Statistical mechanical methods based on molecular correlation functions and their connections to fluctuation properties lead to particularly simple descriptions of densities and activities of strongly nonideal fluids. These focus on liquids with dissolved gases and with salts including systems under high pressures as well as near-critical solvents such as water and carbon dioxide. The organization and behavior of hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon suffactants and their mixed aggregates shows both predictable and unexpected molecular phenomena. The observed effects of mobile-phase composition and surface features on protein recovery in reversed phase and hydrophobic interaction chromatography are being modeled to determine optimal separation design conditions from a minimum of data.
Current collaborations involve colleagues in the U.S., Denmark, The Netherlands, and Germany.
J.P. O'Connell and M. Neurock.