Archives for 2021
Dai Highly Cited Researcher – 2021
Each year, Clarivate™ identifies the world’s most influential researchers ─ the select few who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade. In 2021, fewer than 6,700, or about 0.1%, of the world’s researchers, in 21 research fields and across multiple fields, have earned this exclusive distinction. Dai is among this elite group recognized for your exceptional research influence, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science™.
Zhao Group Published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
Zhao Group published a communication in J. Am. Chem. Soc. entitled “Adaptable Multivalent Hairy Inorganic Nanoparticles”. Caleb A. Bohannon and Andrew J. Chancellor are the co-first authors. See: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.1c08261
SMaRT Internship Program
Eighteen undergraduate students from across the country have been here this summer working side-by-side in the labs with University of Tennessee, Knoxville faculty and grad assistants, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers.
SMaRT Internship Program
Many of UT’s faculty work in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Lab and contribute to the world-class research that is being done there. The Student Mentoring and Research Training program (SMaRT) seeks to further promote research and utilize our unique partnership with ORNL by funding multiple paid 10-week undergraduate internships that focus on ORNL-related research with a UT faculty member.
About the Program
This research experience is an eleven-month commitment from February to December that is comprised of a training period in the spring, a full-time paid internship in the summer, and a reporting period (presentation of your research) in the fall.
During the summer internship component, students will work alongside a UT faculty mentor in an ORNL-related lab on UT’s campus or at ORNL. Applicants must choose to do research within one of ORNL’s six main research divisions:
- Computing and Computational Sciences
- Energy and Environmental Sciences
- National Security
- Neutron Sciences
- Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Physical Sciences
Learn more about the programhttps://ugresearch.utk.edu/students/find-opportunities/smart-internship-program/
Alum Spotlight – Neal
Sabine Neal, born and raised in western Montana, graduated with her PhD working with the Musfeldt Lab in May 2021.
“The Musfeldt lab provided me with a lot of opportunity. Musfeldt knew I was a single parent and looked past that, believing in me, and giving me so many invaluable experiences,” Neal said. “I had a chance to work at two national labs, collaborate with scientists all over the world, travel to conferences, and employ cutting edge technology to study two-dimensional systems.”
Neal began working at Brookhaven National Lab in January 2021 as a Research Associate in Materials Science as a part of the Interface Science and Catalysis group at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials.
Neal’s expertise primarily lies in infrared and Raman spectroscopy and currently works on a broad array of instrumentation including both NanoIR, Photothermal, and nanoprobe systems to study high energy materials. She also uses LEEM and LEED to grow and characterize thin films.
“UT’s chemistry graduate program helped me prepare in several ways. First, the hands-on training in the lab was crucial. I know how to trouble shoot, maintain lab equipment, and work independently. Second, the many conferences, visitor presentations, and group talks helped to cultivate my communication skills,” Neal said. “Being a TA also helped me learn how to communicate effectively to different groups/skill levels of people. I really enjoyed working with the students and general chemistry staff. Finally, I had three stand-out professors that aided in my personal journey to obtain my degree: Musfeldt, Sharma, and Kilbey.”
“As a single parent, most people have told me what I couldn’t do. I couldn’t get a bachelor’s degree. I did. I couldn’t get a master’s. I did. And most wouldn’t have believed I could earn a PhD. But I did,” Neal said. “You can do anything that you want if you put your mind to it and work hard. Stand up for yourself. Do what makes you happy. There is no limit!”
Graduate Student Spotlight – Halstenberg
Phillip Halstenberg is a chemistry graduate student currently conducting research in the Dai Group.
Halstenberg is originally from Kannapolis, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for his BS in chemistry where he began working in the chemistry laboratories under the guidance of Dr. S. Bart Jones and Dr. Robert Hancock.
Sheng Dai, Professor and ORNL-UT Joint Faculty was invited to give a presentation during the UNCW’s guests lecture series. Dai visited the labs and met Halstenberg as their lab was collaborating with Dai on complexometric titrations related to the Uranium from Seawater Project. “We spoke about my efforts toward the research objectives and my plans for medical school and my intention to work for a year or so prior to applying,” Halstenberg said. “He told me that if I was interested, I could continue my work toward the Uranium from Seawater Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during my gap year. I quickly expressed interest in the opportunity and subsequently began work as an intern via the Higher Education Research Experience program offered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities.”
