Bruce Chase received his B. A. from Williams College in 1970 and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Princeton University in 1975, He then joined E. I. DuPont de Nemours as a research chemist in the Spectroscopy Division of the Central Research Department. He retired from DuPont in 2009 as a DuPont Fellow and Chair of the DuPont Fellows Forum. He is now a Research Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware.
Dr. Chase’s primary area of research is in vibrational spectroscopy, FT-IR and Raman techniques, and applications to industrial analytical problems. In collaboration with Dr. Tomas Hirschfeld (deceased) he developed an FT-Raman spectrometer which demonstrated the utility of near infrared excitation. Recent efforts include the development and utilization of polarized Raman scattering for the determination of orientation in fibers. Parallel work has involved developing multichannel detection instrumentation for the near infrared. In collaboration with Professor John Rabolt at the University of Delaware he has developed an approach to infrared spectroscopy based on focal plane area detectors.
He was the 1989 winner of the Williams-Wright award and the 1990 EAS New York Section Gold Medal awardee. He also received the 1991 Delaware Valley ACS Section Award. He received the 1994 SSP Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and is co-winner of the 1994 Bunsen-Kirchhoff Prize from the German Chemical Society. He received the 1998 Bomem-Michelson Award in March of 1998, and received the ACS Analytical Division Award in Spectrochemical Analysis in November 1999. In 2002 he received the Anachem Award and in 2005 the EAS Award for Analytical Chemistry. In 2007 he was recognized with the Hasler Award. In 2013 he received along with Professor John Rabolt, the MRS Innovation in Materials Science Award.
Abstract for 2016 Materials Characterization Workshop at UD
Vibrational Spectroscopy as a Tool for Materials Characterization:
From the Macroscale to the Nanoscale
Vibrational spectroscopy is a tool that is tremendously useful for materials characterization. Both infrared spectroscopy and Raman scattering are sensitive to chemical structure, secondary structure involving crystallinity, and tertiary structure involving orientation. It is equally applicable to both solid and liquid samples and involves relatively simple measurement technology. I will illustrate some of the advantages offered for materials characterization by infrared and Raman measurements using the following systems
- chain orientation in high strength fibers by polarized Raman scattering
- characterization of crystalline forms in polymer single crystals
- radial distribution of structure in single electrospun nanofibers
