Department of Applied Chemistry
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Curtin Department of Applied Chemistry

Professor Roland De Marco

BAppSc (RMIT), MSc (RMIT), PhD (LaT), MRACI, CChem

Position: Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Room Number: 314-123A

Telephone Number: +61 8 9266 7322

Fax: +61 8 9266 2602

Email

Field of interest
Surface chemistry and electrochemistry applied to power sources, chemical sensors, biosensors, novel electrochemical materials and corrosion studies.

Biosensing at modified electrode surfaces - Analyst Coverpage

Personal insights into the life of a materials scientist - NACE Materials Performance

Biography

Teaching Activities

Research Activities

Roland De Marco’s current research interests fit into the following areas: surface science applied to electrochemical systems; electrochemistry; and electroanalytical chemistry. Within these major themes, he engages in pure and applied research on a variety of electrochemical systems. Brief descriptions of his research areas are presented below:

Surface Science of Electrode Materials

The focus of this work has been the elucidation of the mechanistic chemistry of a variety of technologically important electrochemical systems (e.g., ion-selective electrodes, carbon fuel cells, molecule-based magnets, biosensors, etc.) using a wide range of electrode kinetic and materials science characterization techniques, along with the application of these technologies to real-life problems in science and engineering. This research has strong links with national and international laboratories, viz., the secondary ion mass spectrometry, small angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectometry laboratories at ANSTO, the Australian Synchrotron laboratory in Japan, the ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials at The University of Queensland, the Bond Electrochemistry Research Group at Monash University, the Chemical Sensors Group at ETH Zürich, and the Chemical Sensors Group at Purdue University.

The Group recently pioneered an in-situ synchrotron radiation / grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (SR-GIXRD) technique, and coupled it to the powerful electrode kinetic technique, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), for elucidation of the mechanistic chemistry of ion-selective electrodes, steel corrosion systems, electrochemically oxidized pyrite, and stainless steel electrodes scaled by barium sulfate.

Recently, we have developed a novel in-situ neutron reflectometry capability to enable studies of thin films at electrode surfaces and interfaces.  Furthermore, we are presently exploring the ability to tune the properties of molecularly thin film electrochemical materials using quantum confinement effects.

Roland De Marco has forged a collaboration with Ernö Pretsch at ETH and Eric Bakker at Purdue University to undertake fundamental surface science research on polymeric ion sensors, as well as Alan Bond at Monash University to undertake in-situ materials characterization research on novel molecule-based magnetic materials.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) using Ion-Selective Modified Tips

AFM is a flexible research tool that permits atomic resolution imaging of substrates, either in a fluid, air or vacuum.  Although AFM is a popular research tool that is able to provide detailed information about the substrate such as topography, friction and adhesion, it lacks chemical specificity and may not be used to probe directly specific chemical groups pertaining to a chemical event (e.g., ion transportation through an ion channel, DNA interactions on a biosensor, lithium intercalation in a battery electrode, etc.).

This research aims to develop an innovative approach for chemically modified AFM using miniaturized ion-selective electrode tips, with a view to establishing a new chemically selective imaging technique for materials science.

Oil Field Corrosion

This research, which is affiliated with the Western Australian Corrosion Research Group at Curtin, aims to elucidate a quantitative structure/activity relationship for oil field corrosion inhibitors by correlating the adsorption and molecular properties of inhibitors that have been determined using electrochemical, computational chemistry and surface analysis techniques. Furthermore, the new knowledge arising from this fundamental research is being used to develop and trial new and improved corrosion inhibitors.

Manganese Dioxide Batteries

In conjunction with Pritam Singh at Murdoch University, an innovative approach based on lithium intercalation into the manganese dioxide host structure in aqueous lithium hydroxide has been developed to produce a reversible manganese dioxide alkali battery.

Selected Publications

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