3M Nontenured Faculty Award (2000-2002)
ORAU Ralph-Powe Junior Faculty Award (2000)
NSF Career Award (2001)
SIU Faculty Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship (2001)
Chair of the Southern Illinois Section of the American Chemical Society (2003)

Research in the Dyer group is focused on the design, synthesis, and characterization of advanced organic materials. We utilize the tools of organic chemistry to create small molecules and macromolecules with interesting properties and functions. A major goal of ours is to elucidate the molecular origins of self-assembly processes in order to control the supramolecular organization of organic molecules and macromolecules. In particular, organic thin films formed by chemical transformations are intellectually fascinating and technologically important. Chemists and materials scientists are particularly interested in developing new methodologies that allow for the "controlled" synthesis of large supramolecular assemblies with well-defined structures. Such assemblies are ubiquitous in nature (e.g. cell membranes, liquid crystals, proteins, etc.) and typically form spontaneously under the influence of forces that are poorly understood. Our work is highly interdisciplinary; consequently students and postdocs are exposed to wide variety of equipment and characterization techniques for organic synthesis, thin films, polymers, and liquid crystalline materials.

McCarroll, M.E.; Shi, Y.; Harris, S.; Puli, S.; Kimaru, I.; Xu, R.; Wang, L.; Dyer, D.J. “Computational Prediction and Experimental Evaluation of a Photoinduced Electron-Transfer Sensor”, J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 22991-22994.

Kaholek, M.; Lee, W.-K.; Feng, J.; LaMattina, B.; Dyer, D.J.; Zauscher, S. “Weak Polyelectrolyte Brush Arrays Fabricated by Combining Electron Beam Lithography with Surface-Initiated Photopolymerization”, Chem. Mater. 2006, 18, 3660-3664.

Li, C.; Robinson, P.D.; Dyer, D.J. “1-[4-(2-Oxo-1,2-dihydropyridin-1-ylphenyl]pyridin-2(1H)-one”, Acta Cryst. E 2006, E62, 5045-5047.

Li, C.; Robinson, P.D.; Dyer, D.J. “Hydrogen Bonded 1:1 Adduct of 1-(4-(4-oxopyridin-1(4H)-yl)phenyl) pyridin-4(1H)-one with Terephthalic Acid”, Acta Cryst. C 2006, C62, o336-o338.

Dyer, D.J “Photoinitiated Synthesis of Grafted Polymers”, In Advances in Polymer Science; R. Jordan, Ed.; Springer-Verlag: Heidelberg, 2006, Vol. 197, 47-65.

Li, C.; Dyer, D.J.; Rath, N.P.; Robinson, P.D. “N, N’, N’’-Tris(p-methoxyphenyl) phosphoric triamide”, Acta Cryst. C 2005, C61, o654-o656.

Dyer, D.J.; Feng, J.; Fivelson, C.; Paul, R.; Schmidt, R.; Zhao, T. “Photoinitiated Polymerization from Self-Assembled Monolayers”, In Polymer Brushes; Advincula, R.; Brittain, W.; Caster, K.; Rühe, J., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 2004; Chp. 7, p129-150.

Feng, J.; Haasch, R.; Dyer, D.J. “Photoinitiated Synthesis of Mixed Polymer Brushes of Polystyrene and Poly(methyl methacrylate)”, Macromolecules 2004, 37, 9525-9537.

Feng, J.; Schmidt, R.; Wong, V.N.; Zhao, T.; Yagci, Y.; Dyer, D.J. “Photoinduced Polymerization from Dimethylamino Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold”, Macromolecules 2004, 37, 7072-7074.

Dyer, D.J. “Patterning of Gold Substrates by Surface Initiated Polymerization”, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2003, 13, 667-670.

Cao, Y.; Ge, Q.; Dyer, D.J.; Wang, L. “Steric Effects on the Adsorption of Alkylthiolate Self-Assembled Monolayers on Au(111)”, J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 3803-3807.