“A few years later I was still working at ORNL now a Post Bachelor Research Associate long since deciding my calling was not toward medical, but chemical sciences,” Halstenberg said. “I soon realized that in competitive research environments, such as a national laboratory, a PhD can be a requirement for certain advancement opportunities.
Halstenberg had been working on projects related to the most recently developed, generation IV, nuclear reactors for about a year when he decided to apply to chemistry PhD programs. “I feel strongly that technology related to the latest molten salt reactors will have a substantial societal impact if developed and implemented correctly,” Halstenberg said “My goal was to enter a graduate program where I could work toward furthering our understanding of these systems from a fundamental chemistry perspective.”
Sheng Dai had joined the efforts of recently established Energy Frontier Research Center: Molten Salts in Extreme Environments and the Nuclear Energy University Program. “We spoke about my efforts toward molten salt, and I decided to attend UTK and complete my PhD working for these programs,” Halstenberg said. “It helped my decision when I realized that UTK was home to Gleb Mamantov, who made many of the first breakthroughs in molten salt research ~60 years ago. ORNL has also always been on the cutting edge of these molten salt reactors.”
Halstenberg’s research focus is molten chloride salts. Over the last three years, he has built a world class experimental salt chemistry facility in Buehler Hall on UTK’s main campus. These labs support research efforts related to molten chloride salts worldwide. All the experiments are related to understanding the fundamental chemical interaction in molten chloride systems. The facility provides the salt matrices required across all of the collaborating institutions and assist in the development of their experimental methodology.
“In addition to providing the salt mixtures, the focus of my molten salt work in the UTK laboratory is the quantifying impurities, spectroscopic speciation studies, characterization of thermophysical properties, characterization of colloidal mixture properties, development of ultra-high temperature magnets, bulk metallic glass formation and analysis, containment corrosion studies, and novel synthetic pathways,” Halstenberg said.
“I enjoy the diversity of research being conducted within the Dai group,” Halstenberg said. “This coupled with the encouragement of a collaborative group effort results in an environment that is very conducive to research progress.”
“Much of my work prior to graduate school was covered under various confidentiality agreements that prohibited its open publishing,” Halstenberg said. “Although, I have coauthored 16 peer reviewed journal articles since entering graduate school in 2018.”
“Upon graduation, I will continue working with national laboratories on research toward advancing the fundamental chemical understanding of these molten chloride systems. After proper technological maturation, I intend to move from research to development,” Halstenberg said. “I will take the knowledge I have gained synthesizing and purifying these materials on a laboratory scale and use it to build the supply chains needed to provide materials for industrial scale production of molten salt reactors.”
Passing of Gerald G. Gibson
Gerald W. Gibson
October 27, 1937 – May 20, 2021
Dr. Gerald W. Gibson, father, husband, granddaddy, and President Emeritus of Maryville College, passed away on Thursday, May 20, 2021, following an extended illness. He was 83. He was a member of New Providence Presbyterian Church in Maryville, Tenn.
Gibson enjoyed a 45 year career in higher education and often reminded his family, “Knowledge is power.” A native of Saluda County, S.C., he spent much of his childhood in Spartanburg. He studied chemistry and earned degrees at Wofford College (BS) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (PhD) and served as a member of the United States Army Chemical Corps prior to joining the faculty at the College of Charleston in 1965. He served as chair of the chemistry department at the College of Charleston from 1968 until 1982, when he was named associate provost for academic affairs at the College. In 1984, he left to become vice president and dean of Roanoke College in Salem, Va., where he served for the next nine years.
Gibson was inaugurated as Maryville College’s 10th president in 1993 and retired in 2010. Credited with leading the College into its current state of historic strength, he took the helm when enrollment at MC was 752 students, and the College’s endowment was valued at around $12.5 million. At the conclusion of his 17 year tenure, the College had celebrated a record enrollment of 1,176 undergraduates and an endowment value of $55 million.
Arrangements by Smith Funeral & Cremation Service, Maryville, Tenn.
Why Are Some Mushrooms Poisonous?
Karen Hughes, University of Tennessee
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.
