Research
The chemistry department encourages all students to participate in research during their time at Emory & Henry. Options range from one credit research courses aimed at first and second year students to three credit independent studies and honors projects for junior and senior students. A variety of summer options exist for students to participate in research as well.
Research Areas
Nanomaterials
Contact: James Duchamp
Ionic Liquids
![[Emim][OAc], an ionic liquid which dissolves cellulose](/live/image/scale/2x/gid/11/width/200/height/74/5761_Emim_acetate.rev.1544804224.webp "Emim acetate")
Ionic liquids, also known as molten salts, are substances which are fully ionized (all components are positively or negatively charged) and are liquid at whatever given temperature their application is being considered. Chemists often define an ionic liquid as a salt that remains liquid below 100 degrees. (Most naturally occurring salts, like NaCl, are very high melting.) As compounds with both ionic and non-polar regions, ionic liquids are powerful solvents for otherwise difficult-to-dissolve materials such as biopolymers and transition metal complexes. In addition to their usefulness as solvents, the non-volatility of ionic liquids means that they are useful as liquid electrolytes (as opposed to a salt dissolved in a volatile molecular solvent), in the separation of gas-phase mixtures, in engineering applications such as friction-free pistons, as heat storage and transfer materials in high-temperature solar thermal energy capture (a form of renewable power generation), and many other exciting applications. In our lab, we aim to synthesize and characterize new ionic liquids, and develop new applications for them.
Contact: Jamie Ferguson
Transition metal and Bio- Catalysis
A catalyst is something which speeds up a reaction by lowering the energy barrier to that reaction taking place. Compared to traditional stoichiometric reagents, catalysts can dramatically reduce the material and energy waste associated with chemical synthesis, often reducing the time and temperature required for a reaction to take place, as well as leading to more selective formation of desired products. Catalysts are ubiquitous in nature—enzymes are catalysts—as well as the chemical industry, in which over 95% of commercial chemical products have involved the use of a catalyst at one or more steps of their manufacture. In our lab, we apply transition-metal catalysis to the synthesis of ionic liquids, try to develop novel biocatalysts (take an enzyme known from nature and adapt it to the purposes of chemical synthesis), and look for novel catalytic reactions, or ways to optimize known catalytic reactions.
Contact: Jamie Ferguson
Materials Science & Engineering
Contact: Michael Lane
Examples of Recent Honors Projects
- Neisius, N. “Synthesis of Long Chain Internal Alkyn-1-ol Synthons for Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids”, 4/2019.
- Hagee, R. “Microplastic Contamination in Virginia’s Holston River”, 4/2019.
- Roth, H. “Exploring the phytoremediation potential of kale plants”, 4/2018.
- Sutherland, N. “Rate of Regeneration in Sensory Peripheral Nerves and Nerve Endings”, 4/2017.
- Cole, H., “Corrosion micro-mechanisms in meso-porous organo-silicate glass”, 4/2016.
- Coulter, T., “Exploring the Use of Aerogels and Zerogels as Optical Vapor Phase Sensors”, 4/2016.
- Hankins, M., “Triclosan Measurements in the Three Forks of the Holston River in Southwest Virginia”, 4/2015
- Firebaugh, A., “Modification of silicon-oxygen based thin film surface energy via incorporation of organic moieties”, 5/2013.
- Clement, A., “Diffusion in porous SiC:H and SiCO:H thin films”, 5/2013.
- Williams, M., “Study on the Efficiency of National Science Foundation Grants given to Liberal Arts Colleges and Research Universities from 2002 to 2011”, 4/2013.
- Gallagher, E., “Corrosion of SiC:H and SiCO:H thin films in buffered solutions”, 4/2012.
- Zeng, F., “Effect of pH and salt concentration on fracture of organosilicate glass thin films”, 4/2011.
- Thompson. S., “Predicting processing damage to dielectrics by measuring the reflectance of vacuum ultraviolet radiation”, 4/2011.