Regional Chemistry Conference Meets in Raleigh to Promote Sustainability

November 17th, 2012

The Downtown Raleigh Convention Center was host to the Regional ACS Meeting November 14th-17th.

The Annual Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS) was held at the Convention Center in downtown Raleigh on November 14th-17th (http://www.sermacs2012.org/). The theme of this years conference was "Catalyzing Sustainable Innovation" and promoted scientific research in the area of sustainable energy. This was particularly highlighted by the meeting of the Energy Frontier Research Council (EFRC) for the first two days of the conference, which held talks and poster presentations ranging from hydrogen-producing solar materials to promoting green education in schools and universities around the world. 

Professor Frank Osterloh, University of California-Davis, presenting on solar nanomatrials research in his laboratories.

The EFRC portion of the conference kicked off Wednesday with an opening talk from Chair and Professor Thomas Meyer from UNC-Chapel Hill, followed by 14 scientific research presentations from Professors and Industry Researchers hailing from all over the U.S. and as far away as Uppsala, Sweden. Several talks were themed around solar fuel nanomaterials, such as the presenation on nanostructured photocatalysts by Professor Frank Osterloh at the University of California-Davis. He and his fellow researchers have created metal oxide nanoparticles that convert water into hydrogen fuel using sunlight. Professor Osterloh and his colleagues hope that one day materials like these can be used commercially to power vehicles, businesses, and homes.

The Shark Project is an educational research kit that helps students research for new possible solar materials in high school science classes

 Professor Bruce Parkinson from the University of Wyoming introduced the Shark Project (http://www.thesharkproject.org/), which is a nonprofit educational research kit for high school science classes that helps students look for new solar materials. "This is real university research performed by high school students in a laboratory setting" Professor Parkinson mentioned during his talk. The kit itself is made of lego parts the students can build, then uses a common inkjet printer to print different oxides onto a sheet that can be analyzed for useful photochemical properties.

North Carolina State University graduate students Nacole King and Jonathan Boltersdorf presented their research on metal-oxide solar materials during the EFRC Conference Thursday.

The conference also included a poster presentation in which several undergraduate and graduate students were given an opportunity to share their important research with a public audience. Two graduate students in Professor Paul Maggard's lab at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Nacole King and Jonathan Boltersdorf, presented their research on nanomaterial solar photocatalysts. The two researchers use a unique synthetic method called flux synthesis to prepare materials that give them enhanced solar properties and increase performance. Perhaps one day these advanced materials will be used commercially to power your home!


The EFRC and the Solar Energy Research Center is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was started to address the challenges of creating a sustainable energy future. You can visit their website at http://www.serc.unc.edu/index.html. The center operates on a 5 year $17.5 million Department of Energy budget along with other matching funds donated from UNC. The program is a collaborative venture that works closely with Duke, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the University of Florida.