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ACGS Held Bake Sale to Help Ownby Family

January 20, 2013 by Kayla Lang

Association of Chemistry Graduate Students (ACGS) held a bake sale on January 17 and 18 in the chemistry tutorial center to help Ownby family, whose house was burned down two weeks ago. Marilyn Ownby works for the Chemistry Department in the general chemistry lab.

An email calling for participation was sent two weeks prior to the bake sale. Over thirty people volunteered to bake. Baked goods ranged from freshly baked loaves of bread to brownies to cheesecakes.

More than a hundred faculty, students and staff showed up during the two days of sale and contributed over a thousand dollars in total.

“The idea was to provide a more accessible way for graduates and undergraduates to help.” Sam Rosolina, Community Service Chair of ACGS said. “With a limited disposable income it’s hard for us to see our few dollars going far for causes like this, but this sale was proof that a little can go a long way when so many people are involved.”

Rosolina was also surprised to see how many undergraduate students came to show support once they found out what the cause was.

Almost everyone in the Department participated and helped to organize the event. “I want to especially thank Pam Roach and Christiane Barnes who performed large roles in making the event happen.” said Rosolina.

Fundraising is still going on for Ownby family. If you would like to make a donation, please following the link created by their daughter http://www.giveforward.com/reliefforfirevictims.

Chemistry Department Held BoV Career Workshop

January 15, 2013 by Kayla Lang

The Department of Chemistry held 2013 Board of Visitors Career Workshop Unveiling the Mystique of Industry and Government Jobs, co-sponsored by Association of Chemistry Graduate Students, on Thursday, January 10 from 1pm to 5pm in Buehler Hall 511.

Six speakers, all on Chemistry Board of Visitors, are from industry, ORAU and ORNL. They were invited to give talks on different aspects of job hunting including interviewing and hiring process, resume building, dos and don’ts during on-site interviews, identifying jobs, government jobs and specifics about being a chemist at ORNL. Each speaker gave a presentation and took questions both during and after their presentations.

32 graduate students attended the workshop. A survey conducted afterwards shows that all students found it useful. “I thorougly enjoyed the workshop.” Morgan McConico, a graduate student from Vogt’s group said, “Before the workshop I had several open ended questions, and after the workshop I feel that all of my questions have been answered.  I now feel better equipped for the entire process of applying and interviewing for jobs.” McConico is expected to graduate in May and is actively looking for jobs in industry.

Not only students, but also BOV members enjoyed the workshop. “One of the greatest personal rewards I enjoy is meeting students.” Warren Schmidt, Chemistry BOV member said, “I look forward to my visits to UT as an opportunity to meet some more of our future leaders and scientists. In this workshop, I was pleased with the pre-work completed by many of the students, their attention to the presentations, and especially the quality of the questions.”

Naixiong (David) Jin, a graduate student from Zhao’s Group was especially thankful for the variety of speakers this workshop has brought together. “The speakers had extended experience in the hiring process either for industrial jobs or positions in national laboratories. They shared many details and useful tips all the way from resume preparation to on-site interviews.” Jin will also graduate in May and is open to all opportunities in industry, national laboratories and universities.

Positive feedbacks and constructive suggestions have strengthened the belief that this is a constant need of the students. “If possible, we plan to host this workshop every year.” Rachel Rui, Development Coordinator of the Department said. “We may also bring some students who recently graduated and found jobs to share their succesful stories. So the students are able to get information from two different perspectives.”

Rebecca Horton Article Featured on Cover of Analytica Chimica Acta

September 26, 2012 by Kayla Lang

Dr. Rebecca Horton, a student graduated from Professor Vogt’s group in May 2012 had her article featured on the cover of October 2012 issue of Analytica Chimica Acta.

The artilce entitled ” Introducing nonlinear, multivariate ‘Predictor Surfaces’ for quantitative modeling of chemical systems with higher-order, coupled predictor variables ” introduced ‘Predictor Surfaces’, an innovative chemometrics tool developed for studies of more chemically complex systems such as biological materials in order to ensure accurate quantitative analyses and proper chemical modeling for in-depth studies of such systems.

“Understanding the biochemical interactions microalgae have with their environment is key in studying the effects of environmental contaminants.” Horton commented on the significance of her study. “Since microalgae respond to their environments in a nonlinear fashion, a novel method for investigating these responses was necessary. While this work has been applied to the study of microalgae, these algorithms open new possibilities for studying a variety of nonlinear systems and responses, both biological and chemical.”

