A theoretical model for the initial step of
detonation has been published with my long-time collaborator, Prof. Tadeusz
Luty of the Technical University of Wroclaw. This model has produced a more
comprehensive view of the initial fate of mechanical energy in chemical processes
and has led to an active collaboration with Prof. Henk Viljoen of the UNL
Department of Chemical Engineering who has produced a meso- to macroscopic
model of detonation that complements the microscopic model nicely.”
These two research groups are pursuing
a more comprehensive theory of the initial phase of detonation that is applicable
on all scales. The experimental component of these studies involve the measurement
of the elastic properties of crystals of explosive materials by Brillouin
scattering, determination of the optical vibrational modes of these systems
using Raman scattering and infra-red spectroscopy, and determination of their
strain Grueneisen parameters through piezomodulated Raman scattering spectroscopy,
a technique developed in the Eckhardt laboratory.
Prof. Eckhardt has twice been an invited
speaker at recent meetings of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists,
because of the relevance of his research to the processing of drugs, e.g.
forming tablets.
A long-standing area of research interest
of Prof. Eckhardt’s group has been in monolayers of organic films. A
quite old but important problem is being able to predict which of the possible
230 crystals a given material will form. The approach of the Eckhardt group
is to investigate the problem in two dimensions where only 17 crystal forms
are possible. These studies, mainly based on is otherm measurements and imaging
by atomic force microscopy, have produced extensive and novel results, one
of which, the separation of twodimensional chiral phases, was published in
Nature with Prof. James Takacs of UNL who was responsible for producing the
molecule that formed this novel film. Recently, Professors Luty and Eckhardt
have published an extensive theoretical model, based on solid-state concepts,
that offers a detailed explanation of the phase behavior of simple monolayer
films. Collaboration with both Professors Dussault and Takacs in the UNL Department
of Chemistry has lead to the development of rather unique monolayer films
that promise interesting tribological properties. A new method for reliable
measurement of relative friction coefficients of monolayer films has been
published.“
A new research area is involved with developing
a new class of organic ferroelectric materials, both polymeric and crystalline.
Another new area of research activity focuses on inclusion compounds, solids
where there are regular arrays of large voids, essentially molecular cages,
in which other molecules, guests, can be contained,” Prof. Eckhardt
said.
“My laboratory is, perhaps, the
only one where such measurements can be routinely measured on very low symmetry
systems,” Prof. Eckhardt added, “A drawback of such systems is
lack of robustness, but for nanoscale applications this is less troublesome
and the potential for use of such molecules in “fine tuning” materials
properties is high.”
(Dec. 2003)
