Brian F. Woodfield
Office: C304A BNSN
Office Phone: 801-422-2093
Lab Phone: 801-422-9345
Email: bfwoodfield@chem.byu.edu
Office Hours
Education:
B.S., Brigham Young University (1986)
M.S., Brigham Young University (1988)
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley (1995)
NRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Naval Research Laboratory (1995-1996)
Associate Professor of Science, Southern Virginia College (1996-1997)
Research:
The Woodfield Lab Group studies industrially and technologically important materials.
Research Interests
- The study of superconducting, magnetic, nanocrystalline, or other technologically important materials using specific-heat measurements from as low as 0.5 K to 400 K. Current research projects are funded by the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and various private companies. The current research focus also includes the synthesis and characterization of a wide variety of alumina and titania catalyst supports and Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.
- Founder of Cosmas, Inc., a new startup company focused on the production of a wide variety of metal oxide and mixed metal oxide nanoparticles.
Teaching Interests
- The use of computer simulations of instructional laboratory experiences in introductory chemistry curricula.
- Creator and Project Director for Y Science Laboratories: A set of realistic and sophisticated simulations covering General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Physical Science, and now Biology. Funded in part by the Department of Education. These laboratory simulations are licensed to and distributed by Pearson Education for worldwide distribution. Current usage is approximately 1,000,000 students per year.
- Visit http://yscience.byu.edu for details.
Chemical Thermodynamics
While commercial specific heat apparatuses using relaxation methods exist, the Woodfield Lab's custom designed and built instruments are capable of accuracies and precisions approaching, and even exceeding, 0.1%. This type of accuracy and precision allows the Woodfield Lab to study a wide range of interesting and relevant topics in solid-state physics and chemical thermodynamics. Some of the topics Woodfield researchers have studied in the past include (1) the thermodynamic stability of nuclear waste materials, (2) zeolites, (3) negative thermal expansion materials and low energy vibrational modes, (4) frustrated magnets, (5) iron oxides and oxyhydroxides, (6) uranium metal, and (7) neutron detector materials. Shown below is an example of the Woodfield Lab's measurements on a bulk sample of MnO and a sample of the collosal magnetoresister La1-xSrxMnO3.
Currently, the Woodfield Lab Group's primary research interest is in the Energetics of Nanomaterials, which is funded by the Department of Energy. The Woodfield Lab's focus in this research project is to understand the fundamental driving forces governing the stability of materials as their particle sizes reach the nanoscale. Woodfield chemists have done extensive work on high quality samples of the TiO2 polymorphs of anatase and rutile with sizes of 7 nm and on the magnetic material CoO. More information can be found in the papers given in the publication list below.
Synthesis of Nanoparticles
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As part of the Woodfield Lab's nanoscale project, Woodfield researchers have recently developed an elegantly simple process that allows researchers to make a nearly unlimited array of well-defined inorganic nanoparticles that have controlled sizes from 1 nm to bulk. The particles are highly crystalline with well defined shapes (usually spherical but also rods), the Woodfield Lab can synthesize them with chemical and phase purities as high as 99.9999%. Researchers can control the particle size distribution to approximately ±10%; the Lab projects with confidence that it can make industrial size quantities with manufacturing costs significantly less than any other current technique. The types of particles the Woodfield Lab can produce are, in general, metal oxides, but the process allows the Lab to control the oxidation state so the Lab can make high, medium, and low oxidation state oxides and metals. Woodfield chemists can make oxides of all of the transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides, AND any stoichiometric combination of any number of these metals. Woodfield chemists can include group I and group II metals in combination with the transition metals. Consequently, the Woodfield Lab has the ability to make an almost innumerable array of nanomaterials (single metal and multi-metal) with well-controlled physical properties, purity, oxidation state, size and size distribution using a process that is fast, reliable, and inexpensive. Table 1 gives examples of some of the materials the Woodfield Lab has synthesized, and below are some representative TEM images for NiO, Y2O3, and CoO powders.
