SOUTHWEST RETORT
SEVENTY-THIRD YEAR
February 2021
Published for the advancement of Chemists, Chemical Engineers and Chemistry in this area published by The Dallas-Fort Worth Section, with the cooperation of five other local sections of the American Chemical Society in the Southwest Region.
Vol. 73(6) February 2021 Editorial and Business Offices: Contact the Editor for subscription and advertisement information. Editor: Connie Hendrickson: retort@acsdfw.org Copy and Layout Editor: Lance Hughes: hugla64@gmail.com Business Manager: Martha Gilchrist: Martha.Gilchrist@tccd.edu The Southwest Retort is published monthly, September through May, by the Dallas-Ft. Worth Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc., for the ACS Sections of the Southwest Region.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Fifty Years Ago………………………….......5 ARTICLES and COLUMNS Letter from the Editor…..…..……..............19 The Chair’s Corner…………………….…...8 Around the Area…………………..……….18 NEWS SHORTS A non-destructive method for analyzing Ancient Egyptian embalming materials..........10 A mild way to upcycle plastics used in bottles into fuel and other high-value products …………………………………………........12
Ultra-absorptive nanofiber swabs could improve SARS-CoV-2 test sensitivity …….....13 An anode-free zinc battery that could someday store renewable energy.………...…….14 Juicing technique could influence healthfulness of fresh-squeezed juice ………...…....15 VIDEO: “Integrated Assembly and Flexible Movement of Microparts Using Multifunctional Bubble Microrobots”…..……...…..16
Contact the DFW Section General: info@acsdfw.org Education: ncw@acsdfw.org Elections: candidates@acsdfw.org Facebook: DFWACS Twitter: acsdfw
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ANNOUNCEMENTS and MEETINGS ACS DFW Vitrual Meeting………...…....….9 2021 Chair………….……….……………...17 Chair-Elect…………………………...…….18 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Huffman Laboratories……………..…........3 Vance Editing…..……………….…...….......3 TMJ Data Entry and Editing.………......…3 ANA-LAB…………………………...….…..4
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DOCUMENT TITLE
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FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE SOUTHWEST RETORT The upcoming ACS tour speaker for March will be Prof. F. J. Bollum of the University of Kentucky. His lectures will be on one of two topics, “The Chemistry of Genetics” and “Biosynthetic Polydeoxynucleotides.”
Texas Section Award. Also at Rice Dr. John L. Margrave recently presented seminars at Michigan State and the University of Pennsylvania. A recent speaker at Rice was Dr. Dudley Herschbach.
The North Texas Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy will hold its second Dallas Spectroscopy Symposium on April 20. The morning session will be on mass spectroscopy with keynote speaker Dr. R. W. Kiser of the University of Kentucky. The afternoon session will be on infrared spectroscopy with Dr. J. R. Ferraro of Argonne National Labs as keynote speaker.
In the ACS South Plains Section Dr. Henry Shine of Texas Tech gave seminars on “Cation-Radical Chemistry” at Colorado State University and the University of Colorado. Welch Professor C. W. Shoppee gave a seminar at Texas Christian University on “Aspects of Nucleophilic Substitution.”
In the Dallas Ft.Worth ACS Section Dr. Thomas Hinkson of Tarleton State has been given a $30,000 three year grant by the Welch Foundation. At UT-Arlington Dr. Donald Martin has received a three year $45,000 grant from the Welch Foundation. Dean Peter Girardot and faculty member Dr. Tom Cogdell have each received one year extension of their Welch grants. A Ph.D. program in chemistry for UTArlington has been approved by the Board of Regents. At North Texas State Welch grants have been awarded to Drs. B. R. Russell, S. J. Norton, G. R. Dobson, and W. T. Brady. Recent Ph.D. graduate Dr. Larry Smith has accepted a job at American Hoechst Corp. Dr. James L. Marshall recently gave a seminar at Texas A&M. Welch grants were awarded to East Texas State faculty Drs. Kenneth Ashley, Moses Attrep, and Lawrence Neff. In the Southeastern Texas ACS Section Welch Professor Joe L. Franklin, Jr. of Rice was recently awarded the Southeast
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In the Texas A&M ACS Section, construction has begun on a new Compiled by 66,000 square ft E. Thomas Strom Chemistry Research Annex. Dr. T. T. Sugihara gave a seminar at Michigan State University, while Dr. Ron D. Macfarlane recently gave seminars at Michigan State and McMaster Universities and also at the Soreg Nuclear Center in Israel. Dr. J. H. Lunsford was the guest speaker at the Catalysis Club of Chicago, where he gave a talk on “Applications of EPR Spectrscopy to Problems in Catalysis.” In the University of Arkansas ACS Section, NSF has given the chemistry department a grant to conduct an “Undergraduate Research Participation Program” for the summer of 1971 under the direction of Dr. Leslie B. Sims. The ten week program will involve ten undergraduate students from this region working in the areas of chemical dynamics and synthesis.
