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July 2019

Archives for July 2019

Dai Selected Winner of 2020 Max Bredig Award

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Dai wins Electrochemical Society’s Max Bredig Award Prof. Sheng Dai has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquid Chemistry.

The award from the Physical & Analytical Electrochemistry Division of the Electrochemical Society will be presented at the Pacific Rim International Meeting on Electrochemistry and Solid State Science 2020 meeting held in Honolulu, Hawaii October 4 – October 9, 2020.

This award was established through contributions from ARCO Metals Company and the Aluminum Company of America and recognizes scientists who have made significant scientific contributions to the area of Molten Salts and Ionic Liquids.

Brantley Group Published in JACS

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The Brantley group published their first publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). Their research explores synthesis and reactivity of metallocarbene-containing polymers.

Metallopolymers are an emerging class of materials with potential uses such as semiconductors, catalysts, optical device components, and stimuli responsive networks. While polymer frameworks have been decorated with various organometallic species, the incorporation of metallocarbenes has been largely overlooked. 

Breana Wilson, graduate student in Brantley Lab

“In our article, we report ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) as a strategy for the synthesis of Fischer carbene-containing polymers,” Breana Wilson said. “These polymers could be made with a wide range of molecular weights and exhibited exceptional stability.”

The tungsten carbene subunits could be incorporated into block copolymers, as well as undergo post synthetic modification. Moreover, the metallocarbene polymers were found to release carbon monoxide (CO) upon exposure to light or oxygen.

Wilson said, “These metallocarbene-containing polymers could represent new platforms for the development of functional materials.”

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b04077
“Synthesis and Reactivity of Metallocarbene-Containing Polymers”

UT Recognizes ACS for Research Support

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Tom Connelly, current executive director and CEO of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and UT alum Diane Schmidt, former president ACS, visited with faculty, staff, and students from the University of Tennessee’s Department of Chemistry July 17. During their visit, the pair also met with key UT personnel and toured research facilities. Connelly, on behalf of the ACS, was honored for continuing investments in the college.

The American Chemical Society is a pillar of the scientific community and the premiere organization of chemistry advocates in the nation. The ACS maintains that role by bringing together the foremost minds in the field at its nationally recognized conferences, providing vast resources to academic and research-based institutions, and spearheading the industry’s outreach programs. 

Though predominantly US based, the ACS has started to expand its international community building efforts with the formulation of both The Atlantic Basin and Pacific Chem conferences. These international specialty conferences, among other dedicated communication efforts, aim to provide networking opportunities and informational support to individuals from around the world. ACS’s stated mission is “To advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people.”

“The University of Tennessee is a strong participant in the chemistry enterprise and as such, the university has and continues to enjoy strong ACS support,” Connelly said. “UT regularly maintains representation at the national conferences, contributes and benefits from ACS informational exchange programs, and maintains a strong student chapter.”

Connelly and Schmidt recognized the compelling efforts of both chemistry faculty and their labs. Connelly will report his findings to the ACS board of directors. Future improvements to ACS/UT relations will include improved communications and increased involvement.

“When you receive your degree, they tell you to have all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges conferred by that degree, and I personally feel that one of those rights, responsibilities, and privileges is belonging to the American Chemistry Society,” Schmidt said.

 

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Vogiatzis Group Published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

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Electronic structure theory describes the motions of electrons in atoms or molecules, and provides a versatile framework for the calculation of molecular geometries, chemical bonding, electronic and spectroscopic properties, reaction barriers, intermolecular interactions, and more. Wave function theory-based methods such as coupled-cluster methods, provide accurate results in a systematic manner, but they typically carry a significant computational cost.

One of the targets of research in Vogiatzis’s group is to accelerate electronic structure theory calculations using machine-learning, which is the field of study that allows computers to learn connections in data without explicit programming.

Machine learning has changed our lives through improved speech recognition, automated vehicle operation, optimized web searching and recommendation, and beyond. Graduate student Jacob Townsend mentions, “Our goal is to take this technology, and allow our calculations to learn from previously executed calculations without introducing any approximations or alchemical approaches. Therefore, the desirable accuracy is reached with significantly less computational effort.”

In their recent publication entitled “Data-Driven Acceleration of the Coupled-Cluster Singles and Doubles Iterative Solver” published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, the team introduces a novel strategy to accomplish this speedup in a goal to change the way we will execute calculations in the future.