Wildfires destroy landscapes and disrupt how organic carbon (OC) moves through soil and ash, impacting water quality and ecosystems. A study including the Cook group and collaborators found wildfire sites in CA & NV had up to a 574% increase in mobile OC. Though ashes held more OC, soils released more, threatening watershed health and nature’s ability to filter water, prevent floods, and support life.
Chemistry
Explore Opportunities
LSU Chemistry is one of six departments in the College of Science and is designated as a Foundation of Excellence Department due to the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and students in terms of teaching/learning, research, and service. Our department has LSU's largest Ph.D. program and is one of the best-equipped chemistry departments in the United States.
In the News
LSU's Antibiotic Breakthrough
Bacterial biofilms make chronic infections hard to treat, protecting bacteria from antibiotics with a tough layer of proteins, sugars, and DNA. But there's good news! LSU Chemistry Professor Mario Rivera and his research team have discovered a new class of antibiotics that break through these defenses by blocking bacteria’s access to iron, a vital nutrient they need to survive.
Fighting Cancer with Innovative Chemistry
Louisiana has one of the nation's highest state cancer rates, an issue partially related to dietary choices. An LSU Chemistry team is exploring how natural substances can be used to create new treatments for obesity and other conditions that can increase cancer risk.
Recent Publications
The Cook research group and collaborators published a study on the environmental impact of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, OH. The team investigated the hazardous byproducts formed from the combustion of chemicals in the presence of transition-metal oxides found in train and track materials, posing long-term environmental health risks.
Aluminum-based adjuvants enhance vaccines with their immunostimulatory properties and safety, yet their mechanisms remain unclear. The Xu group used SAXS and SANS to study their porous structures, revealing how nanoparticle morphology affects antigen retention and release. Their findings offer new insights for optimizing vaccine formulations through tailored adjuvant design.
Additive manufacturing enables on-demand production but poses supply chain security risks, like counterfeiting. In a new paper, Prof. Les Butler and collaborators present innovative methods to embed digital codes in components, enhancing authenticity.
The García-López group developed a new molecular switch based on rotaxanes that uses light to control the structure and dynamics of lipid membranes. Their recent paper presents a rotaxane with azobenzene photoswitches used to control the release of small molecules from lipid vesicles and to contract and expand giant vesicles of 30 µm.
Featured on the cover of Inorganic Chemistry, the Baranets group reveals two new quaternary oxyarsenides with potential for thermoelectric applications. The study discusses synthetic challenges, complex structures, transport and magnetic properties.
The Pojman research team explores a trithiol-triacrylate gel system for frontal polymerization with a relatively long shelf life, and support for complex geometries. The system potentially enables the study of mechanical forces on front kinetics.
The Baranets research group examines the crystal structure and electronic properties of β-Yb₂CdSb₂, revealing how the structural disorder affects charge balance and semiconducting behavior. The publication sheds light on polymorphism in intermetallics and its potential in thermoelectric materials.
The García-López group investigates thiourea-based rotaxanes, their ability to transport Cl− anions across synthetic lipid bilayers, and their antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. The study highlights the potential of rotaxanes as molecular transporters to disrupt ion homeostasis, offering a potential new approach to combating antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus.
In a recent Chemical Communications publication featured in the 2024 Emerging Investigators collection, the Elgrishi research group describes the use of a recyclable metal-organic cage (MOC) that efficiently removes up to 12 PFOS per MOC, offering a sustainable solution for water purification.