Kelsey Boes scientific illustration
Kelsey Boes scientific illustration
Renewable Additives The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is investigating the feasibility of using bio-oil as a renewable additive for diesel fuels.
diesel without additive
diesel with additive
What is bio-oil?
Improving Performance
Can we use it all?
Bio-oil is the liquid product of degrading plant matter by heat and is a very complex mixture.
Specific compounds in bio-oil have been shown to improve performance and decrease emissions when added to diesel. They do this by disrupting the intermolecular bonds in diesel, allowing it to combust more quickly and efficiently.
This project is determining whether the entirety of bio-oil can be used as an additive and not just the specific pure compounds.
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Quantitation by Mass Spectrometry Mass spectrometry is not inherently quantitative. The height of a peak in a mass spectrum does not directly correlate to the concentration of the corresponding molecule. Instead, peak height correlates to the number of charged molecules, called ions.
Ideal Ionization If every molecule gained a charge and became an ion, then peak height in a mass spectrum would tell the quantity of that molecule in the solution.
Actual Ionization In reality, not every molecule becomes an ion because there is limited charge available and some molecules are better at grabbing this charge than others. This is called ion suppression.
Internal Standards Combat Uneven Ionization To combat ion suppression, we use internal standards. Internal standards are compounds equally as good as the analyte at grabbing charge. Then instead of monitoring the height of an analyte peak, we monitor the ratio of the analyte peak to internal standard peak.
1
Add equal amounts of internal standard to each standard in the quantitation curve and generate mass spectra.
2
Plot the ratio of analyte peak height to internal standard peak height (A/IS) against concentration.
3
Add the same amount of internal standard to a real sample and generate mass spectrum.
quantify
On the quantitation curve, plot the ratio of analyte peak to internal standard peak (R/IS) in the real sample to quantify. pr es e n tat i o n g r a phi c s
Schema of Mass Spectrometer Many of my labmates were using low resolution schemas of our mass spectrometer that lacked helpful labels. I wanted a minimal and descriptive schema that could be understood even if I was away from my poster. This particluar schema was designed for the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference July 2015 and has been used in many forms and capacities since.
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Majority of Product Thrown Away Biofuel refineries, which turn plant matter into fuel, are inefficient and wasteful. Current practice makes use of a small fraction of the products and discards the rest.
Plant-based Substitutes for Oil A multi-year project in the Department of Forest and Biomaterials and North Carolina State University seeks to understand and improve the process of converting plants into useful biomaterials. The goal: economic and environmental viability for biofuel refineries.
New Feedstocks By understanding how the plant used affects the resulting bio-oil, refineries can substitue corn with less expensive feedstocks such as pine bark and switchgrass.
Cleaner Processes Studying the reactions that occur when converting plant matter to fuel allows the refinery to tailor temperature and other parameters to lower emissions and produce more desirable products.
More End Uses Understanding and optimizing the composition of bio-oils will increase their utility as transportation fuels, chemical building blocks, and biomaterial replacement for oil-based plastics.
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Eliminating Sample PReparation in Complex Mixture Analysis
Usually Time-Consuming
No Sample Preparation
Dopant Injection
When analyzing complex mixtures with mass spectrometry, time-consuming sample preparation is typically required to separate the solution into simpler fractions.
This new method allows analysis of complex lignocellulosic mixtures (eg. bio-oil or maple syrup) without the lengthy preparation.
Researchers simply simultaneously inject the mixture and one of two dopants directly into the mass spectrometer, using a T-junction.
Separation During Ionization If the dopant hydroxide (OH-) is being used, the lignin compounds will appear taller in the spectrum and easy to spot. If the dopant chloride (Cl-) is used, carbohydrate compounds will appear taller. pa pe r g r a phi c s
Website for Vinueza Labs With the dual goals of drawing in collaborators and new graduate students, I tailored the Vinueza Labs website to be both professional and inviting. Mixed in with instrument specifications and publications lists are playful portraits of the lab members in our award-winning library. Although the lab has chosen to only update the website annually, it remains a succinct summary of Vinueza Lab’s research interests. Check out the website here.
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forging the landscape of mass spectrometry analysis
Logo for Vinueza Labs Tasked with designing a logo for my fledgling lab group, I wanted a mark that covered the breadth of our research foci: forensics, renewable fuels, and dye degradation. The words I chose to encompass were modern, versatile, and descriptive. I chose a mass spectrometry vial with a mass spectrum laid over the landscape of the sample inside and the tagline: “forging the landscape of mass spectrometry analysis.� lo g o d es i g n
A pe aro hi revie fit n
a periodic Tale I always love a good puzzle and I’m stickler for clean design, so when assigned to make a poster on the history of the periodic table, I knew I could not settle for normal. The first poster in my series of periodic table posters was a blast: a collection of eighteen quirky depictions of elements paired with a limerick and a comic. Peers and professors alike crowded around to puzzle out the element that each icon represented, giggling at the sneaky ones and indignantly flustered with the more obscure.
eculiar fellow, BĂŠguyer \ Wrapped the elements ound a skewer \ But his handwriting sucked \ So is paper was chucked \ It was too messy for the ewer \\ Dobereiner put them into threes \ Some nicely and some were a squeeze \ Dobereiner put p o st e r d es i g n
Elements in the Wild For my nephew’s first birthday, I took three of the elements icons and created a set of playful 12” x 16” screen-printed posters for his nursery.
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Thirty Elements and Where to Find Them I reimagined “A Periodic Tale” as a visual puzzle titled “Thirty Elements & Where to Find Them” to be printed as posters and t-shirts. Through my Kickstarter campaign, I raised over $1000 to produce and distribute the project. Visit the website to watch the promotional video.
Global Reach Clean Design These well-designed and mentally engaging chemistry posters and t-shirts hit all three: good design, a good puzzle, and good science.
The t-shirts have been donned by chemistry enthusiasts as far spread as India, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg sharing their chemistry prowess in a fun and accessible way with the friends and strangers they encounter.
Universal Language Through non-text-based graphics, I can spread enthusiasm and knowledge of chemistry, not only among viewers of all ages in my country but also with nonEnglish speakers globally.
t - s hirt a n d p o st e r d es i g n
KELSEY S. BOES Contact
Expertise
Email: kelsey.boes@gmail.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kelsboes/
Print Design
Education
Adobe InDesign Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
BS in Chemistry Wheaton College | Wheaton, IL BA in Studio Art — concentration in Textile Design Wheaton College | Wheaton, IL PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC
Web Design
related Experience
Movie and Sound Editing
Blogger Wordpress Squarespace
Photography Product Styling Portrait Photography iMovie Garageband
Creative Director — Lovely and Enough (visit website) • web designer and webmaster – average weekly readership: 515 page views • primary content creator (images and blog posts) –increased instagram engagement by 93% over past year (1.3k followers) Design Consultant — The Quilter’s Planner (visit website) • logo designer and initial design consultant for planner layout and style Conference Organizer — ComSciCon-Triangle 2017 (visit website) • organized third annual conference to teach effective public science communication Graduate Research Assistant — North Carolina State University • logo and web designer for Vinueza Labs (visit website) • research graphic creator for posters, papers, and presentations
p o rt fo l i o c o l l ec t e d s prin g 2017
Thank you for exploring the highlights of my work. For collaborations and freelance inquiries, please contact me at kelsey.boes@gmail.com Above: The pH indicator phenolpthalein is clear in acidic or neutral conditions but turns a beautiful magenta when base is added to the solution. It will remain magenta if the solution’s equilibrated pH ≼ 8. This indicator is often used in high school and undergraduate chemistry labs for titrations.