Westminster Professor and Five Chemistry Majors Present Research at Conference

A Westminster College assistant professor of chemistry and five Westminster College senior chemistry majors recently presented their research at the American Chemical Society conference held in San Diego.

Dr. Peter Smith, assistant professor of chemistry, presented The Extraction of Copper from Aqueous Ammonia Solutions into Water-Immiscible Ionic Liquids,' which is his most recent results from his research into alternative solvents for industrial applications.  "The vast majority of industrial solvents are classified as volatile organic compounds," Smith said.  "I am searching for viable, nonvolatile alternatives for use in industrial processes.  Currently, I am investigating room-temperature ionic liquids for this purpose."

Melissa Joseph, a daughter of Joe and Lori Joseph in Clark, presented Phytoremediation of Tin.'  "I grew plants in tin-contaminated soil to determine if alfalfa and red clover plants had the ability to remove low concentrations of tin from the soil," Joseph said.  "Both plants took up the tin over a three-week period of time."

Lynn Kiley, a daughter of William and Stacy Kiley in Cabot, presented the Effects of Alfalfa Seedlings on Chromium and Manganese Solutions.'  "Basically I contaminated three-day-old alfalfa seedlings with metal solutions to see if the plants took in any metal, therefore reducing the solution concentration," Kiley said.  "After analyzing the solutions by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, the concentration of the metals was reduced by about half."

Aaron Loccisano, a son of Michael and Janice Loccisano in Ellwood City, presented Ionic Liquids as Replacement Solvents for the Solvent Extraction of Metal Ions.'  "The research consisted of synthesizing an ionic liquid and extracting metal ions with it," Loccisano said.  "This is done in industry, but usually with very volatile organic compounds.  Ionic liquids are not volatile and can be reused, making them environmentally safe."

Ashley Martucci, a daughter or Richard and Carol Martucci in Ellwood City, presented Development of Continuous Flow Monitoring System for Microwave Chemistry and Application to Ceramic Leaching Studies.'  "I developed a relatively simple design to continuously monitor reactions in the microwave using a flow cell and a peristaltic pump," Martucci said.  "I applied this design to the leaching of copper oxide from ceramic glazes.  I determined that the ceramic pieces did not leach significant amounts of the metal oxide."

Rebecca Morey, a daughter of Carol and Georgianna Morey in West Chester, presented The Effects of Microwave Heating on the Structure and Activity of Lysozme as Compared to Conventional Heating.'  "I was interested in the arguments over whether cell phone use causes brain damage," Morey said.  "So, I chose an enzyme and heated it by microwave irradiation and by conventional heating to serve as a control, and then tested the enzyme for structural differences after heating.  Overall, there were no significant differences between the two heatings of the enzyme."

For more information, contact Smith at (724) 946-7299 or e-mail smithpm@westminster.edu.

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