Rate My Professor Dion Rivera

Dion Rivera is a Professor of Physical/Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Central Washington University, where he also serves as Department Chair. He earned his PhD from the University of Utah in 2000 and his BS from California Polytechnic State University. His research group focuses on spectroscopic investigations of macromolecular complexes of polyelectrolytes and surfactants in solution and at nanoparticle interfaces, as well as investigations of environmental and biological interactions of functionalized nanoparticles. Rivera advises students in Chemistry/Biochemistry mentoring with a specialization in Chemical Engineering. He has supervised numerous undergraduate research projects and theses, contributing to student publications in areas such as the effect of carbonaceous nanoparticles on naturally occurring antioxidants, optical studies of silver nanoparticle reduction and stabilization, kinetic decay of polymer/ink complexes as oxygen indicators, characterization of coacervate systems using redox titrations, geographic classification of wines using elemental and water isotope ratios, colorimetric sensor arrays for differentiating emerging contaminants, determination of oxidative capacity of soot toward GSH and model peptides, fabrication and characterization of gel-type solar cells, investigation of polyelectrolytes in silver nanoparticle stabilization, host to activator transfer efficiencies in phosphors, and in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared studies of polyelectrolyte adsorption.

Key publications include 'Optical studies of the solution phase reduction and stabilization of silver nanoparticles' (Heliyon, 2017, corresponding author), 'Quantitative in situ attenuated total internal reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic investigation of the mechanism of adsorption of polyelectrolytes to oxide surfaces' (Applied Spectroscopy, 2010, with M. Hase, R. Scheffelmaier, and S. Hayden), and earlier works from his doctoral research such as 'In Situ Adsorption Studies at Silica/Solution Interfaces by Attenuated Total Internal Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy' (Analytical Chemistry, 2000). Rivera has presented on polyelectrolyte solutions and coacervates in public science outreach events and participates in STEM transfer pathway grants and faculty senate activities at CWU. His work supports undergraduate research training and interdisciplinary applications in chemistry.