Research

Whilst the importance of the structure of mineral surfaces and their role in many important physicochemical processes are well known, for instance in the field of geochemistry as regards the origin of life and control of contaminants in soils and groundwater systems, numerous questions remain. The role of MISSION is to apply a multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation of the interaction of organic and biogenic molecules with particular attention devoted to the following topics

These key topics are a blend of fundamental investigations of mineral surface and biomolecule interaction, and the development of enabling state-of-the-art techniques. Alongside these novel techniques, an array of more established analytical techniques are being applied to each of the mineral/molecule systems.

Biomolecule adsorption has wide-ranging implications, from environmental pollution and biofouling, to biomedical applications (eg tissue repair and prostheses compatibility) and in nanostructuring - building molecular structures from the 'bottom-up'. For instance, in-situ imaging of single molecule adsorption on inert and active mineral surfaces, such as rutile and anatase, both forms of TiO2, would relate to the use of TiO2 in photocatalytic water or air purification. As another exemplar, MISSION EST Fellows are characterising the surface of haematite, Fe2O3, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); small organic molecules, such as progesterone, are being sorbed to the surface and then their decomposition in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light monitored directly with AFM. Using mica as a well-controlled model surface, AFM is being used to image in-situ single molecule adsorption in real-time. Complementary use of XPS and Raman spectroscopy is providing spectroscopic data on the essentially 2D structures, and geochemical modelling yields information on adsorbate-surface interactions. Well-characterised adsorbates are then being used to assemble more complex 3D structures. Graphite, a unique mineral comprising only of carbon, is being used as a model hydrophobic surface to compare with the other charged and hydrophilic surfaces.