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The Chair’s Corner Welcome to 2021, and we all hope we are starting to turn the corner on COVID-19. I am very excited to serve as chair of the DFW Local Section of the ACS in 2021. I believe we have many exciting opportunities for 2021. Like all other things, COVID-19 impacted most of the activities of the DFW Local Section of the ACS in 2020. We were able to host one live event in February where Dr. Bill Carroll provided an excellent presentation about molecular plastics re-
cycling. We also held our first virtual event in November, where Mrs. Jo King, who won the 2020 ACS Southwest Region HS Teaching Award for Excellence in Chemistry Teaching, presented about teaching during the pandemic. We were able to nominate and award the Doherty, Schultz, and Chemistry Ambassador Awards in 2020. Additionally, we were able to nominate for the 2020 ACS SWRM High School Teaching Award. Congratulations to:
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Nicolay V. Tsarevsky: Winner of the Wilfred T. Doherty Award for 2020. • Nicole Lyssy: Winner of the Werner Schulz Award for 2020. • William H. Hendrickson Jr.: Winner of the Chemistry Ambassador Award for 2020. • Jo L. King: Winner of the 2020 ACS SWRM High School Teaching Award. The Executive Committee is very excited about 2021. Unfortunately, given the ongoing pandemic, we will start virtually this year. On February 19th Angela K. Wilson, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University, is the National President-Elect of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Wilson will serve as president of the society in 2022. Dr. Wilson will present a talk entitled, “The ACS: Past, Present, and Future.” We are looking at an industry-focused talk in March, and a graduate-student led roundtable in April. Further engagement of our colleagues in the industry and our graduate students are focus areas for 2021. We will also be hosting the local Meeting in Miniature virtually on May 01, 2021. Much more information to come on all of these topics. Once again, the executive committee is very excited about 2021 and the local section's future. If there is anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time (trey.putnam@ttuhsc.edu). Best, Trey Putnam •
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February 19 ACS-DFW Virtual Meeting - Dr. Angela Wilson
Please attend the first ACS-DFW virtual meeting of 2021, on Fri, Feb 19 at 6:30 pm. "The ACS: Past, Present and Future" ACS DFW Local Section is happy to host a virtual talk by Dr. Angela K. Wilson Angela K. Wilson, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University, is the National President-Elect of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Wilson will serve as president of the society in 2022. Dr. Wilson will present a talk entitled, “The ACS: Past, Present and Future.”
Date: Friday, February 19, 2021 – Talk beginning at 6:30 PM Location: Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7176687551)
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From the ACS Press Room A Non-destructive Method for Analyzing Ancient Egyptian Embalming Materials “Nondestructive Analysis of Mummification Balms in Ancient Egypt Based on EPR of Vanadyl and Organic Radical Markers of Bitumen” Analytical Chemistry
detect two components of bitumen formed during the decomposition of photosynthetic life: vanadyl porphyrins and carbonaceous radicals, which could provide information on the presence, origin and processing of bitumen in the embalming material.