Horton came to UT from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN. Her achievements in research involve growing microalgae under different environmental conditions along with sample preparation methods for spectroscopic analyses and complex chemometric algorithms for studying biological processes. This work also resulted in a publication in Applied Spectroscopy in 2011. She recently received a travel award from Eastman Chemical Company for presenting her work at the ACS National Meeting and won the 2010 Chemistry Board of Visitors Poster Competition.

Sepaniak Group Received NSF Funding

September 18, 2012 by Kayla Lang

With funding of $400,000 from National Science Fundation, and support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Michael Sepaniak at University of Tennessee, Knoxville and his group will tackle the challenges of creating pillar arrays for chemical separations (PACS) that function as miniaturized liquid phase separation systems.

An original processing sequence for the fabrication of high aspect ratio pillars yields mechanically robust systems. Importantly, the characteristic morphologies in the implemented highly ordered pillar arrays are scalable to nanometer dimensions. Thus the fluidic structures, operated in enclosed pressure-driven or open capillary action-driven modes, offer the potential for substantial improvements in separation efficiency and permeability over traditional packed and monolithic columns, as well as traditional thin layer chromatography plates. PACS provides an alternative approach to separation media with precisely controlled nano- and micro-scale architectures. New insights into the retention mechanisms in nanoscale fluidic systems are expected.

Moreover, advanced lithographic techniques will be used to create for the first time uniform pillar structures suitable for high performance open format, 2-D spatial separations.In addition to the scientific objectives of this proposal, an underpinning goal is to introduce young researchers (high school through undergraduate) to cross-disciplinary science and technology ranging from microfabrication and nanotechnology, studies of surface properties, the development of new instrumental approaches to separations, fluidics, and ultra-low volume detection/imaging.

General Chemistry Redefined: Chemistry for the 21st Century

September 12, 2012 by Kayla Lang

Modern chemistry laboratories have witnessed many striking advancements in the past few decades as computers have been integrated into almost every facet  of the collection, processing and storage of measurement data. The introductory chemistry sequence (our beloved Gen Chem), introduces students to the fundamental concepts in chemistry as well as basic techniques used to mea­sure the properties of compounds and materials. After more than 30 years of tinkering with this course, the chemistry department undertook a major redesign of General Chemistry and its laboratory. In the Fall of 2012 the new curriculum was unveiled to the main body of undergraduate students (~2000!) that take it every year.

About six years ago, Craig Barnes, professor and former head of the chemistry department, saw the need to redesign the general chemistry program to fit the needs of modern chemistry education. A committee, composed of faculty, instructors and graduate teaching assistants was formed two years ago to begin working on this challenging project. They decided to look closely at the two main parts of the course – the text and the laboratory – and make whatever changes were needed.

“The General Chemistry lab really needed to be updated.” said Barnes, “Some of the current labs had not changed much in several decades, while the modern chemistry laboratory doesn’t look at all the same.”

To start the process, Barnes was successful in a proposal to the College of Arts and Sciences to outfit the Honors Chemistry laboratory with new computer interfaced lab stations, one for every two students. The next year 25 MeasureNet (MNet) stations were installed and Jeff Kovac, Professor and Director of the College Scholars Program, who has taught Honors Chemistry for many years, took on the task of developing new MeasureNet labs for his students.

“MeasureNet has allowed us to perform some experiments that we could not do in the past.” Kovac said. “For example, we can now use the MeasureNet advanced colorimeter to follow the kinetics of a chemical reaction spectroscopically. It has also allowed students to collect higher quality data that can be processed using Excel.” Kovac continued, “Modern science uses electronic, computer-controlled equipment, not the traditional glassware of the chemistry lab. What we try to do is to mix the older techniques with the more modern.”

After a year and a half of developing and testing new labs, the department felt it was ready to take the leap and introduce MeasureNet into the main General Chemistry sequence.  “It’s a lot of work to make such a big change in a lab taken by almost 2,000 students each semester,” Barnes said, “we also knew we’d have to rewrite the lab manual because you have to first understand MeasureNet, then you have to modify all the procedures that were written for hand data collection.”

There was also the question of how to fund such a massive overhaul of the lab. Barnes again went to the College and, with the positive responses from students in Honors Chemistry, was able to secure the funds needed to bring MeasureNet to the main body of UT students starting out in General Chemistry.

