History

Our basic area of expertise here at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is in colloid and surface chemistry. From the mid 70’s to mid 80’s, we studied the fundamental and practical aspects of interfacial chemistry between hydrous oxides and aqueous solutions including the ability of these oxide adsorbents to interact with protolyzable anions such as arsenate and phosphate. As a result of this research, we discovered that these specifically adsorbed anions could bind particles together in a highly ordered array. This lead us to materials having controlled porosities and chemistries. Since then, we have developed competence at making thin-films and membranes whose pore size is less than twenty angstroms in diameter. These thin-film materials are now being employed in wide variety of applications which comprise our environmental technology platform.

Over the years, Isabel and I have had the good fortune to work with several excellent staff members including Dr. Walter Zeltner, Dr. Dean Tompkins, Louise Tortorelli and Sue Machesky as well as wonderful professional colleagues including Profs. Joe Delfino, Bill Sonzogni and especially the other Two A’s in our program, Dave Armstrong and Anders Andren. These members of our academic staff have certainly made our job a true delight.