Beginning in the 1950s, "the semiconductor didn't just replace the vacuum tube -- it enabled vast, unanticipated applications of computing," said Dalton, a materials chemist at the University of Washington. "The same is true for these next-generation materials, from the home to the hospital to the battlefield."
Dalton's research team is perhaps best known for developing a new theory about the chemical behavior of solids. That insight has led to what he described as "revolutionary new materials" that allow two fundamental kinds of particles to talk to each other seamlessly -- electrons, whose flow generates an electrical current and computer signals, and photons, whose packets of light energy is the basis of optical communications.
"This effortless conversion means information can transfer in whichever mode is more efficient at the time and for the particular action," explained Dalton. "For one thing, it's a way to get around the 'wall' that computer speeds are going to come up against soon."
Developing that capability will also take a new generation of researchers, and generating excitement for science is one of Dalton's most earnest goals. "We desperately need it," he said. "Our American youth need to know they have a chance to make a real impact."
As examples he cited intelligent sensors for buildings to make them more energy-efficient or remote monitoring and diagnosis of medical conditions. His own materials are now used to route information more efficiently aboard mobile military platforms such as JSTAR systems. Other compounds he has made include "smart" paint that responds to temperature, underlying corrosion and other conditions by changing color.
Dalton received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1965 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1971. He is a member of the ACS divisions of polymer chemistry and polymeric materials science and engineering.
The ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials is sponsored by E.I. de Pont de Nemours and Co.