Chemistry Faculty

Physical Chemistry

Courses recently taught
Teaching Philosophy
Curriculum Vitae

I am interested in physico-chemical studies of ionic liquids and liquid surfactants. As one primary research tool I am using NMR spectroscopic techniques. For more detailed information, please click on the underlined items.

A typical salt such as table salt has usually a very high melting point temperature. Ionic liquids however are salts that have a melting point near or even below room temperature! Furthermore, because ionic liquids are entirely composed of ions, their vapor pressure is essentially zero. (In other words, you essentially can't get the ionic liquids to boil, even when applying vacuum!) These properties of ionic liquids make them strong candidates to replace hazardous volatile solvents in industrial chemical processes. Hence, over the last decade research in the field of ionic liquids has focused on two directions: a) the exploration of (organic) chemical reactions in ionic liquids and b) the development of new ionic liquid compounds. Very little research emphasis has been placed in developing a better physico-chemical understanding of the ionic-liquids as a solvent system. Here is where my research interests enter. How do the cations and anions in an ionic liquid interact with each other and how do they interact with a solute? What are the phase behavior properties of ionic liquids with other solvents, in particular with supercritical carbon dioxide, another "environmental solvent system"? Is it possible to combine these two environmentally benign solvent systems? These are the types of questions I would like to address in my future research endeavors at SUNY Brockport.

Representative Publications

"Water Partitioning in "Dry" Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Alcohol (C mE n) Nonionic Surfactant - A Proton NMR Study", Hoffmann, M. M.; Bennett, M. E.; Fox, J. D.; Wyman, D. P.; Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2005, Vol. 287, 712-716.

”Measuring P-V-T Phase Behavior with a Variable Volume View Cell”, Hoffmann, M. M. Salter, J. D., Journal of Chemical Education, 2004, Vol. 81, 411-413.

”A Classroom Exercise Aiming at the Development of an Intuitive Understanding of P-V-T Phase Behavior of Fluids”, Hoffmann, M. M., Journal of Chemical Education, 2004, Vol. 81, 376-378.

"Surfactants in Green Solvent Systems - Current and Possible Future Research Directions", Hoffmann, M. M.; Heitz, M. P.; Carr, J. B.; Tubbs, J. D., Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 2003, Vol. 24, 155-171.