Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College

Directory

  • People

    • Kate Plass

    Assistant Professor of Chemistry
    Chemistry
    717-291-4001
    Hackman
    Office: HAC-413
    Jump To:
    Education Research Publications Course Information

    Education

    B.S. Wayne State University, 2001
    Ph.D. University of Michigan, 2006

    Research Interests

    I am interested in the relationships between surface and solid-state properties of materials and their technologically important behavior. The size and composition of semiconductor particles affects how they absorb light and conduct electrical charge, and we use this to design particles effective in solar energy conversion devices. We also explore how the self-assembly of organic molecules into ordered monolayers at the liquid/solid interface influences solution and surface phenomena. This research is interdisciplinary and problem-focused, using techniques and models traditional to organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry, as well as physics and geology. Learn more about interdisciplinary materials research at F&M at our Materials Studies website: www.fandm.edu/materials-studies

    Publications

    2003 to Present

    Undergraduate coauthor bold.

    Machani, T.; Rossi, D. P.; Golden, B. J.; Jones, E. C.; Lotfipour, M.; Plass, K. E. “Synthesis of monoclinic and tetragonal chalcocite nanoparticles by iron-induced stabilization”, Chem. Mater, 2011, 23, 5491-5495.

    Wiltrout, A. M.; Freymeyer, N. J.; Machani, T.; Rossi, D. P.; Plass, K. E. “Phase-Selective Synthesis of Bornite Nanoparticles”, J. Mater. Chem, 2011, 21, 19286-19292.

    Lotfipour, M.; Machani, T.; Rossi, D. P.; Plass, K. E. “alpha-Chalcocite Nanoparticle Synthesis and Stability”, Chem. Mater., 2011, 23, 3032-3038.

    Plass, K.E.; Filler, M.A.; Spurgeon, J.M.; Kayes, B.M.; Maldonado, S.; Atwater, H.; Lewis, N.S. "Flexible Polymer-Embedded Silicon Wire Arrays" Adv. Mater. 2009, 21, 325-328.  Patent awarded.

    Spurgeon, J.M.; Plass, K.E.; Kayes, B.M.; Maldonado, S.; Atwater, H.; Lewis, N.S. "Repeated epitaxial growth and transfer of arrays of patterned, vertically aligned, crystalline Si wires from a single Si(111) substrate" App. Phys. Lett. 2008, 93, 032112. Patent awarded.

    Kayes, B.M.; Filler, M.A.; Henry, M.D.; Maiolo III, J.R.; Kelzenberg, M.D.; Putnam, M.C.; Spurgeon, J.M.; Plass, K.E.; Lewis, N.S.; Atwater, H.A. "Radial p-n Junction Si Wire Array Solar Cells" Proceedings of the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists 2008.

    Plass, K.E.; Liu, X.; Brunschwig, B. S.; Lewis, N.S. "Passivation and Secondary Functionalization of Allyl-Terminated Si(111) Surfaces" Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 2228-2233.

    Plass, K.E.; Engle, K.M.; Matzger, A.J. "Contrasting Two- and Three-Dimensional Crystal Properties of Isomeric Dialkyl Phthalates" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 15211-15217.

    Maldonado, S.; Plass, K.E.; Knapp, D.W.; Lewis, N.S. "Electrical Properties of Junctions Between Hg and Si(111) Surfaces Functionalized with Short Chain Alkyls" J. Phys. Chem. C  2007, 111, 17690-17699.

    Plass, K.E.; Grzesiak, A.L.; Matzger, A.J. "Molecular Packing and Symmetry of Two-Dimensional Crystals" Acc. Chem. Res. 2006, 40, 287-293.

    Plass, K.E.; Matzger, A.J. "Molecule-Based Nanopatterning with Expanded Periodicity" Poly. Mater. Sci. Eng. 2006, 95, 923-924.

    Plass, K.E.; Matzger, A.J. "Spatial and Temporal Control Over Adsorption from Multicomponent Solutions" Chem. Comm. 2006, 33, 3486-3488. Featured on the cover.

    Furukawa, H.; Kim, J.; Plass, K.E.; Yaghi, O.M. "Crystal Structure, Dissolution, and Deposition of a 5 nm Functionalized Metal–Organic Great Rhombicuboctahedron" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 8398-8399.

    Plass, K.E.; Engle, K.M.; Cychosz, K.A.; Matzger, A.J. "Large-periodicity Two-Dimensional Crystals by Cocrystallization" Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 1178-1183.

    Kim, K.; Plass, K.E.; Matzger, A.J. "Structure of and Competitive Adsorption in Alkyl Dicarbamate Two-Dimensional Crystals" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 4879-4887.

    Kim, K.; Plass, K.E.; Matzger, A.J. "Conformational Pseudopolymorphism and Orientational Disorder in Two-Dimensional Alkyl Carbamate Crystals" Langmuir 2005, 21, 647-655.

    Plass, K.E.; Kim, K.; Matzger, A.J. "Two-Dimensional Crystallization: Self-Assembly, Pseudopolymorphism, and Symmetry Independent Molecules" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 9042-9053.

    Rowe, M.P.; Plass, K.E.; Kim, K.; Kurdak, Ç.; Zellers, E.T.; Matzger, A.J. "Single-Phase Synthesis of Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles" Chem. Mater. 2004, 16, 3513-3517.

    Kim, K.; Plass, K.E.; Matzger, A.J. "Kinetic and Thermodynamic Forms of a Two-Dimensional Crystal" Langmuir 2003, 19, 7149-7152. Featured on the cover.

    Course Information

    Dr. Plass teaches the following courses:
       CHM 111 - General Chemistry I
       CHM 222 - Inorganic Chemistry