Dr. Rayson's research interests pertain to the investigation of metal atoms and ions in complex chemical environments. These studies involve the elucidation of atomization, ionization, and excitation mechanisms occurring within the high temperature systems of inductively coupled argon plasma discharges and resistively heated graphite furnace atomizers. Alternately, studies of the chemical moieties on the cell walls of plants which are responsible for the selective binding of heavy metal ions from contaminated waters and soils are also pursued in the Rayson laboratory. The elucidation of these complex chemical processes necessitates the implementation of numerous, independent techniques. These "tools" have included the use of temporally and spectrally resolved atomic emission and absorption spectroscopies, laser excited luminescence measurements in both time and wavelength domains, multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy, and frontal affinity chromatography. An example of the application of such an arsenal of techniques has been the elucidation of multiple (i.e., three) metal-coordination sites involving carboxylate groups and two additional ion-exchange site containing carboxylate and sulfonate groups, respectively, on the surface of a cell wall material derived from the plant Datura innoxia.

It is only with an understanding of the chemical and physical processes occurring within these complex systems that the required level of predictability can be realized for their full utilization. This includes the elimination of matrix interferences in inductively coupled plasmas and heated graphite atomizers and the application of biologically generated materials for the inexpensive remediation of contaminated soils and waters.