Why are some mushrooms poisonous and some are not? – Alice T., age 11
You may have noticed that mushrooms pop up in your yard or in parks right after a rain but don’t last for long.
A mushroom is the above-ground part of a fungus. Most of the time, fungi live as threadlike structures called hyphae underground or in materials like wood. For fungi to reproduce, a mushroom must form above ground.
Some mushrooms are poisonous for the same reason some plants are poisonous – to protect themselves from being eaten so they can reproduce. Other mushrooms use the opposite strategy. They need animals to eat them in order to spread spores through poop. Still other mushrooms have completely different game plans.
Spreading spores
Mushrooms develop when the temperature is right and there is enough water. They usually consist of a cap and a stalk. On the underside of the cap, mushrooms produce spores that, like the seeds of plants, produce new fungi.
If you peek under a variety of mushroom caps, you will notice they are not all the same.
Some mushrooms have gills that look like a pleated sheet of paper. Some have pores that look like sponges. And some have toothlike structures. All of these surfaces produce spores. To create a new generation of fungi, spores need to get to new areas – and there are many fascinating ways mushrooms accomplish this.
For some mushrooms, spores simply fall from their caps and are carried to new homes by air currents.
Other mushrooms attract insects by glowing at night. The glow from fungi in the woods at night can be very strong and is sometimes called foxfire. Insects, which are attracted to the light, inadvertently pick up spores as they investigate the glow and carry them elsewhere when they move on.
Some mushrooms never form an above-ground structure. Instead the mushroom stays underground and is eaten by squirrels and mice, which spread the spores by taking pieces back to their nests and by pooping. Such mushrooms are called truffles, and sometimes people will pay a lot of money for them.
A window of opportunity
Since mushrooms don’t last long, it’s important they spread their spores quickly. This is where poisons and toxins can come in.
Mushrooms are pretty tasty to snails, some insects, beetles, chipmunks, squirrels, deer and people. If an animal eats a mushroom, usually its spores are lost – unless they’re the type encased in a protective covering meant to be carried to a new neighborhood in poop.
Scientists have figured out that insects and snails avoid eating mushrooms that contain poison. Some mushroom poisons may make the eater only sick enough to avoid that species in the future, but some can be fatal.
There are many different mushroom poisons. One kind belongs to a group of very beautiful mushrooms, the amanitas, also called “destroying angels” because they are both pretty and deadly. Amanitas are often mistaken for mushrooms that can be eaten, and they cause several deaths worldwide each year.
People use some mushroom poisons in medicine. The poison of the ergot fungus, for example, was developed into a drug used to prevent migraine headaches.
Approximately 1%-2% of mushrooms are poisonous to humans. The common term for such a mushroom is a “toadstool,” but there is no easy way to distinguish a poisonous mushroom from one that is edible. So it’s not a good idea to eat mushrooms you find, because it’s hard to be sure whether they’re poisonous or not.
Many mushrooms are healthy and delicious. Just make sure you get them from a store or from someone who is a mushroom expert.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
Karen Hughes, Professor of Mycology, University of Tennessee
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Dai Group Published in Nature Communications
The Dai Group published their collaborative research “Formation of three-dimensional bicontinuous structures via molten salt dealloying studied in real-time by in situ synchrotron X-ray nano-tomography” in Nature Communications.
Three-dimensional bicontinuous porous materials formed by dealloying contribute significantly to various applications including catalysis, sensor development and energy storage. This work studies a method of molten salt dealloying via real-time in situ synchrotron three-dimensional X-ray nano-tomography.
Quantification of morphological parameters determined that long-range diffusion is the rate-determining step for the dealloying process. The subsequent coarsening rate was primarily surface diffusion controlled, with Rayleigh instability leading to ligament pinch-off and creating isolated bubbles in ligaments, while bulk diffusion leads to a slight densification. Chemical environments characterized by X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopic imaging show that molten salt dealloying prevents surface oxidation of the metal.
“In this work, gaining a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the molten salt dealloying process in forming porous structures provides a nontoxic, tunable dealloying technique and has important implications for molten salt corrosion processes, which is one of the major challenges in molten salt reactors and concentrated solar power plants,” said Phillip Halstenberg, graduate student in the Dai Group.
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