Abstract

Stability of Alkanethiols on Gold
Coleman, Dwayne L.; Kruszewski, Kristen M.; Gawalt Ellen S.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Duquesne University

The stability of thiols on gold is a subject of interest in the fields of chemistry and electronics. This is due to their widespread application in technologies such as bio-sensors and electrodes. Our ongoing work is to develop stable films of various thiol molecules on the surface of gold with different tail groups. 11-mercaptoundecanol, 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, and mercaptoundecane, were used to form self-assembled monolayers. Solution deposition methods were utilized, and the substrates were analyzed using Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, to confirm film deposition and film stability after solvent rinse, as well as Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, to determine monolayer versus multilayer film coverage .

This is it.

I cant believe it the final blog post. When I began Project SEED just eight short weeks ago I almost though I would never make it to this point.

I would like to begin by saying that this program was great and has helped me in many ways. First of all it helped me solidify my interest in the sciences. This is something that will be extremely beneficial to me in the future. It has also given me the opportunity to see what its like in the different sectors of chemistry. By that I mean I had the opportunity to see both the academic and the corporate side of chemistry, a privilege that very few get. I now have an understanding of corporate chemistry which could be very beneficial. SEED has also helped make my future choice making a little bit easier with this experience I can now say what interests me a little bit easier.

Its almost impossible to express how much I have learned this summer in a single paragraph. Aside from the things mentioned above I have earned many things. Probably one of the most important things that I have learned this summer is a sense of patience. It was sometimes tough to understand some of the technical papers and things like that but one of the things that I learned to do was be patient until I do. I learned some new ins and outs of Microsoft word and powerpoint that I didn't know before, as well as the proper way to keep your audience interested in what your saying. I could go on, but the point of the previous is to express the immense amount of knowledge that I now posses.

And finally the people that I have met during the summer have been amazing. From my fellow SEED students to my grad students Gavin and Kristen who I would like to thank very much. Also I would like to thank my professor Dr. Gawalt who was also very helpful me me. I would also like to thank everyone else who helped me along the way.

Well I guess thats it this has been a great experience that I will remember for a long time to come.

The final Blog Challenge

Above is an interview that I conducted with Deja's grad students Bonnie and Tim. They had some pretty good things to say and it was interesting to hear part of their story. They ended the interview with some great advice

The past week

This blog post is a little overdue and I have a lot to cover so lets begin.

Lets start with last weeks field trip to Bayer Materials Science. With a trip to another corporate chemical firm, comes another very informative look into the world of what is the business of chemistry. However Bayer differed from our last corporate trip in a few ways. What we saw at Bayer was the development of things that can, and will directly impact the lives of each and every one of us. From bowling balls, to particle board, to the material that is used in the dashboards of cars Bayer is working to manufacture products that will better the lives of many. Now a word about the people that we encountered on our trip. We began the day meeting some fellow Seed students who were conducting their research at Bayer, as well as their coordinator. We then moved on to meet some of the college students who were also doing research at the company, they were also very informative. We had a series of different tour guides and presenters along the way who were very knowledgeable and could answer any of the questions that we may have had. Overall the Bayer trip was a good one and I now have an understanding of the important R & D that goes on there.

Next I'll move on to the research symposium, and i must say it was the apex of the entire experience. Having the opportunity to present my summer research to interested patrons was a good experience. Also the speakers in the morning portion of the symposium were good. Once again we got to meet some fellow students who had come from West Virginia University to present their research.

The final thing that I have to talk about is the alumni lunch, which happened yesterday afternoon. We had the opportunity to hear of some of the life experiences, as well as get some advice from former SEED students.

So a lot has happened since my last blog post, and the above summarizes it all

W & J Visit

This week’s field trip was to Washington and Jefferson College and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I went there this morning expecting a tiny old broken down college. Fortunately however this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The chemistry building is brand new just opening up last year. Even the old buildings on campus like old main were nice and had a certain character to them. The campus itself was also a lot bigger than I anticipated it being.

But that’s enough about the physical campus; much is also to be said about Dr. Leonard our beginning tour guide and professor of chemistry at W & J. He was very informative and talked to us about all of different opportunities that are available at the college. After his tour of the new chemistry facilities, we headed over to admissions to have a presentation which gave us some information on the college itself as well as the admissions process. Finally we ended the day with a full student led tour of campus, and lunch in the dining hall. Both went very well.

Overall the visit went very well, and I am now aware of the tremendous possible opportunities to be had at Washington and Jefferson College.

Blog Challenge #2

Deja Irvin interviewed by Dwayne Coleman

Q. Hello Deja how are you doing?

A. I am doing great

Q.What is the topic of your project?

A. Simulation of Leucine in Salt Solutions

Q. What practical applications does this have?

A. Leucine is actually in the human body. It is in

the liver, adipose tissue and muscle tissue

Q. How are you conducting your research?

A. We are using programs called VMD and NAMD

on the mac computers. We also use supercomputers

to run our salt boxes and get more info.

Q. Are you enjoying the research that you are doing?

A. Somewhat. I guess. Its a lot of work and its kind of

hard to.

Q. How do you like your professor and mentor Mary?

A. My professor is pretty good and very nice. And Mary?

I love mary she;s an awesome mentor/undergrad.

Q. What are you hoping to accomplish this summer?

A. More about Science to get me through my junior year of high school.

Blog challenge #1

Hello, my name is Dwayne; I attend Central Catholic High School in Oakland, and live in the Lincoln area of Pittsburgh.

I came into project seed this summer with the intention of learning and gaining a better understanding of the field of chemistry. While I still hope to accomplish just that it seems as though the task is going to be a bit more of a challenge than I originally thought. But that simple fact will not hinder my plight towards my goal of knowledge. The next goal that I was hoping to accomplish this summer was to gain an experience that will be useful at a later time.

With all that said my experience thus far has been good. My mentor as well as all the graduates and undergraduates that I will be working with are all exceptionally nice people, and really know what they are doing and talking about. My initial thoughts on the work that I will be doing this summer are of a skepticisitc nature. Not skepticism that what I am attempting to do can actually be done, but skepticism that I will be able to fully comprehend and understand my topic in the eight weeks the program lasts. my skepticism however is somewhat diminished by mentors who promise me that it is possible and will be done (I believe them). Perhaps now is a good time to say what my topic is, so in my topic I am looking to find self-assembled monolayers on titanium alloy strips (let me just say its a lot more complicated than it sounds). So far I have delved right in to the experiment over the past two day already testing my first six samples of titanium in 12-hexadeldecanoic using the infrared spectrometer. Let me end by saying all of the people that I have met so far including Mr. Lucas and my fellow ProjectSeed members are great people, and very nice