Ancient Egyptian mummies have many tales to tell, but unlocking their secrets without destroying delicate remains is challenging. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Analytical Chemistry have found a non-destructive way to analyze bitumen –– the compound that gives mummies their dark color –– in Ancient Egyptian embalming materials. The method provides clues to the bitumen’s geographic origin and, in one experiment, revealed that a mummy in a French museum could have been partially restored, likely by collectors. The researchers obtained samples of black matter from an Ancient Egyptian sarcophaThe embalming material used by Ancient gus (or coffin), two human mummies and Egyptians was a complex mixture of natural four animal mummies (all from 744–30 compounds such as sugar gum, beeswax, B.C.), which they analyzed by EPR and comfats, coniferous resins and variable amounts pared to reference bitumen samples. The of bitumen. Also known as asphalt or tar, bi- team discovered that the relative amounts of tumen is a black, highly viscous form of pe- vanadyl compounds and carbonaceous raditroleum that arises primarily from fossilized cals could differentiate between bitumen of algae and plants. Researchers have used vari- marine origin (such as from the Dead Sea) ous techniques to analyze Ancient Egyptian and land-plant origin (from a tar pit). Also, embalming materials, but they typically re- they detected vanadyl compounds that likely quire preparation and separation steps that formed from reactions between the vanadyl destroy the sample. Charles Dutoit, Didier porphyrins and other embalming compoGourier and colleagues wondered if they nents. Intriguingly, the black matter taken could use a non-destructive technique called from a human mummy acquired by a French electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to museum in 1837 didn’t contain any of these February 2021
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From the ACS Press Room compounds, and it was very rich in bitumen. This mummy could have been partially restored with pure bitumen, probably by a private collector to fetch a higher price before the museum acquired it, the researchers say.
The authors acknowledge funding from Agence Nationale de la Recherche and the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France.
2021 DFW Section Officers Chair: Trey Putnam Chair-elect: Mihaela C. Stefan Past Chair: Mihaela C. Stefan
Treasurer: Martha Gilchrist Secretary: Heidi Conrad Councilors: Mary Anderson, Linda Schultz, E. Thomas Strom, and Jason McAfee Alternate Councilors: Michael Bigwood, John McIlroy, Daniela Hutanu, and Danny Tran
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From the ACS Press Room
A Mild Way to Upcycle Plastics used in Bottles into Fuel and Other High-value Products “Conversion of Polyolefin Waste to Liquid action temperatures requiring less energy Alkanes with Ru-Based Catalysts under than other techniques. So, Yuriy RománLeshkov and colleagues wanted to see if metMild Conditions” al-based catalysts would have a similar effect JACS Au on solid polyolefins with long hydrocarbon Plastic is ubiquitous in people’s lives. Yet, chains, disintegrating them into usable chemwhen plastic-containing items have fulfilled icals and natural gas. their missions, only a small amount is recycled into new products, which are often of The researchers developed a method to react lower quality compared to the original mate- simple hydrocarbon chains with hydrogen in rial. And, transforming this waste into high- the presence of noble- or transition-metal navalue chemicals requires substantial energy. noparticles under mild conditions. In their Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ JACS experiments, ruthenium-carbon nanoparticles Au have combined a ruthenium-carbon cata- converted over 90% of the hydrocarbons into lyst and mild, lower-energy reaction condi- shorter compounds at 392 F. Then, the team tions to convert plastics used in bottles and tested the new method on more complex polother packaging into fuels and chemical feed- yolefins, including a commercially available plastic bottle. Despite not pretreating the stock. samples, as is necessary with current energyGlobal production of sturdy, single-use plas- intensive methods, they were completely brotic for toys, sterile medical packaging, and ken down into gaseous and liquid products food and beverage containers is increasing. using this new method. In contrast to current Polyolefin polymers, such as polyethylene degradation methods, the reaction could be and polypropylene, are the most common tuned so that it yielded either natural gas or a plastics used in these products because the combination of natural gas and liquid alpolymers’ molecular structures — long, kanes. The researchers say implementing straight chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms their method could help reduce the volume of — make materials very durable. It’s difficult post-consumer waste in landfills by recycling to degrade the carbon-to-carbon bonds in plastics to desirable, highly valuable alkanes, polyolefins, however, so energy-intensive though technology to purify the products is procedures using high temperatures, from needed to make the process economically 800 to 1400 F, or strong chemicals are need- feasible. ed to break down and recycle them. Previous studies have shown that noble metals, such as The authors acknowledge funding from the zirconium, platinum and ruthenium, can cata- U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Enerlyze the process of splitting apart short, sim- gy Efficiency & Renewable EnerAdvanced Manufacturing Ofple hydrocarbon chains and complicated, gy, fice and Bioenergy Technologies Office. plant-based lignin molecules at moderate reFebruary 2021
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From the ACS Press Room
Ultra-absorptive Nanofiber Swabs could Improve SARSCoV-2 Test Sensitivity “Ultra-absorptive Nanofiber Swabs for Improved Collection and Test Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 and other Biological Specimens” Nano Letters Rapid, sensitive diagnosis of COVID-19 is essential for early treatment, contact tracing and reducing viral spread. However, some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 receive false-negative test results, which might put their and others’ health at risk. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have developed ultra-absorptive nanofiber swabs that could reduce the number of false-negative tests by improving sample collection and test sensitivity.