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TEM image of 8 nm Co0. Magnetic properties are equivalent to bulk materials. Bar 50 nm. |
High resolution TEM image of 13 nm Y2O3. Notice the rods are crystalline to the edge. Bar 10 nm |
TEM image of 3 nm NiO powders. Bar 5 nm. |
Fisher-Tropsch Catalysis
Beginning several years ago, Woodfield researchers have also created a Fisher Tropsch research focus in collaboration with the Catalysis Group in Chemical Engineering. Woodfield researchers have applied their proprietary solvent deficient precipitation method to synthesize a series of industrial viable and state of the art alumina catalyst supports and Fe and Co Fisher Tropsch catalysts. These supports and catalysts have tunable properties and perform better than any catalysts currently reported in the literature. The Woodfield Lab Group continues to focus its work on innovating in the catalysis area using itsproprietary solent deficient method.
Project Director, Y Science Laboratories
The Y Science set of virtual lab simulations published by Pearson Education. For more information on Virtual ChemLab, Virtual Physics, Virtual Physical Science, and Virtual Biology please visit http://yscience.byu.edu
Publications:
- 169 Scientific Papers.
- 291 Presentations at Professional Meetings, Seminars, or Workshops.
Representative Publications
J.L. Smith, K. Page, H.J. Kim, B. Campbell, J. Boerio-Goates, and B.F. Woodfield, "Novel synthesis and structural analysis of ferrihydrite", Accepted in Inorg. Chem. (2012).
Q. Shi, J. Boerio-Goates, K. Woodfield, M. Rytting, K. Pulispher, E.C. Spencer, N. Ross, A. Navrotsky, and B.F. Woodfield, "Heat Capacity Studies of Surfae Water Confined on Cassiterite (SnO2) Nanoparticles", Journal of Physical Chemistry C 116, 3910-3917 (2012).
C.L. Snow, S.J. Smith, B.E. Lang, Q. Shi, J. Boerio-Goates, B.F. Woodfield, and A. Navrotsky, "Heat Capacity Studies of the Iron Oxyhydroxides Akaganéite (β-FeOOH) and Lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH)", Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 43, 190-199 (2011).
C.L. Snow, Q. Shi, J. Boerio-Goates, and B.F. Woodfield, "Heat Capacity Studies of Nanocrystalline Magnetite (Fe3O4)", Journal of Physical Chemistry C 114, 21100-21108 (2010).
S.J. Smith, R. Stevens, S. Liu, G. Li, A. Navrotsky, J. Boerio-Goates, and B.F. Woodfield, "Heat capacities and thermodynamic functions of TiO2 anatase and rutile: Analysis of phase stability", American Mineralogist 94, 236-243 (2009).
J.C. Lashley, R. Stevens, M.K. Crawford, J. Boerio-Goates, B.F. Woodfield, Y. Qiu, J.R.D. Copley, and R.A. Fisher, "Specific Heats and Magnetic Susceptibilities of the Spinels GeNi2O4 and GeCo2O4 in Magnetic Fields", Physical Review B 78, 104406 (2008).
Click here to see full publication list
Recent Invited Presentations
B. F. Woodfield, "Implementing NGSS into the Science Curriculum Using Sophisticated Virtual Laboratories", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Princeton, NJ, October 2014.
B. F. Woodfield and J. Schliesser, "Plenary Lecture: The Power of Low Temperature Specific Heat to Do It All", Japanese Conference on Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis, Osaka, Japan, September 2014.
B. F. Woodfield and J. Schliesser, "Origin of the Linear Term and Gapped Debye Term in the Low Temperature Specific Heat of Non-Conducting Solids", International Symposium on Structural Thermodynamics, Osaka, Japan, September 2014.
B. F. Woodfield and J. Schliesser, "Origin of the Linear Term and Gapped Debye Term in the Low Temperature Specific Heat of Non-Conducting Solids", International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics, Durban, South Africa, August 2014.
B. F. Woodfield, "Implementing NGSS Using Pearson's Sophisticated Virtual Laboratory Technologies", NSTA National Meeting, Boston, MA, March 2014.
B. F. Woodfield, "Ideas on Implementing NGSS Using Pearson's Sophisticated Virtual Laboratory Program", Algonquin, IL School District, Algonquin, IL, March 2014.
