Kate Queeney is a physical chemist who specializes in the chemistry that takes place on solid surfaces. Her lab is exploring the combined effects of surface chemistry and surface nanotopography on the nucleation of biofilms on silicon­based substrates. One part of this project focuses on developing robust and flexible ways to simultaneously vary both these surface properties, using an aqueous process discovered in her lab to create regular arrays of nanoscale features on hydrogen­terminated silicon. A second part of the project, undertaken in collaboration with Professor of Biological Sciences Rob Dorit, is examining the nucleation of biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on these surfaces to see if and how this organism is sensitive to the underlying surface. Queeney and her students are also interested in optimizing experimental techniques to characterize the absorption of biomolecules on these nanoscale features.

Selected Publications

*denotes Smith undergraduate co­author

Zhang, J.*, Huang, J.*, Say, C. T.*, Dorit, R. L., Queeney, K. T., "Deconvoluting the effects of surface chemistry and nanoscale topography: Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm nucleation on Si-based substrates," J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2018, 519, 203-213.

Zhuhovitsky, A. V.; Mavrost, M. G.; Queeney, K. T.; Wu, T.; Van Voorhis, T. Johnson, J. A., “Reactions of Persistent Carbenes with Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon Surfaces, “ J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138 (27), 8639-8652.

Kate Queeney, “Flip Turns with Students,” Liberal Education 2014, 100 (1),

Say,* C., Queeney, K.T., "Chemical Functionalization of Water­Etched Silicon," Nanoscale Pattern Formation, edited by E. Chason, R. Cuerno, J. Gray, K.­-H. Heinig (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Volume 1228E, Warrendale, PA, 2010), 1228­-KK05­-34.

Kulkarni, M,* Green, S. K.,* Shea, C.,* Queeney, K. T., "Role of Etching in Aqueous Oxidation of Hydrogen­Terminated Si(100)," The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009, 113, 10206­-10214.

Faggin, M. F., Green, S. K.,* Clark, I. T., Queeney, K. T., Hines, M. A., "Production of Highly Homogeneous Si(100) Surfaces by H2O Etching: Surface Morphology and the Role of Strain," Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2006, 128, 11455­-11462.

Herzig­ Marx, R.,* Queeney, K. T., Jackman, R. J., Schmidt, M. A., Jensen, K. F., "Infrared Spectroscopy for Chemically Specific Detection in Silicon­based Microreactors," Analytical Chemistry, 2004, 76(21), 6476­-6483.