Richard B. Timmons


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Richard B. Timmons
Physical Chemistry Distinguished Professor B.S. St. Francis Xavier University (1958) Ph.D. The Catholic University of America (1962) Postdoctoral Fellow: Brookhaven National Laboratory (1962-1964)
Phone: 817-272-3801 FAX: 817-272-3808 E-mail: timmons@uta.edu Office: 234a SH Personal Page
University eResearch Page Awards and Honors Appointed Distinguished University Professor and Member of the UTA Academy of scholars (2007) Distinguished Record of Faculty Research Award, University of Texas at Arlington, 2001 W.T. Doherty Research Award, American Chemical Society (North Texas Section), 2000 Chancellor’s (formerly AMOCO) Outstanding Teacher Award — The University of Texas at Arlington, 1983 Outstanding Faculty Research Award — Catholic University of America, 1975 Senior Faculty Research Fellowship — NIH Heart and Lung Institute, Bethesda, MD. 1971-72. RESEARCH INTERESTS Surface Science The major focus of our laboratory, for the past 15 years, has been development and application of technology to provide molecular surface tailoring of materials. For this purpose, we employ plasma enhanced chemical vapor depositions to deposit conformal, thin film coatings on a wide variety of substrates. In particular, we have developed a variable duty cycle pulsed plasma technique which provides exceptional control of chemistry during plasma polymerization depositions of thin films. This film chemistry controllability permits variation and adjustment of the surface energies of virtually any solid substrate. Additionally, our technological provides an unusually simple and versatile approach to introduction of a wide range of surface chemical functionalities. These functional groups can subsequently be employed for attachment of target compounds, thus creating 3-dimensional molecularly designed surfaces. Recently, we have extended this gas phase surface modification technology to include precise surface tailoring of fine powders, including particles as small as 20 nanometers. We are currently involved in evaluation of our molecular tailoring capability, with a major emphasis on a variety of nanotechnology applications. Among these studies are synthesis of new materials which focus on achieving improved dispersion and bonding of inorganic nanoparticles in organic matrices, to provide improved electrical and thermal properties for these interesting new nanocomposites. We are also studying several new approaches involving molecularly tailored nanoparticles and other materials for use in drug delivery and antimicrobial coatings, as well as a variety of additional biomaterials and catalytic applications. Representative Publications: Ogawa, D., Saraf, I., Sra,A., Timmons, R., Goeckner, M., and Overzet, L. “The direct injection of liquid droplets into low pressure plasmas”, J. Vac. Sci. & Technology, A, 27: 342-351, 2009 Bhattacharyya, D.,Yoon, W.-J., Berger, P.R., Timmons, R.B. “Plasma-polymerized multistacked organic bipolar films: A new approach to flexible high-k dielectrics“, Advanced Materials, 20: 2383-2388, 2008 Thevenot , P., Cho, J., Wavhal, D., Timmons, R.B., Tang., L. “Surface chemistry influences cancer killing effect of TiO2 nanoparticles“, Nanomedicine : Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, 4: 226-236, 2008 Kamath, D., Bhattacharyya , D., Padukudru , C., Timmons, R.B., Tang, L. “Surface chemistry influences implant-mediated host tissue responses“, J.Biomed. Maters. Res. Part A, 86: 617-626, 2008 Chapman, C.L., Bhattacharyya, D., Eberhart, R.C., Timmons, R.B., Chuong, C. “Plasma polymer thin film depositions to regulate gas permeability through nanoporous track etched membranes“, J. of Membrane Science, 318: 137-144, 2008 Dennis, B.H., Jin, W., Cho,J., Timmons, R.B. “Inverse determination of kinetic rate constants for transesterification of vegetable oils“, Inverse Problems in Science and Engineering, 16: 693-704, 2008 Nair, A., Zou, L., Bhattacharyya, D., Timmons, R. B., Tang, Liping. “Species and density of implant surface chemistry affect the extent of foreign body reactions“, Langmuir, 24: 2015-2024, 2008 Bhattacharyya, D., Pillai, K., Chyan O., Tang L., Timmons R.B. “A new class of thin film hydrogels produced by plasma polymerization“, Chemistry of Materials, 19: 2222-2228, 2007 Xu, Y.; Berger, P.R.; Cho, J.; Timmons, R.B. “Pulsed plasma polymerized dichlorotetramethyl-disiloxane high-k gate dielectrics for polymer field-effect transistors“, Journal of Applied Physics, 99: 1-4, 2006 Cho, J.; Denes, F.S.; Timmons, R.B. “Plasma processing approach to molecular surface tailoring of nanoparticles: Improved photocatalytic activity of TiO2“, Chemistry of Materials, 18: 2989-2996, 2006 Ma Y.; Manolache, S.; Denes, F.S.; Cho, J.; Timmons, R.B. “Surface modification of rutile TiO2 by submerged arc discharge for improved photoreactivity“, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 15: 370-375, 2006 Susut C.; Timmons, R.B. “Plasma enhanced chemical vapor depositions to encapsulate crystals in thin polymeric films: A new approach to controlling drug release rates“, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 288:253-261, 2005 Li, M.L.; Timmons, R.B.; Kinsel, G.R. “Radio frequency plasma polymer coatings for affinity capture MALDI mass spectrometry“, Analytical Chemistry, 77: 350-353, 2005 Xu Y.F., Berger, P.R., Cho, J., Timmons, R.B. “Capacitance-voltage characterization of pulsed plasma polymerized allylamine dielectrics for flexible polymeric field effect transistors“, Journal of Electronic Materials, 33: 1240-1247, 2004
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