Using a number of solid-state NMR methods, we are able to take both simple and more complex approaches to the solution of difficult problems of national importance. Recently, we have applied solid-state NMR studies to problems in materials and environmental sciences, especially focusing on the nature of reactive sites on surfaces. Where sensitivity concerns are present, the use of nuclides such as phosphorus-31 and fluorine-19 (or even carbon-13 in enriched probe molecules) and the employment/exploitation of methods such as "surface-selective" cross-polarization have provided quantification and identification of reactive sites as well as structural details about bound states or intermediates. These ideas and methods can then be used to probe structure, dynamics, and/or kinetics, and examples will be provided where the exceptional information content of NMR experiments proves critical in addressing and solving chemical problems. An introduction to the solid-state NMR capabilities at the EMSL facility at PNNL, where the speaker has recently moved, will also be included.

Brief Biography:  Dr. Karl T. Mueller received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. In 1985 and 1986, he studied as a Churchill Scholar at Cambridge University. After spending a year as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Mueller joined the faculty at Penn State University in 1993, where he advanced to the rank of Professor of Chemistry. In 2010, he joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Laboratory Fellow and became the Science Lead for Magnetic Resonance at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Washington State University. His studies utilize novel methods in solid-state NMR to understand complex materials systems that are important in materials science, energy sciences, and environmental chemistry.

Host:  Lisa Klein