pick up enough virus to be detectable. Jingwei Xie and colleagues wanted to develop a nanofiber swab that could absorb and then release more viruses and other biological specimens, improving the sensitivity of diagnostic tests. The researchers used an electrospinning technique to make 1-cm-long cylinders composed of aligned nanofiber layers, which they coated with a thin layer of gelatin and bonded to plastic swab sticks. In lab tests, the porous nanofiber cylinders absorbed and released more proteins, cells, bacteria, DNA and viruses from liquids and surfaces than the cotton or flocked swabs commonly used for COVID-19 testing. The team made dilutions of SARS-CoV-2 virus, swabbed the liquid samples and tested for viral RNA with RT-PCR. Compared with the two other types of swabs, the nanofiber ones reduced the false-negative rate and detected SARS-CoV2 at a 10-times lower concentration. In addition to allowing more accurate and sensitive COVID-19 testing, the nanofiber swabs have far-reaching potential in diagnosing other diseases, testing for foodborne illnesses and helping forensic teams identify crime suspects from miniscule biological specimens, the researchers say.
Currently, the most sensitive test for COVID -19 involves using a long swab to collect a specimen from deep inside a patient’s nose, and then using a method called reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA. But if the viral load is low, which can occur early in the course of infection, the swab might not February 2021
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From the ACS Press Room
An Anode-free Zinc Battery that could Someday Store Renewable Energy “An Anode-Free Zn-MnO2 Battery”
Nano Letters Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, could help decrease the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. But first, power companies need a safe, cost-effective way to store the energy for later use. Massive lithium-ion batteries can do the job, but they suffer from safety issues and limited lithium availability. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have made a prototype of an anode-free, zinc-based battery that uses lowcost, naturally abundant materials.
forming dendrites –– crystalline projections of zinc metal that deposit on the anode during charging –– that can short-circuit the battery. Yunpei Zhu, Yi Cui and Husam Alshareef wondered whether a zinc anode was truly needed. Drawing inspiration from previous explorations of “anode-free” lithium and sodium-metal batteries, the researchers decided to make a battery in which a zincrich cathode is the sole source for zinc plating onto a copper current collector.
In their battery, the researchers used a manganese dioxide cathode that they preintercalated with zinc ions, an aqueous zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate electrolyte solution and a copper foil current collector. During charging, zinc metal gets plated onto the copper foil, and during discharging the metal is stripped off, releasing electrons that power the battery. To prevent dendrites from forming, the researchers coated the copper current collector with a layer of carbon nanodiscs. This layer promoted uniform zinc plating, thereby preventing dendrites, and increased the efficiency of zinc plating and stripping. The battery showed high efficiency, energy density and stability, retaining 62.8% of its storage capacity after 80 charging and discharging cycles. The anodefree battery design opens new directions for using aqueous zinc-based batteries in energy storage systems, the researchers say.
