Two Research Groups, Biotechnology & Bioanalytical Applications, and Nanomaterials & Structural Studies, are featured in 2007.


Biotechnology & Bioanalytical Applications Projects

Research in this group focuses on development of new technology for biological applications or improved methods for existing bioanalytical techniques. One class of projects in this group is to extract value added products from readily available biomass resources. This research is targeted in two parts: 1) Isolation and characterization of proteins from biomass, and 2) Isolation of omega-3 fatty acids. REU Participants in this group will experience how each discipline contributes to how proteins that are abundant in biomass may be developed into healthy foods such as protein supplements. Another class of projects involves the electrophoretic analysis of sub-cellular components (nucleic acids and proteins) as related to the diagnosis of "normal" and "abnormal" states. This is complimented in chemical engineering by cellular diagnostic microdevices using advanced imaging and dielectrophoretic manipulations.

Faculty mentors are:
  • Debbie Beard (CH) - NMR studies of tachykinin peptides
  • Todd French (ChE) - utilization of microorganisms for the production of value added chemicals from feedstocks, "cracking" of cells for recovery of value added components
  • Bill Henry (CH) - protection of wood from fungal agents using metal cations as chelating agents
  • Tingyu Li (CH) - development of more selective chromatographic methods for chiral and protein separations
  • Adrienne Minerick (ChE) - electrokinetic separations of biofluids, medical diagnostic microdevice development
  • Rudy Rogers (ChE) - natural gas hydrates in seabeds, investigation of increased greenhouse gases in ocean-floor hydrates
  • Gloria Thomas (CH) - capillary and microdevice electrophoresis for life science applications, biological applications of fluorescence
  • Bill Wilson (CH) - solution properties of macromolecules, especially proteins, using laser light scattering techniques; solution property effect on protein crystallization
  • John Young (CH) - design of inhibitors for proteins encoded by Newcastle Disease Virus, drug development
Nanomaterials & Structural Studies Projects

Research in this group involves the study of the relationship between structure and function in various materials, especially the development of nanomaterials and the study of their unique properties. Participants in this group will assist in high shear mixing/sonication of nanoclays, vapor grown carbon fibers or polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) into thermoset resin systems followed by chemical curing in order to generate and disperse nanosized reinforcing agents into thermoset materials. Such materials are shown to have greater thermal stability, toughness, high heat deflection temperatures, fire resistance and low gas permeability. Participants will be involved in general efforts to understand the structure and character of these unique nanomaterials using tools such as TEM, SEM, SANS, WAXD, XRD, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis.

Sample pictures from the scanning electron microscope.

Faculty mentors are:
  • Alicia Beatty (CH) - synthesis of small molecules and coordination complexes with hydrogen bonding functionality, and studies to control the assembly of crystalline solids with predictable, pre-determined architecture
  • Steven Gwaltney (CH) - development of quantum chemical methods for highly accurate calculations of ground state potential energy surfaces
  • Bill Henry (CH) - synthesis of arene metal complexes, correlation between metal complexation and properties of the organic moiety
  • Priscilla Hill (ChE) - breakage of crystals in agitated vessels; preparation of crystal samples and image analysis
  • Adrienne Minerick (ChE) - Alternating Current electrokinetics on integrated electrode surfaces
  • Charles Pittman (CH) - composite materials, nanocomposites, fiber modification chemistry
  • Kirk Schulz (ChE) - surface and interfacial science, including fundamental surface chemistry on metal oxide and metal sulfide materials
  • Hossein Toghiani (ChE) - composite materials, catalysis, fuel cells
  • Gloria Thomas (CH) - functionalization and characterization of integrated electrode surfaces for electrokinetic manipulation of analytes in microfluidic applications
  • Svein Saebø (CH) - ab initio, semi empirical, and molecular mechanics based methods of computational analysis
  • David Wipf (CH) - method development for analysis of surfaces of polycrystalline metals and nanometer-sized metal particles by various scanned probe methods, including: STM, AFM, NSOM and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM)
  • John Young (CH) - NMR spectroscopy to determine protein function
Integrated Environmental Research / Synthesis & Separation Processes

Research teams focus on environmentally related topics of analysis and remediation. Further modern developments in traditional organic synthesis and optimizing chemical engineering separations and reaction scale-ups are researched.

Faculty mentors are:
  • Mark Bricka (ChE) - remediation of contaminated soils, analysis of metals, alternative fuels research, focus on gasification and bio-oil generation technologies, including production, purification and separation
  • Rafael Hernandez (ChE) - development of integrated technologies for treating contaminated air, water and soils
  • Stephen Foster (CH) - in situ measurement of zone/degradation products in waste streams using high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to study the spectra of free radicals and molecular ions
  • Charles Pittman (CH) - bio-oil generation from trees and use as a preservative, disposal of Cu/Cr/Arsenate via conversion to bio-oil and electrokinetic separations
  • Cliff George (ChE) - production of fuel grade ethanol from cellulose products, specifically methods of separation for products from fermentation reactors
  • Keith Mead (CH) - synthesis of biologically-active catechins or flavonoids, structure confirmation through chemical synthesis
  • Andrjez Sygula (CH) - synthesis and characterization of buckybowls (not buckyballs), i.e. novel polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) with curved surfaces of carbon networks related to buckminsterfullerenes
  • Rebecca Toghiani (ChE) - development and validation of process modeling tools, feasibility of contaminant removal from complex matrices with supercritical carbon dioxide