B. F. Woodfield, "Ideas on Implementing NGSS Using Pearson's Sophisticated Virtual Laboratory Program", Tinsey Heights School District, Tinsey Heights, IL, March 2014.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Science Classroom", Montwood High School, El Paso, TX, November 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Science Classroom", Eastwood High School, El Paso, TX, November 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, C. L. Snow, K. Brunner, C. H. Bartholomew and W. E. Hecker, "Synthesis and Thermodynamic Properties of Ferrihydrite for Use as a Fisher-Tropsch Catalyst", Asian Thermophysical Property Conference, Jeju, Korea, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, B. Huang, R. E. Olsen and M. Khosravi, "Unpresedented thermal stability, pore volumes, and control of pore structures for alumina and titania catalyst supports", Energy Materials and Nanotechnology, Orlando, FL, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Science Classroom", Elgin, IL School District, Elgin, IL, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Science Classroom", Algonquin, IL School District, Algonquin, IL, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Teaching Chemistry Students How to Understand Modern Atomic Theory", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Princeton, NJ, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Sophisticated Virtual Laboratories for Chemistry, Physics, Physical Chemistry, and Biology", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Princeton, NJ, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Using a Set of Virtual Laboratories to Enhance the Teaching of Chemistry and Chemical Thermodynamics", Asian Thermophysical Property Conference, Jeju, Korea, October 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Science Classroom", NSTA National Meeting, San Antonio, TX, April 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Development of a Novel Synthetic Pathway to Produce Highly Active Fisher-Tropsche Catalysts", ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "A Novel Synthetic Pathway to Produce Highly Active Fisher-Tropsche Catalysts", ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Lessons Learned from Using Virtual ChemLab in the Classroom and in the Instructional Laboratory", ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in the Classroom", The Ohio St. University, Columbus, OH, February 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "The New Virtual ChemLab", Southern Nevada Math and Science Conference, Las Vegas, NV, January 2013.
B. F. Woodfield, "Energetics of Nanomaterials", BYU Physics Department, Provo, UT, December 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "An Update on Innovative Online Revision and Review", Pamoja Capitol, Geneva, Switzerland, December 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "The Next Generation of Virtual Labs. No Clean Up Required!", NSTA Regional Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "The Next Generation of Virtual Labs. No Clean Up Required!", NSTA Regional Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "Planting Seeds of Exploration and Innovation in Chemistry. You Can Make a Difference!", Elgin School District Workbook, Elgin, Il, October 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "The Next Generation of Virtual Labs. No Clean Up Required!", Pearson Virtual Conference, Boston, MA, October 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "The New Virtual ChemLab: Sophisticated Simulations for High School and AP Chemistry", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Princeton, NJ, October 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "Teaching Students How To Think Like a Scientist Using Pearson Education Virtual Laboratories", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Princeton, NJ, October 2012.
B. F. Woodfield and J. Boerio-Goates, "Unique Lattice and Magnetic Properties of Materials at the Nanoscale", ICCT, Buzios, Brazil, August 2012.
B. F. Woodfield and J. Boerio-Goates, "The Virtual ChemLab Project: Calorimetry and Chemical Thermodynamics", ICCT, Buzios, Brazil, August 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "Energetics of Nanomaterials", Department of Energy PI Meeting,Annapolis, MD, April 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "Using Virtual Labs in Online Education", Pamoja Education, Oxford, England, February 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "Virtual Biology: Pearson's New and Exciting Sophisticated Virtual Environment for Biology", Southern Nevada Math and Science Conference, Las Vegas, NV, January 2012.
B. F. Woodfield, "The Next Generation of Virtual Labs. No Clean Up Required!", NSTA Regional Meeting, Seattle, WA, December 2011.
B. F. Woodfield, "The Next Generation of Virtual Labs. No Clean Up Required!", NSTA Regional Meeting, Harford, CT, October 2011.
B. F. Woodfield, "Virtual Biology: Pearson's New and Exciting Sophisticated Virtual Environment for Biology", New Jersey Science Teachers Association, Somerset, NJ, October 2011.