Aqueous zinc-based batteries have been previously explored Nano Lett. 2021, 21, 3, 1446–1453, for grid Publication Date:January 20, 2021 -scale energy Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society storage because of their safety and high energy density. In addition, the materials used to make them are naturally abundant. However, the rechargeable zinc batteries developed so far The authors acknowledge funding have required thick zinc metal anodes, from King Abdullah University of Science which contain a large excess of zinc that in- and Technology. creases cost. Also, the anodes are prone to February 2021
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From the ACS Press Room
Juicing Technique could Influence Healthfulness of Fresh-squeezed Juice “Untargeted Chemometrics Evaluation of the Effect of Juicing Technique on Phytochemical Profiles and Antioxidant Activities in Common Vegetables” ACS Food Science & Technology With the New Year, many people are making resolutions to eat healthier, by eating more vegetables, for example. But those who don’t like the taste or texture of some vegetables might prefer to drink them in a home-squeezed juice. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Food Science & Technology have found that the choice of household juicing technique can influence the phytochemical content and antioxidant activity of common vegetable juices. Home juicing machines have become popular in recent years, with different types available. For example, blenders crush vegetables with fast, spinning blades, and the resulting juice is typically thick, with much pulp and dietary fiber. In contrast, highspeed centrifugal juicers quickly pulverize veggies and separate out pulp and fiber, making for a thinner juice. Low-speed juice extractors squeeze juice with a horizontal auger that rotates vegetables at a low speed, producing the least heat of the three methods and also removing pulp and fiber. Juicing can alter the levels of health-promoting phytochemicals and antioxidants in raw vegetables by exposing inner tissues to oxygen, light and heat and releasing enzymes. Therefore, Junyi Wang, Guddadarangavvanahally Jayaprakasha and Bhimanagouda
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Patil at Texas A&M University wanted to compare the phytochemical and antioxidant contents of 19 vegetables juiced with these three techniques. After preparing juices with the different methods, the researchers observed that, in general, blending produced juices with the lowest amounts of some beneficial compounds, such as vitamin C, antioxidants and phenolics, probably because the technique produced the most heat. Low-speed juicing generated the highest amounts of beneficial compounds, although exceptions were found for certain vegetables. However, likely because of their higher fiber content, blended vegetable juices had the highest amounts of α-amylase inhibitors, which could help reduce hyperglycemia after a meal. The researchers then used mass spectrometry and chemometrics to identify and quantify 85 metabolites in juices prepared by the three methods, finding that the lowspeed juicer produced more diverse metabolites than the other two methods, but the relative abundances for the three juicing methods differed based on the veggie type. Therefore, different vegetables and juicing methods could produce unique health benefits, the researchers say. The authors acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
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VIDEO and off, with a higher amount of time in the “on position” resulting in larger bubbles. Then, the team made a mobile bubble robot by shifting the laser’s location. Once the laser turned off, the bubbles dissolved slowly, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces dropping the resin in place. The team then combined multiple bubbles with different Robots are widely used to build cars, paint functions to produce microrobots that could airplanes and sew clothing in factories, but lift and drop parts, move single pieces to the assembly of microscopic components, designated positions, act as a rotational axis such as those for biomedical applications, or push assembled objects. Unbreakable has not yet been automated. Lasers could be connections were made with various joints, the solution. Now, researchers reporting in producing three- and four-pronged gears, a ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have snake-shaped chain and a miniature 3D vehiused lasers to create miniature robots from cle. The bubble microrobots have implicabubbles that lift, drop and manipulate small tions for the future of manufacturing, includpieces into interconnected structures. ing biological tissue engineering, the researchers say. As manufacturing has miniaturized, objects are now being constructed that are only a The authors acknowledge funding from the few hundred micrometers long, or about the National Natural Science Foundation of Chithickness of a sheet of paper. But it is hard to na, the Key Research Program of Frontier position such small pieces by hand. In previSciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciencous studies, scientists created microscopic es and the CAS/SAFEA International Partbubbles using light or sound to assemble 2D nership Program for Creative Research items. Also, in a recent experiment, miTeams. https://youtu.be/e6xqh2YuoBY crobubbles produced by lasers, focused and powerful beams of light, could rotate shapes in 3D space. Although these bubble microrobots could manipulate 2D and 3D objects, they could not connect independent components and then move them as a singular entity. So, Niandong Jiao, Lianquing Liu and colleagues wanted to build on their previous work with lasers to develop bubble microbots that can form inseparable shapes and control their movement. “Integrated Assembly and Flexible Movement of Microparts Using Multifunctional Bubble Microrobots”