In total, the College of Arts and Sciences has invested over $500,000 toward the redesign of the entire undergraduate general chemistry program at UTK which culminated in the installation of 150 MeasureNet instrument stations in the General Chemistry labs with twenty computer hubs during the summer of 2011.

“Without the support of the College and upper administration at UTK we could never have even dreamed of pulling this off. This is a testament to the importance of undergraduate education here.” Barnes said.

The newly installed MNet system is a network-based electronic data acquisition interface. It performs data acquisition tasks that enables users to monitor, collect, store, and disseminate laboratory data, as well as share lab instruments. While there is still value in learning traditional lab methods, Kovac believes that it is essential to show students how things are done in both research and industrial labs in the 21st century. Each two students have their own MeasureNet station with which to collect data such as temperature, time, pressure, pH, etc.

“Having both used and taught with MeasureNet, I can honestly say that it was probably my favorite part of General Chemistry Lab.” James Humble, a recent chemistry graduate in the Chancellor’s Honors Program and undergraduate teaching assistant, said. “It made performing experiments, especially titrations, much easier and more interesting because we actually had time to think about what our data meant and to observe the experiment instead of simply mindlessly recording dozens of data points.”

“The laboratory makeover not only benefits the first-year students, but will help improve their preparation and success as they go on to take upper-level chemistry courses, “ said Al Hazari, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories.

Although MeasureNet gave committee the opportunity to review the entire lab manual, Barnes mentioned that it’s only one of the reasons why the manuals all need to be re-written. “The last edition was written almost 15 years ago. Most of the experiments needed major updates and several brand new labs were developed.”  Heather Bass, graduate teaching associate and student member of committee, said besides integrating MeasureNet information into the lab manuals, another major change is “making sure that labs and topics covered in section coincide better than in the past, so that students would actually see the material for lab before the actual lab itself. This way they have a better grasp on what is going on.”

While this was going on, the committee had also been working for almost two years to consider new text books for the introductory chemistry sequence and rewrite the lab manual for the course.  Along with the teaching lab make over, as part of redesigning the General Chemistry program, the Department also published a newly customized text book in collaboration with Pearson Publishing. With more than 60 pages added to the introduction, the text book is specifically tailored towards students taking classes in the UT Chemistry Department.

“We were able to rearrange some materials in the text book to meet our curriculum needs.” Barnes said. “What is really new is the section at the beginning of the book which describes our department, the curriculum and possible careers in chemistry to students just as they begin their studies here at UT.”  The added section also includes study tips, departmental information, tutoring information, and advising information for chemistry majors and minors. Although a lot of these materials were available online or through various sources, the committee consolidated this information and provided them to the students in one location.

“Many students need assistance while taking general chemistry, and although there are an abundance of resources available, many students aren’t aware of all the possible avenues of help.” Belinda Lady, graduate teaching assistant and member of the committee said. “Now instructors can direct students to this section of the custom textbook.”

The new Chem120 laboratory manual is in the hands of the students this semester with the MeasureNet stations in the laboratory.  The final touches are being put on the new Chem130 manual as it goes to the printers for next semester.  “Without a doubt we will find things to change and keep making the experiments better, but it sure feels good to have ‘version 1.0’ done.” the committee said.

UT Receives NSF Award to Commercialize Discovery

September 11, 2012 by Kayla Lang

Jimmy Mays, a chemistry professor at UT Knoxville, has developed a substance that promises to replace conventional rubber in many products with something that is stronger, greener, and easier to recycle. Now he’s joining forces with the College of Business Administration’s Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to turn his new discovery into a game-changing business.

UT will receive $600,000 over two years from the National Science Foundation through its “Partnerships for Innovation” program to commercialize and optimize Mays’ newfound “superelastomers.” This is UT’s first NSF award focused on commercialization of research, and it is the Anderson Center’s first NSF award.

Superelastomers are polymers that can be repeatedly stretched without permanently deforming the shape of the material. They can be stretched further than ordinary elastomers (or rubbers). What makes superelastomers “super” is that they hold promise for improved strength, recyclability and more efficient processing of materials used in many different products. This revolutionary new concept would open up applications in many areas, such as toothbrushes, gloves, skin care, audio devices, and filtering technologies.

Jenkins Group Paper Highlighted in RSC Blog

August 2, 2012 by Kayla Lang

The Jenkins Group published a paper entitled “Exploiting a Dimeric Silver Transmetallating Reagent to Synthesize Macrocyclic Tetracarbene Complexes“in Chemical Science. The paper was also highlighted in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Chemical Science blog.

The paper, co-authored by Zheng Lu, Alan Cramer and David Jenkins, showcases a general synthetic method to prepare macrocyclic tetracarbenes with first, second and third row transition metals from both sides of the periodic table, using a dimeric silver transmetallating reagent. These silver transmetallation reactions demonstrate a generalized process, wider metal variety, and higher product yields than other typical synthetic methods for preparing polydentate carbene complexes.  Their synthetic advance lifts these intriguing compounds out of the realm of curiosities and opens up avenues to their future study and application.

Chemical Science, published by RSC Publishing is a journal for findings of exceptional significance from across the chemical sciences. This monthly journal launched in 2010 and was awarded The Best New Journal 2011 by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.

Professor Camden Received NSF CAREER Award

July 15, 2012 by Kayla Lang

Jon Camden, an assistant professor of analytical chemistry at UTK, has been announced as a recipient of the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation.

CAREER award is one of “the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.”

Camden’s award includes a 5-year $600,000 grant to support his research and educational activities. “The CAREER recognizes the potential of our research to be transformative and to integrate our research mission with education. This award will have a major impact on our efforts and it is a privilege for which I am very grateful.” Camden said.

Funding from this award will be used to develop surface nonlinear spectroscopy as an analytical method for probing the two-photon properties of molecules, surface adsorbate structure, and ultrasensitive detection.  Camden group will pursue detailed comparisons between experiment and theory. “This work is fundamental in that it explores how molecules adsorbed on nanoparticles scatter light, and it provides much needed experiments for the benchmarking of new theoretical methods of calculating nonlinear molecular properties.” Camden added, “It also has the potential to impact a wide range of practical applications such as catalysis and renewable energy production.”

In addition to the scientific endeavor, Camden group seeks to increase the number of high-school students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors in college. In collaboration with Debbie Sayers, a Chemistry Teacher at Hardin Valley Academy, Camden and his group will provide curricular enrichment to local public high-schools through the creation of ASPIRE teams (Aspiring Scientists Participating in Research and Education).  ASPIRE teams will deliver hands-on laboratory experiments to local high school classrooms once a month during the regular school year, for a total of six activities.

Professor Baker Named 2012 ACS Fellow

July 12, 2012 by Kayla Lang

David Baker, Professor of Chemistry Department is inducted into the 2012 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.

As stated in a letter issued by the Chair of ACS Fellows Oversight Committee, Dr. John Adams, “ACS Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected for their achievements in and contributions to the sciences and for providing volunteer service to the ACS community.”

The 2012 ACS Fellows will be honored at a special ceremony during the ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia on Monday, August 20. The official list appeared in the July 23 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN).

The ACS Fellows program began in December 2008. This year’s Fellows represent 23 technical divisions and 52 local sections and reflect a wide range of disciplines and geographic locations. Additional information about the program is available here.

Charles Sun Published in ACS NANO

July 3, 2012 by Kayla Lang

Qi (Charles) Sun, a graduate student in Professor Musfeldt’s Group, published an article in ACS NANO, a monthly journal that provides an international forum for the communication of comprehensive articles on nanoscience and nanotechnology research. *

In the article Spectroscopic Signature of the Superparamagnetic Transition and Surface Spin Disorder in CoFe₂O₄ Nanoparticles, the researchers measured the infrared vibrational properties of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles and compared the results to trends in the coercivity over the same size range and to the response of the bulk material.

“To the best of our knowledge,” Sun said, “this work is the first time to report a spectroscopic signature of the superparamagnetic transition and surface spin disorder from the spectroscopy point of view.”

Sun is originally from Huadian City, Jilin Province, China. He received his B.S. degree of Polymer Chemical Engineering in June 1999 from Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China. Then he joined Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of Science in Changhcun, where he received M.S. degree majoring in Chemistry and Physics of Polymers in June 2005. In August 2007, Sun came to UT and joined Musfeldt Group to begin research in the field of spectroscopic investigations of nanoscale materials.

Prior to this publication, Sun has more than 10 publications and 5 patents.

* Published monthly, ACS Nano is an international forum for the communication of comprehensive articles on nanoscience and nanotechnology research at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, materials science, physics, and engineering. Moreover, the journal helps facilitate communication among scientists from these research communities in developing new research opportunities, advancing the field through new discoveries, and reaching out to scientists at all levels.