Mazur, Ursula

Research

Professor Ursula Mazur joined the physical chemistry faculty at WSU in 1982, after her tenure as a postdoctoral associate in the department. She completed her graduate studies at the University of Michigan and holds an undergraduate degree from Wayne State University. Prior to her graduate work, she spent two years as a research associate at the Detroit Institute for Cancer Research. She is the past chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at WSU. She is a member of the Editorial Board of ISRN Physical Chemistry and a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  She holds a Westinghouse Distinguished Professorship  in Materials Science and Engineering.  Professor Mazur is nationally and internationally recognized for her pioneering and innovative work in tunneling spectroscopy and in STM based imaging and orbital mediated tunneling through single molecules and molecular aggregate systems. She is also recognized for her work on  structure – function relationship of photosensing ionic organic materials.

We use a combination of experimental and computational methods to study the molecular-scale chemical, electronic, and material properties of 1, 2 and 3-D nanostructured aggregates fabricated from organic and metal-organic complexes. Our goal is to elucidate the phenomena and principles leading to molecular ordering and behavior at nanometer length-scales, and to correlate these principles with the photophysical properties (including optical absorption, energy transfer, and energy trapping) of the nanostructures. By understanding the fundamentals of the structure – function relationship we can tune the opto-electronic properties of these nanostructures for a particular application (e.g. light harvesting, molecular recognition, and catalysis). We apply the newest tools and techniques of nanometer-scale science, including atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), helium ion microscopy (HIM), micro X-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), optical spectroscopy, and modeling calculations to study the structure, dynamics, and energetics of molecular assemblies at microscopic length scales.

Publications

• U. Mazur, K. W.  Hipps, J. R. Eskelsen and M. Adinehnia. Functional Porphyrin Nanostructures for Molecular Electronics: Structural, Mechanical, and Electronic Properties of Self-Assembled Ionic Metal-Free Porphyrins. (Invited) In Handbook of Porphyrin Science. Kadish, K.M; Smith, K.M.; Guilard, R. eds.  2016, 40, 69-103.
• G. Nandi, B.r Chilukuri, K. W. Hipps and U. Mazur. Surface directed reversible imidazole ligation to nickel(II) octaethylporphyrin at the solution/solid interface: a single molecule level study.  Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 20819-20829.
• Ashish Bhattarai, Kevin Marchbanks-Owens, Ursula Mazur, and K. W. Hipps. Influence of the Central Metal Ion on the Desorption Kinetics of a Porphyrin from the Solution/HOPG Interface. J. Phys. Chem. C 2016, 120, 18140−18150.
• M. van Zijll, B. Borders, U. Mazur and K. W. Hipps. Persistent Conductivity in TPyP:TSPP Organic Nanorods Induced by Ion Bombardment. J. Phys. Chem. C 2016, 120, 14962−14968.
• U. Mazur and K. W. Hipps. Kinetic and Thermodynamic Processes of Organic Species at the Solution Solid Interface:  The view through an STM.  (Invited)  Chem.Comm. 2015, 51, 4737-4749.
• A. Bhattari, u. Mazur and K.W. Hipps.  Desorption Kinetics and Activation Energy for Cobalt Octaethylporphyrin from Graphite at the Phenyloctane Solution-Graphite Interface:  An STM Study. J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119,9386–9394.
• J. R. Eskelsen,  K. J. Phillips,  K. W. Hipps, and U.Mazur.  Hyperbranched Crystalline Nanostructure Produced from Ionic π-Conjugated Molecules.   Chem. Comm. 2015, 51, 2663-2666.
•  A. Bhattari, u. Mazurand K.W. Hipps.  A Single Molecule Level Study of the Temperature Dependent Kinetics for the Formation of Metal Porphyrin Monolayers on Au(111) from Solution.  J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 2014 136 (5), 2142–2148.
•  B.Chilukuri, U.Mazur, and K. W. Hipps. Effect of Dispersion on Surface Interactions of Cobalt(II) Octaethylporphyrin Monolayer on Au(111) and HOPG(0001) Substrates: A Comparative First Principles Study. PhysChemChemPhys  2014,16, 14096-14107.
• A. Jahanbekam, U. Mazur, and K. W. Hipps. A New Variable Temperature Solution-Solid Interface Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 2014, 85, 103701-103707.
• M. Adinehnia, U. Mazur, K.W. Hipps. Predicting the Size Distribution in Crystallization of TSPP: TMPyP Binary Porphyrin Nanostructures in a Batch Desupersaturation Experiment.  Crystal Growth & Design 2014, 14, 6599−6606.
• J.R Eskelsen, Y.Qi, S. Schneider-Pollack, S. Schmitt, K.W. Hipps, and U. Mazur. Correlating elastic properties and molecular organization of an ionic organic nanostructure. Nanoscale 2014, 6, 316–327
• A. Jahanbekam, S. Vorpahl, U. Mazur, K.W.  Hipps, K. W. Temperature Stability of Three Commensurate Surface Structures of Coronene Adsorbed on Au(111) from Heptanoic Acid in the 0 to 60 °C Range. J. Phys. Chem. C 2013, 117, 2914−2919.
• B. A. Friesen, A. Bhattari, U. Mazur and K. W. Hipps. Single Molecule Imaging of Oxygenation of Cobalt Octaethylporphyrin at the Solution/solid Interface: Thermodynamics from Microscopy. J. Am. Chem Soc. 2012, 134, 14897-14904. (cover art)
• K. W. Hipps and U. Mazur. Ellectron Affinity States of Metal Supported Phthalocyanines Measured by Tunneling Spectroscopy. J. Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines 2012, 16, 1-9.
• Y. Qi, J. R. Eskelsen, U. Mazur, and K. W. Hipps. Fabrication of Graphene with CuO by Chemical Vapor Deposition. Langmuir 2012, 28, 3489-3493.
• Y. Qui, U. Mazur, and K. W. Hipps. Charge Transfer Induced Chemical Reaction of Tetracyano-p-quinodimethane Adsorbed on Graphene. RSC Advanves 2012, 2, 10579-10584.
• K. R. A. Nishida, B. Wiggins, K. W. Hipps, and U. Mazur. Structural and Electronic Properties of Columnar Supramolecular Assemblies Formed from Ionic Metal-Free Phthalocyanine on Au(111). J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 16305–16314.
• K. R. A. Nishida, B. Wiggins,K. W. Hipps, and U. Mazur. Aggregation of Sulfonated Free-Base Phthalocyanine on Gold as a Function of Solution pH. J. Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines 2011, 15, 1-8.
• B. A. Friesen, B. Wiggins, J. L. McHale, K.W. Hipps, and U. Mazur. A Self-Assembled Two-Dimensional Zwitterionic Structure: H6TSPP Studies on Graphite. J. Phys. Chem. C. 2011,115, 3990-3999.