J. Woods Halley

Professor Halley's group studies various phenomena at interfaces between materials and their phases. Experimental, theoretical and simulation studies are carried out. Specifically there are three main emphases within this broad area:

1) Theoretical and simulation studies of electrode-electrode interfaces, including the dynamics of molecules during the electron transfer to or from electrodes, and the study of the electronic structure of oxides and metals at the electrode-electrolyte interface using self-consistent tight binding molecular dynamics as well as ab initio place wave techniques. Recently these studies have been extended to nanophase systems.

2)Solvation, transport and ion pairing in numerical molecular dynamics methods. These include polymeric systems of relevance to batteries and fuel cells.

3) Theory, simulation and experimental studies of the interaction of helium four vapor with liquid superfluid helium four are employed to elucidate the nature of superfluidity, Bose Einstein condensation and low temperature gas dynamics.

The group collaborates extensively with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and 3M corporation in various of these projects. The group develops its own innovative simulation methods and codes for these studies.