Skip Navigation
Penn State

Directory Record for:

Peter

Peter J. Heaney

 

Title(s):

Professor of Geosciences

 

Department:

Geosciences

 

College/Admin. Unit:

College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

 

Office Address:

309 Deike Building

University Park, PA 16802

Office Phone:

(814) 865-6821

 

Office Fax:

(814) 863-7823

 

E-Mail Address:

Validate to view address - Send Email via form

http://www.geosc.psu.edu/people/faculty/personalpages/pheaney/index.html

 


Research Synopsis:

Using techniques that are sensitive to structural disorder at the atomic scale, I examine defects and transition states to infer mechanisms of structural change in minerals and mineral analogs. Current projects include the growth and diagenesis of silica compounds, the formation of polycrystalline diamond, low-temperature cation exchange mechanisms in clays and Mn oxides, and the effects of impurities on displacive phase transitions.

 

Technologies Impacted by Research:

Synthesis of superhard abrasives and low CTE ceramics; Catalysis using octahedral sieves; Geothermal energy extraction

 

Selected Publications: