Jocelyn Brown

2018 REU Student Profile

Jocelyn is studying chemistry at Virgina State Univeristy in Petersburgh, Virginia. This summer she joined the Gudmundsdottir research group. She is working with Dylan Shields on understanding the movements of photodynamic crystals.

Jocelyn came from Virginia State University to study with Dr. Anna Gudmundsdottir

Photodynamic Crystals

I am working on 'dancing crystals' which are photoresponsive crystals that bend, hop, shatter and explode when exposed to light. The response is a result of gas being trapped within the different crystal structures and escaping. My part is to perform synthesis reactions and crystallization of compounds. Real world applications of the energy from the gas released by the crystals could possibly be used in other areas of study such as medicine, where it could be used to inflate surgical balloons in a more efficient way.

- Jocelyn Brown

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Ariana McDarby

2018 REU Student Profile

I am currently working in Dr. Ryan White’s lab, and I fabricate electrochemical aptamer-based sensors (E-ABs) on Au electrodes for the detection of various targets. Typically, E-ABs are fabricated using a method called self-assembled monolayers, which uses a gold-thiol bond for the immobilization of our aptamers. My project deals with developing a novel surface chemistry approach for the immobilization of DNA to fabricate E-ABs on gold electrodes because the gold-thiol bond is susceptible to desorption when exposed to temperature changes or air-drying. The purpose of my project is to improve the stability of the E-ABs using diazonium salt grafting, which allows for covalent bonding onto the gold electrode surface. The improved stability could potentially allow for E-ABs to be used in point-of-care (POC) applications, which would otherwise not be possible with the less stable gold-thiol bond.

Ariana came from St. Mary's College to study with Dr. Ryan White

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Kyrus Tsai

2018 REU Student Profile

Kyrus is studying chemical engineering at Calvin College. He joined Professor Alvarez's research group this summer to study nanotubes.

Kyrus came from Calvin College to study with Dr. Noe Alvarez

The goal of the project is to determine performance, limitations, and advantages of functionalized carbon nanotube fibers as reference electrodes in an electrolytic cell. By testing using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry, data can be collected and interpreted to determine the effectiveness and stability of these reference electrodes. Optimization of the fibers is also a key component of the project and can be optimized by changing the electrochemical method parameters, the diameter of the fibers, and the degrees of functionalization

- Kyrus Tsai

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