Opportunity Description:

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to offer an exciting summer research opportunity for undergraduate students. The program is directed by Professor Greg M. Swain. The program focuses on the ever-important field of sustainable chemistry and chemical processes, also known as Green Chemistry.

Green chemistry involves using environmentally-friendly chemicals and materials whenever possible, designing energy-efficient reactions, using renewable energy sources, and minimizing environmental impacts by reducing the amount of waste by-products generated. By developing greener and more sustainable chemical products and processes through basic research, future chemists will continue to play a key role in minimizing the environmental impact caused by the production of value-added chemicals, energy, medicines, soaps, fertilizers, clothing, and fuels.

Participants in our REU program will engage in faculty-mentored research projects aimed towards developing more sustainable chemical products and processes to benefit society. These include green synthesis, polymer membranes for water purification, water quality monitoring, environmentally-friendly coating systems for corrosion control, solar energy conversion, energy-related materials, advanced imaging and spectroscopy of materials and surfaces, and computational approaches for understanding and predicting material properties and assessing the fate of environmental pollutants. These leading-edge projects cut across the boundaries of the traditional organic, inorganic, biological, analytical and physical chemistry disciplines. Student participants are involved in all aspects of the research process, from project design, to conducting experiments and analyzing data, to reading and discussing relevant scientific papers, and finally to preparing text and graphs for eventual presentation and or publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Philosophically, our program is designed to teach you about conducting scientific research and to help prepare you for postgraduate education or to enter the workforce through development of your problem-solving skills, chemical literature and information skills, laboratory safety skills, communication skills, team skills and ethics.