Research Highlights
Thermal and chemical effects of fillers on free-radical frontal polymerization
Filled systems are important for the development of materials through frontal polymerization. Fillers are added to control the rheological properties of the formulation and to enhance the mechanical properties of products. Results demonstrate that some fillers can increase front velocity through their high thermal diffusivities while others decrease it by acting as radical scavengers.
Utilizing Engineered Soil Surrogates to Study Environmental, Ecological, and Agricultural Processes
A novel model approach was developed and applied to gain a molecular-level understanding of environmental pollutant/soil interactions. The approach provides a scalable platform with molecular-level control of the soil organic matter (SOM) chemical composition and structure, allowing one to examine proposed SOM interactions with agricultural chemicals and beyond.
Reducing Toxic Hexavalent Chromium for Clean Water
Highly toxic Cr(VI) can be reduced to benign Cr(III) in water on unmodified and inexpensive carbon electrodes. The slow step over a wide range of pH is identified, which will help develop new energy-efficient water purification technologies.
Probing Electron Spins in Enzymes Biosynthesis
MCD and EPR probing of the nitrogenase M cluster precursors electron spins dynamics suggests new mechanisms of enzymes biosynthesis and substrate binding. Additional ongoing ultrafast electron-scale investigations are carried out to get better understanding of such mechanisms.
Tunable surface properties for microfluidics prepared with simple, thiol-acrylate chemistry
Novel, cost-efficient bulk modified thiol-acrylate microfluidic materials with wide range of highly stable hydrophilic surfaces (11° to 85°) prepared without expensive and sophisticated techniques within less than 24 h at room temperature and ambient pressure.
Photopolymerization of Monomer-Containing Deep Eutectic Solvents
The kinetics of photopolymerization in deep eutectic solvents (DESs) is investigated through RT‐FTIR. The systems of this study are choline chloride DESs made of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid (DES monomers) and a nonreactive analog isobutyric acid. Analysis of the evolution of conversion indicates dramatic increase in polymerization rate when comparing the polymerization of the DES monomers to pure monomer polymerization.
News and Events
Recruit and retain a diverse workforce
In a recently published commentary in Nature Reviews Chemistry, LSU Chemistry Alumna, Brea Manuel, provides insight on how to recruit diverse groups
of people, provide them with the resources to flourish, and support them in dreaming
big.
LSU Secures $2M NMR Spectrometer with NSF Support
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