ray standing waves, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Extension of these approaches to accommodate the structural/chemical complexities
of the mineral-water interface have led to the development of:

• X-ray standing wave imaging for the direct imaging of ion site distributions
• Resonant anomalous X-ray reflectivity to simultaneously probe the
  coupled geometric and spectroscopic structures of the mineral-water interface.

The development of additional elemental, spectroscopic, and phase sensitivities
for these techniques is underway.

Full Publication List