The researchers created microbubbles in water by focusing a laser underneath a small part made of resin. The bubble’s size was controlled by rapidly switching the laser on February 2021
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DFW Section of the ACS 2021 Chair Trey Putnam Professor Putnam was born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas, USA. He attended Pittsburg State University where he majored in Chemistry and conducted research in polymer chemistry. He was also an NSF -undergraduate research fellow at the University of Oklahoma where he conducted research in X-ray crystallography under Prof. Dick van der Helm. Dr. Putnam then attended Washington University in St. Louis where he earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry under Prof. James K. Bashkin. His research focused on the design and development of artificial ribonucleases as potential novel infectious disease therapeutic agents. Dr. Putnam then moved to the Midwest Research Institute where his research focused on the pharmacology candidate therapeutic agents including developing sensitive analytical and bioanalytical methods. Additional research interests included biomarkers of polycystic kidney disease, catalytic antibodies, and artificial ribonucleases. Dr. Putnam then took an appointment at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center as an Assistant Professor in the School of Pharmacy. He also served as the laboratory director of the Pediatric Pharmacology Research and Development
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Center. Dr. Putnam then moved to Cardinal Health’s Scientific and Regulatory Consulting Division where he provided drug development/regulatory consulting to numerous pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Putnam eventually assumed the role of general manager and was responsible for strategic, managerial, and operational aspects of the business. Following his tenure with Cardinal Health, Dr. Putnam returned to Texas Tech’s School of Pharmacy as a Professor where he remains today. His current research interests include: clinical pharmacology, differential metabolism of disease states, biomarker identification/validation, and advanced analytical/bioanalytical methodology.
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DFW Section of the ACS Chair-Elect 2021 Mihaela C. Stefan Mihaela C. Stefan received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Politehnica University Bucharest, Romania. She worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Matyjaszewski’s group at Carnegie Mellon University from 2002 to 2003. She also worked as a Research Scientist in Richard D. McCullough's group at Carnegie Mellon University on the synthesis of block copolymers containing semiconducting polythiophenes. She joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007, and she is currently an Eugene McDermott Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Natural Science &Mathematics. She received the NSF Career Award in 2010, the NS&M Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and 2017, the Inclusive Teaching Diversity Award in 2012, the President’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2014, and the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring in 2015. Her research group is developing novel organic semiconductors for organic electronics, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers for drug delivery applications, and rare novel catalysts for polymerization of dienes and cyclic esters.
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At the University of Texas at Dallas, she supervised 32 graduate students and 21 Ph.D. students graduated with a Ph.D. under her supervision. She also mentored ~130 undergraduate students who worked on her research lab on various projects.
Around the Area UT Dallas
Assistant Professor Gabriele Meloni received a NSF CAREER Award titled "Plasticity, Promiscuity, and Transport Mechanism in Transmembrane Metal Pumps".
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From the Editor For the first virtual meeting of 2021 of the DFW Section. Angela K. Wilson, National President-Elect of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Wilson will present a talk entitled, “The ACS: Past, Present and Future.” It’s at 6.30 pm this Friday, February 19, and you can access it via zoom (no password required but you’ll have to bring your own snacks!): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7176687551 My favorite press release this month is on the analysis of the bitumen used in mummification by the ancient Egyptians. Bitumean, which is also asphalt or tar, is notoriously hard to analyze. These researchers, Charles Dutoit, Didier Gourier and colleagues, used a non-destructive technique called electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to “…detect two components of bitumen formed during the decomposition of photosynthetic life: vanadyl porphyrins and carbonaceous radicals, which could provide information on the presence, origin and processing of bitumen in the embalming material”. For example, this gives information as to the source of bitumen: marine origin (such as from the Dead Sea) or land-plant origin (from a tar pit). This wasn’t in C&EN, but it was interesting: a group of archaeologists have discovered a large, ancient Egyptian brewery that could produce almost 6,000 gallons of beer when it was up and running 5,000 years ago, in southern Egypt at North Abydos. Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said it was the oldest high-production brewery in the world and was located at a larger ancient funeral site: Ancient Egyptian brewery. We are still under a winter storm warning and a pandemic, so stay warm and stay safe.
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