Kurt D Benkstein (Fed)

Kurt D. Benkstein received his B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1995 from Iowa State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry (Inorganic) from Northwestern University in 1996 and 2000, respectively. His thesis research involved the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of luminescent inorganic cyclophanes for small-molecule detection and separations. He went to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2000 as a postdoctoral researcher to study the relation between film morphology and electron transport in dye-sensitized nanoparticle solar cells. In 2003, Dr. Benkstein joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a Research Chemist to study nanostructured materials for chemiresistive gas sensors. He earned a Department of Commerce Silver Medal Award in 2006 for his contributions to the microsensors project. His current research interests include the use of nanoparticles and other nanostructured materials in high-performance bio/chemical sensors and detection schemes.

Selected Publications

"Demonstration of Fast and Accurate Discrimination and Quantification of Chemically Similar Species Utilizing a Single Cross-Selective Chemiresistor", Alexander Vergara, Kurt D. Benkstein, Christopher B. Montgomery, and Steve Semancik, Analytical Chemistry, 86, 6753–6757 (2014). DOI: 10.1021/ac501490k

"Analytical capabilities of chemiresistive microsensor arrays in a simulated Martian atmosphere", K.D. Benkstein, P.H. Rogers, C.B. Montgomery, C. Jin, B. Raman, S. Semancik, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 197, 280-291 (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2014.02.088

"Tin oxide nanowire sensor with integrated temperature and gate control for multi-gas recognition", Eric N. Dattoli, Albert V. Davydov, and Kurt D. Benkstein, Nanoscale, 4, 1760-1769 (2012). DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11885H