Office of Undergraduate Research

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Emphasizing equitable and inclusive access to research opportunities, the University of Maryland's Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) empowers undergraduates and faculty to engage and succeed in inquiry, creative activity, and scholarship. This collection includes materials shared by undergraduate researchers during OUR events. It also encompasses materials from Undergraduate Research Day 2020, Undergraduate Research Day 2021, and Undergraduate Research Day 2022, which were organized by the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Chemistry

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Instrument Design for Low-Temperature Infrared Spectroscopy of Materials
    (2024-04-17) Dietrich, Matthew; Dodson, Leah
    Solid material analysis has come a long way in its ability to accurately characterize the structure of bulk materials progressing from magnifying glasses to today’s atomic resolution instruments. Present common techniques include the use of various IR spectroscopies to determine the structural properties of these materials. Typically, these methods are low-resolution and are used to pinpoint only a few vibrational modes in the material’s structure. In addition, these studies are either done near room temperature or at one temperature setting. This poster presents a custom-built cryogenic FTIR instrument that is capable of characterizing a given material from room temperature down to 30K with < 2 cm-1 resolution. Shown to the right and below is the design, creation and specific components of the cryogenic instrument, future plans include incorporating gas-species dosing to allow for gas adsorption experiments. The Dodson laboratory is one of few labs capable of cryogenic IR analysis of various metal and covalent-organic frameworks using these necessary techniques to fully characterize the changes in structure and vibrational modes of these materials as they approach extremely low temperatures.​
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    Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy System Design for Astrochemical Studies
    (2024) Ganley, Shannon; Howard, Thomas; Dodson, Leah
    Cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) is a highly sensitive technique that allows for the detection and analysis of extremely dilute chemical species. This tool is particularly useful for the collection of high-resolution spectra of molecules of astrochemical interest, which can be used to assist molecular detection efforts and improve our understanding of the chemistry that can occur in space. We present two iterations of a near-IR (1.5 µm) continuous-wave CRDS system which has been under development at the University of Maryland. HCN is chosen as a test molecule for each of these systems due to its importance in astrochemistry and its well-studied—experimentally and theoretically—spectra in the infrared. The rovibrational spectrum of the first overtone of the C-H stretch is analyzed on each system at room temperature, and in our newest system at cryogenic temperatures. The rotational temperature of HCN is calculated from this spectral data, and will be used in future work to quantify the rotational energy of neutral gaseous species for kinetics studies.
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    Recognition of Aminated Guests by Acyclic Cucurbiturils in Biological Conditions
    (2020) Shah, Rohan; Isaacs, Lyle; Zebaze, Sandra
    The acyclic cucurbituril Motor2 has already been well documented in its binding to several types of molecular guests in phosphate buffer. However, while these tests provide a rough idea of motor2 affinity to different types of guests, they are incomplete in that they do not reflect how motor2 actually binds in body conditions. The human body contains many proteins and macromolecules that can affect the host-guest interactions of motor2, so it is important for new binding constants to be measured for motor2 in body conditions. In order to do this, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) was used to measure motor2 binding constants to several different guest types in several different solutions, including albumin and fetal bovine serum. It was found that when tested with cyclic, monoaminated guests, motor2 binding affinity did not decrease significantly from phosphate to protein serum solvents. This retained affinity held across several different ring sizes and shapes. Motor2 binding affinity did suffer greatly in protein serum for guests that were linear, regardless of how many amines they had. The results also indicated that more hydrophobic guests do not bind as well to motor2 once albumin and other proteins ae introduced to solution, while hydrophilic, polar guests have better affinity retention. The ITC testing results indicated that motor2 binding in body conditions is heavily dependent on the shape of the guests it is binding to, and that motor2 would be most effective at its purpose in the human body if it was used to target cyclic amines and similar types.
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    A Novel, Eco-Friendly Bioremediation of Lead-Contaminated Water
    (2020) Plichta, Amanda; Owens, Kevin
    Lead exposure is a global problem, especially in developing countries where lead poisoning accounts for 853,000 annual deaths. The objective of this experiment was to design an eco-friendly method for the bio-remediation of lead-contaminated water which would alleviate this problem. The Moringa Oleifera (MO) seeds were the main component of the bio-remediation system because they are locally available and have adsorbing properties that could be used in purifying heavy metal-contaminated water. It was hypothesized that with this method it would be possible to significantly reduce lead in effluent water. The procedure included designing and constructing a filter, de-oiling Moring seeds, preparing heavy metal-contaminated water, experimenting with Moringa treatment and sand filtration, and testing samples with an AA-Spectrometer. The variables tested were dosage of Moringa, pH, treatment time, and effects of initial concentration and 2-Stage Filtration. The hypothesis was supported by results. The pre-treatment with Moringa and filtration through the sand filter was most efficient - 100% removal of lead after one treatment and filtration. The treatment with only Moringa seeds was also very effective – over 96% of lead removal. The optimal conditions for lead removal are 3g/100mL of Moringa at pH=8 and 20min pre-treatment time. Moreover, this pre-treatment/filtration method for lead removal is simple, extremely cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly. It has great potential to be the ultimate bio-remediation method for lead removal in developing countries.
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    Dual effect of structure and hydration on magnesium-ion insertion into electrodeposited V2O5 thin films
    (2019-10) Johnston, Brandon; Henry, Hakeem; Sahadeo, Emily; Liau, Darrin; Lee, Sang Bok; Lee, Sang Bok
    As global energy needs continue to increase, there is a growing demand for next-generation storage technologies that confer high energy density. Lithium-ion battery technologies, the current state of the art, possess a number of limitations that prevent further performance enhancement and safe use. Owing to magnesium's abundance, safety, and high volumetric capacity; magnesium-ion batteries are promising alternatives to lithium-ion storage devices. However, a number of challenges have impeded progress in magnesium-ion battery research, such as magnesium anode passivation and poor magnesium-ion insertion kinetics into traditional metal oxide cathode materials. This research addresses the latter of the two problems by further investigating a well-known potential cathode material for magnesium-ion batteries. Vanadium (V) Oxide, a transition metal oxide with flexible interlayer spacing, has been shown to reversibly intercalate Mg2+ ions with high capacity in its crystalline form. However, new research suggests that amorphous V2O5 cathodes might offer greater capacity for Mg-ion insertion owing to increased void space for monovalent and multivalent ion insertion. In this work, we use two primary electroanalytical techniques--cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic voltammetry--to systematically investigate the impact of structure, crystallinity, and hydration on the electrochemical performance of electrodeposited V2O5 thin films. Ultimately, our findings suggest that it is structural hydration, rather than film crystallinity, that primarily determines Mg-ion insertion capacity of V2O5 thin films.