Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases,including solid–liquid interfaces,solid–gas interfaces,solid–vacuum interfaces,and liquid–gas interfaces. It includes the fields of surface chemistry and surface physics. Some related practical applications are classed as surface engineering. The science encompasses concepts such as heterogeneous catalysis,semiconductor device fabrication,fuel cells,self-assembled monolayers,and adhesives. Surface science is closely related to interface and colloid science. Interfacial chemistry and physics are common subjects for both. The methods are different. In addition,interface and colloid science studies macroscopic phenomena that occur in heterogeneous systems due to peculiarities of interfaces.
Naomi J. Halas is the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering,and professor of biomedical engineering,chemistry,and physics at Rice University. She is also the founding director of Rice University Laboratory for Nanophotonics,and the Smalley-Curl Institute. She invented the first nanoparticle with tunable plasmonic resonances,which are controlled by their shape and structure,and has won numerous awards for her pioneering work in the field of nanophotonics and plasmonics. She was also part of a team that developed the first dark pulse soliton in 1987 while working for IBM.
Armand Paul Alivisatos is a Greek-American etymologist,chemist and academic administrator who has served as the 14th president of the University of Chicago since September 2021. He is a pioneer in nanomaterials development and an authority on the fabrication of nanocrystals and their use in biomedical and renewable energy applications. He was ranked fifth among the world's top 100 chemists for the period 2000–2010 in the list released by Thomson Reuters.
George McClelland Whitesides is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Harvard University. He is best known for his work in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy,organometallic chemistry,molecular self-assembly,soft lithography,microfabrication,microfluidics,and nanotechnology. A prolific author and patent holder who has received many awards,he received the highest Hirsch index rating of all living chemists in 2011.
Richard James Saykally is an American chemist. He is currently the Class of 1932 Endowed Professor of Chemistry at the University of California,Berkeley. He has received numerous awards for his research on the molecular characteristics of water and aqueous solutions.
Veronica Vaida is a Romanian-Hungarian-American chemist and professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is an expert in environmental chemistry and aerosols.
Marsha Isack Lester is an American physical chemist. She is currently the Edmund J. Kahn Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Lester uses both theoretical and experimental methods to study the physical chemistry of volatile organic compounds present in the Earth's atmosphere. Her current work focuses on the hydroxyl radical and Criegee intermediates.
Judith P. Klinman is an American chemist,biochemist,and molecular biologist known for her work on enzyme catalysis. She became the first female professor in the physical sciences at the University of California,Berkeley in 1978,where she is now Professor of the Graduate School and Chancellor's Professor. In 2012,she was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences,American Academy of Arts and Sciences,American Association for the Advancement of Science,and the American Philosophical Society.
Heather Cecile Allen is a research chemist and Professor of Chemistry,who leads the Allen Group at The Ohio State University. Allen's research focuses on interfacial phenomena,particularly those involving water and air. Her work has broad application ranging from medicine to climate change. She also develops nonlinear optical spectroscopy and microscopy instruments for the examination of interfacial surfaces.
Hai-Lung Dai is a Taiwanese-born American physical chemist and university administrator. He currently is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Chemistry and Vice President for International Affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,in the United States.
Stacey Bent is a professor of chemical engineering and vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs (VPGE) at Stanford University. She is the Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor of Engineering,the Bert and Candace Forbes University Fellow in Undergraduate Education,and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She was the director of the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy and a senior associate dean in the Stanford School of Engineering until 2019. She is best known for contributions to semiconductor processing,materials chemistry,and surface science. Her work has been applied toward applications in semiconductors,solar cells,and catalysts.
Jeanette Grasselli Brown is an American analytical chemist and spectroscopist who is known for her work with Standard Oil of Ohio as an industrial researcher in the field of spectroscopy.
Christy Lynn Haynes is a chemist at the University of Minnesota. She works at the interface of analytical,biological,and nanomaterials chemistry.
Maki Kawai is a Japanese chemist who developed spatially selective single-molecule spectroscopy. In 2018,she became the first woman to become president of the Chemical Society of Japan.
Wang Hongfei is a physical chemist and chemical physicist. Since 2017,he is a professor in the department of chemistry of Fudan University in Shanghai,China.
Kristina Edström is a Swedish Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Uppsala University. She also serves as Head of the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre (ÅABC) and has previously been both Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Science and Technology and Chair of the STandUp for Energy research programme.
Nathalie Picqué is a French physicist working at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in the field Frequency Combs,where she studies ultra-high resolution spectroscopy using ultrashort pulses of light combined with Fourier-transform spectroscopy to reveal the fine chemistry of samples,in particular in the mid-infrared,demonstrating resolving power in excess of 1,000,000,000,000.
Sylvie Roke is a Dutch chemist and physicist specialized in photonics and aqueous systems. As a full professor she holds Julia Jacobi Chair of Photomedicine at EPFL and is the director of the Laboratory for fundamental BioPhotonics.
Kelsey Stoerzinger is an American chemist who is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. Her research considers the design of materials and processes for renewable energy storage. She is interested in the design of sustainable catalysts that make use of earth abundant materials. She was awarded the 2025 American Chemical Society Marks-Ipatieff Prize.
Ellis Ridgway Lippincott Jr. was an American chemist,educator,inventor,science leader,and pioneer in spectroscopy. He was a professor of chemistry at the University of Maryland from 1955-1974 and served as director of the Center for Materials Research. According to Spectroscopy,Lippincott was an "icon of spectroscopy" and "one of the most influential spectroscopists of the past 100 years."
