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Will Medlin

Assistant Professor, Graduate Director and C2B2 Site Director

DLC 1B09
303-492-2418
will.medlin@colorado.edu

Education:

• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware (2001)
• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Clemson University (1996)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Sandia National Laboratories (2001-2002)

Awards:

• College of Engineering and Applied Science Junior Faculty Award, 2006
• Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2006
• Patten Fellowship, 2005-present
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2004
• Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2004
• Junior Faculty Development Award, University of Colorado, 2004
• Allan P. Colburn Prize for Outstanding Dissertation in the Mathematical Sciences and Engineering, University of Delaware, 2001
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1997-2000

Selected Publications:

D.C. Kershner, J.W. Medlin, “Adsorption and Decomposition of Silane on Pd(111)”, Surface Science 602 (2008) 693-701.

D.C. Kershner, J.W. Medlin, “Adsorption and Reaction of Silane and Oxygen on Pd(111)”, Surface Science 602 (2008) 786-794.

M.P. Hyman, J.W. Medlin, “The Effects of Electronic Structure Modifications on the Adsorption of Oxygen Reduction Reaction Intermediates on Model Pt(111)-Alloy Surfaces”, Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2007) C 111 (2007) 17052-17060.

M.P. Hyman, J.W. Medlin, “A Density Functional Theory Study of H2S Decomposition on the (111) Surfaces of Model Pd-alloys”, Surface Science (2007) 601 (2007) 5383-5394.

Research Interest:

Our research interest is in the study of reactions at solid surfaces. These reactions are important in a number of applications, including solid state chemical sensing, heterogeneous catalysis, and microelectronics processing. Current projects focus on understanding the molecular-level origins of observed surface reaction phenomena that are important in chemical sensing and hydrogen fuel cell catalysis. Our goal is to use this understanding to design new materials for a variety of applications.

Our efforts to research various applications are united by a common theme: quantum chemical calculations are used in direct combination with experimental techniques to obtain a detailed understanding of chemical and physical phenomena at solid surfaces. With the rapidly expanding speed of modern computers, these kinds of combined experimental/theoretical studies are poised to have a major impact on all branches of science and engineering research. We are not a “pure theory” group, but rather use first principles calculations to interpret the results of a variety of characterization techniques.

Our research focuses on the following main areas:

• Sulfur tolerance of palladium alloy membranes
• MIS sensor development
• Model studies of metal-SiO2 interfaces
• Mechanism of electrocatalytic oxygen reduction
• Surface reactivity of bifunctional molecules