evans@ameslab.gov | Ames Laboratory

Dr. James W. Evans

Ames Laboratory Associate and Professor, Iowa State University

Address

315 Wilhelm Hall

The Ames Laboratory

Ames, IA 50011-3020

Phone 515-294-1638
Fax 515-294-4709
Email evans@ameslab.gov

Spatiotemporal behavior in chemisorption and catalysis on metal surfaces: realistic atomistic-level modeling of reaction kinetics; analysis of chemical diffusion and multi-scale modeling of reaction-diffusion behavior; analysis of fluctuations in nanoscale systems.
Fundamental statistical mechanical studies of far-from-equilibrium reaction-diffusion phenomena including kinetic phase transitions.
Interplay between anomalous transport and reaction in catalytically-functionalized mesoporous and nanoporous materials.
Self-assembly and stability of single- and multi-component epitaxial metal nanostructures formed by deposition on single-crystal surfaces.
Growth and relaxation epitaxial thin films: submonolayer nucleation & growth of islands; multilayer kinetic roughening; post-deposition coarsening; step flow during growth and erosion.

Selected Projects

Realistic multi-site lattice-gas models for CO-oxidation on Pd(100), Rh(100), Pt(100), and other surfaces.
Heterogeneous-coupled-lattice-gas modeling of patterns and fronts in catalytic surface reactions (HCLG is our Heterogeneous Multiscale Method).
Statistical mechanical analysis of discontinuous poisoning transitions (including generic two-phase coexistence and metastability) in reaction-diffusion models.
Modeling of catalytic conversion reactions and polymerization reactions in nanoporous systems with single-file diffusion.
Continuous-random-network models structure of amorphous materials (e.g., mesoporous oxide catalysts).
Formation of epitaxial nanostructures by deposition on a NiAl(110) binary alloy substrate, including analysis of alloy self-growth.
Effect of chalcogen additives (S, O) on stability of noble metal surface nanostructures (including additive-enhanced coarsening and cluster mobility).
Predictive atomistic and coarse-grained modeling of homoepitaxial thin film growth (for both submonolayer and multilayer regimes).
Development of general multi-site lattice-gas models and KMC simulation algorithms incorporating precise kinetics (surface diffusion barriers) for epitaxial systems.

Project Affiliations:

Chemical Physics

Group Website:

Evans Research Group

Senior Scientist, 1996-present; Chemist, 1993-96; Associate Scientist, 1983-93; Assistant Chemist, 1982-83, Ames Laboratory-USDOE.
Professor of Physics & Astronomy, 2010-present, Iowa State University
Professor of Mathematics, 1996-present; Associate Professor of Mathematics, 1991-1996, Iowa State University.
Visiting Scientist, Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, U. Minnesota, 2009.
Visiting Scientist, Institute of Physics - CAS, Beijing, 2009.
Visiting Scientist, Ecole des Mines, Nancy, France, 2000.
Visiting Scientist, Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin, Germany, 1991.

2010

2009