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Nicole Dygert |
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Participants Summer Internships 2002 Main Page
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My project for the summer was the synthesis and characterization of nanoscale, metallic catalysts. My catalyst research was mainly with gold, platinum and a combination of the two metals. Gold is a noble metal and therefore not exceptionally reactive; however, on the nanoscale gold can be an active catalyst. Revolutionary work with gold catalysts was done by Haruta a Japanese researcher. Haruta and co-workers discovered that gold between 3-5nm is active even at room temperature. In Japan, the major application for gold catalysts is as a toilet deodorizer. My research on gold focused on its ability to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Platinum is the catalyst typically used, but it is not generally active until above 250 degrees Celsius. My professor hypothesized that mixing gold with platinum could lower its activation temperature. A variety of methods were used to determine which catalyst possessed the greatest number of favorable traits. I used a reactor to measure the activation temperature of the catalyst. I also used a Fourier transmission infrared spectrometer (FTIR) to measure carbon monoxide absorption and desorption rates. Chemisorption was used to determine the number of active sites on the catalyst. In the end my platinum catalyst was the best and my gold was inactive and failed to lower the activation temperature of the platinum. I believe this was because my gold particles were not small enough. Examination of my particles using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed this. Even though the hypothesis was incorrect valuable information was still gained. I really enjoyed doing research and working with state of the art equipment. Hanging out with other chemical engineers from all over the country was pretty cool too. The program planned lots of exciting activities such as white-water rafting. I also gained a better perspective of exactly what graduate school entails. Based on my experiences at USC, I decided to apply to graduate school. It was interesting to see what life was like in a different part of the country. For example on my first Sunday in Columbia I learned about Blue laws. Blue laws state that nothing, but food items can be purchased on Sunday before 1:30pm. Despite the crazy laws, I love southern weather and intend to find a graduate school down south. |
Hello my name is Nicole Dygert and this past summer I worked for the
University of South Carolina (USC) as a research intern. USC is located
in Columbia, South Carolina. The University hosts a research experience
undergraduate (REU) program. The money to support REU programs is
provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF). USC has one of the
largest REU sites in the country, because it has both a materials and
environmental sections. I heard about the program through flyers in the
chemical engineering office, which prompted me to look further into the
programs. The program lasted for ten weeks from May 25th to
August 2nd. The University provided us with apartment style
housing and we received a tax-free stipend from the NSF. I worked with
Dr. Chris Williams, who obtained his undergraduate from the University of
Delaware and his Doctorate from Purdue University. Dr. Williams
specialized in surface sciences and catalysis. The following paragraph
contains a brief overview of my project for the summer and its results.