Dr. Dale Teeters Office:  Keplinger M-263a Phone:  (918) 631-3147 E-mail:  dale-teeters@utulsa.edu Educational History: Ph.D. University of Oklahoma Areas of Interest: Physical Chemistry Polymer & Surface Chemistry Nanobatteries, Nanotechnology Research Interests: Studies of Molecular Protective Films at the Lithium/Polymer Electrolyte Interface During the past 15 years, interest in solid polymeric materials which exhibit appreciable ionic conductivity has steadily increased. The systems which have been most widely studied are polylethers with the general formula (-C-C-0-)n, complexed with lithium, sodium, or potassium salts of low lattice energy. The anions in these salts are usually thiocyanate SCN-, triflate CF3S03-, iodide I-, and perchlorate C104-. These complexes have ionic conductivities in the range of 10-5 - 10-4 S cm-1 and consequently have been investigated for use in a variety of applications such as batteries, electrochromic displays and windows, solid state photo-electrochemical cells and sensors. Recently an electrochemical transistor has been made using a polymer electrolyte. Although the mechanism of ion conduction through the bulk matrix of the polymer has received much attention, it has become increasingly obvious that the electrochemical behavior at the electrode-electrolyte interface plays a major role in determining the critical operating parameters of a device, whether the device is a high energy density battery, a fuel cell, or a sensor. It has been shown that with time interfacial impedance in lithium/polymer electrolytes systems can grow until it is significantly larger than the bulk resistance. Therefore methods of minimizing certain reactions at the interface are advantageous to cell development. The work that undergraduates will be conducting is concerned with the formation of thin layers or "films" at the electrode/polymer electrolyte interface. These molecular films will be formed by the orientation of surface active agents introduced into the polymer electrolyte. Preliminary work in our laboratory has shown that these molecular level films do prevent interfacial reactions detrimental to battery performance. Students will prepare films with surfactant layers at the surface and actually make lithium polymer batteries that will be the subject of electrochemical recycling studies. This project exposes the students to topics in polymer chemistry, surface chemistry, and electrochemistry. The project is also demonstrates to student how chemistry can be used to develop materials that can be used for important commercial applications such as batteries. Modifications of Printing Inks for Enhanced Plastic Film Recycling In the mid 1980s the amount of plastic packaging film coated with ink was estimated to be 3 billion pounds. If on the average one assumes one complete-coverage layer of printed ink on the film, the ink used would total more than 500 million pounds. These values are much higher for the mid 1990s and pose an ever increasing problem of dealing with plastic film waste. Ideally one would like to remove the ink from the films so that the plastic could be recycled into high quality films for reuse. However, the removal of the ink from the films is contrary to the desired strong ink adhesion that all commercial plastic film printers desire. This undergraduate research project is concerned with the modification of printing inks to make them more amenable to removal from plastic packaging films and studying the basic surface science behind printing ink adhesion. One of the ways that inks could be modified to change their adhesion properties is by the addition of other additives that will not drastically affect the ink's ability to adhere to the plastic surface or other desired properties, but will allow for better removal of inks from packaging film when recycling. We are presently investigating the addition of microcrystalline waxes with polar end-groups. Previous work that we have done indicates that the addition of very small amounts of these types of polar end-capped waxes can drastically change the wetting behavior of non-impact inks. Likewise they should change the wetting properties, and hence adhesion properties, of the inks used in plastic film printing. With the assistance of Kimberly-Clark, our industrial collaborator on this project, inks containing various end-capped waxes and perhaps other special additives to promote deinking will be formulated. Films will be printed with these inks either at Kimberly Clark with hand printing systems at The University of Tulsa. The ability to remove these inks will be tested at The University of Tulsa. Ink surface tension measurements and ink/film wetting tests will be conducted at the University of Tulsa to determine the surface chemistry behavior that best promotes deinking. At the same time affects of the end-capped waxes on the desired properties of the inks will be measured. These test will make certain that the modified inks still have the necessary properties for the printing industry. This project has the added benefit of allowing student to work with researchers from industry on an applied project involving recycling technology and at the same time gain experience in basic surface chemistry research.