Undergraduate Research Day Projects
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/2212
Organized by the University of Houston Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, Undergraduate Research Day is an annual event showcasing exceptional scholarship undertaken by the UH undergraduate community.
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Browsing Undergraduate Research Day Projects by Subject "Chemical engineering"
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Item Aldehyde Reduction via Mitochondria Targeting Iridium Complex(2023-04-13) Chew, MatthiasThe human biological environment has built in ways to reduce and dispose of metabolic waste and other toxic buildup that is produced perpetually. For example, the body contains aldehyde oxidases, alcohol dehydrogenases, and enzymes to metabolize aldehydes. However, these pathways are limited or even halted under certain illnesses, such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease, as the body loses its capability to handle waste, resulting in toxic chemical buildup and further damage. In the event of lipid peroxidation, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease, oxidation of lipids causes a surge of aldehydes and free radicals to efflux throughout the body causing cell death. My project serves to find a synthetic pathway to creating an iridium-based metal catalyst, which reduces intracellular aldehydes and is mitochondria targeting. Ramifications of this project are the high cost of iridium, low IC50 of iridium catalysts, as well as lengthy synthetic procedure for the iridium complex.Item Aromatic Guest Incorporation in Naphthalene-Based Cyclotetrabenzil Host(2023-04-13) Lim, Jay J. T.; Robles, AlexandraNaphthalene-based cyclotetrabenzil octaketone is among the derivatives of cyclobenzoins which belong to the class of porous molecular crystals (PMCs), an emerging class of porous solids. These macrocycles show promise as supramolecular hosts which can include guest molecules within their pores and stabilize them by non-covalent interactions. Introduction of electron-rich aromatic compounds to similar macrocycles have provided insight into their applications in gas separation and sequestration, and organic optoelectronic devices. The macrocycle’s affinity towards chlorinated guests has since prompted attempts for co-crystallization of the macrocycle with different chlorinated guests for applications in chemical sensing of toxic contaminants including toxic and persistent aromatic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs). Single crystals of complexes of the octaketone with methoxybenzene (1) and 1,3-dichlorobenzene (2) were successfully grown, and their structures were solved. Single crystals of the octaketone with chloroform (3) were also obtained. Study of the single crystal structures show hydrogen bonding between the oxygen atoms of the octaketone and hydrogens of the naphthalene groups and vice-versa. Guest molecules in structures 2 and 3 also hydrogen bond to the host, but with additional chlorine atoms acting as hydrogen bond donors, further stabilizing the guest molecules towards the center of the macrocycle. Additionally, [π ···π] and [Cl···π] interactions are also observed in complexes with 2 and 3, respectively. Collectively, these interactions create a staggered stacking pattern but can hopefully form channels with varying substituents or expansion of the aromatic guest molecules. ***This project was completed with contributions from Thamon Puangsamlee from NANOTEC, Thailand.Item Computational Study of CO2 Capture Using MIL-100 (Cr)(2023-04-13) Fleming, KevinMetal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous organometallic compounds that are of high interest to many researchers due to their capability to trap industrial greenhouse gases, such as CO2, that contribute to anthropogenic global warming. A promising MOF that has gained the attention of the research community in recent years is the CO2 adsorbent MIL-100 (Cr). This compound consists of Cr3-μ3-oxo clusters referred to as secondary building units (SBU) and organic linkers derived from trimesic acid. Thermally activated SBUs possess coordinatively unsaturated sites Cr sites – or open metal sites (OMS) – that possess oxidation states of +2 or +3. Previous experimental work indicated that CO2 molecules bind more strongly to +2 OMS than to +3 OMS at low adsorptive pressures. In this study, two central questions were addressed. Firstly, can the experimentally observed OMS selectivity be verified through density functional theory (DFT) simulations? Secondly, what electronic processes are responsible for OMS selectivity? DFT computations of the binding energy, enthalpy, and free energy of CO2 adsorption onto +2 and +3 OMS verify that CO2 exhibits a significantly greater affinity for the +2 OMS. Furthermore, a comparison of the adsorption charge transfer and optimized binding geometries reveal that this selectivity arises from the energetically favorable chemisorption of CO2 onto +2 OMS – relative to the weaker physisorption of the greenhouse gas onto +3 OMS. The novel methodology utilized for this study can be implemented in computational investigations of other MOFs that can be used for carbon capture applications.Item Computationally modeling the effectiveness of Pd/Cu as a diesel oxidation catalyst(2023-04-13) Hammond, Nikki; Hoang, NhiDiesel engine emissions are a major cause of air pollution producing carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide molecules (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). Low temperature combustion engines offer a promising solution for reducing NOx and PM emissions, but in turn, the lower temperature interferes with the diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) causing an increase in CO and hydrocarbon emissions. To combat this, the development of new catalysts is critical. Recent studies show that a Pd/Cu alloy could lead to inhibition-free low temperature oxidation reactions, but the mechanistic origin of the improvement over Pd/Pt alloys remains unknown. To elucidate the mechanism, we first used SurfaceEP, a machine-learning package to rapidly estimate binding energies and identified certain ensembles with promising oxygen binding properties. For isolated Pd atoms in the surface of Cu, we obtained density functional theory (DFT) data for all CO oxidation steps. We are currently incorporating this information into a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model, which will allow us to study the mechanism and activity of well-defined site ensembles. This will provide the necessary fundamental insight that is required to further improve the composition and surface architecture of Pd/Cu diesel oxidation catalyst.Item Long COVID: Elucidating the Impact of COVID-19 on Black Male Engineering Students - Highlighting their Resilient Assets(2023-04-13) Elmouden, Fatima; Davis, Jared L.In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread effect on university students. From the shutdown of university campuses nationwide to the switch from in-person to online teaching, this sudden change's negative and positive impacts have been studied on a general and university-to-university basis. However, there remains a dearth of published research that describes the lived experiences of Black male engineering students during this time. Therefore, through secondary data analysis of our original study around the career aspirations of Black male engineering students, this study aimed to investigate how Black male engineering students were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 Black male engineering students. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we inductively developed four themes: peer interaction and engagement, professor-student interaction, course modality experiences and accommodations, and academic adjustment and discipline. The findings illuminate the resilience of Black male engineering students. Though the participants reported setbacks due to the effect of the pandemic on their academic pursuits, they also reported an unwavering ability to adapt and reframe those setbacks in positive ways that allowed them to push forward. ***This project was completed with contributions from Erik M. Hines and Tyron Slack from Florida State University.Item Potential of Enhanced Geothermal System: A simulation study(2023-04-13) Dang, JustinEGS systems extract heat by circulating a fluid (such as water) through hot rock deep in the ground and can use that heat to produce electrical power. Here we investigate a system where one injection well and two production wells have horizontal sections connected by several transverse hydraulic fractures, thus providing large heat transfer are for the working fluid to pick up heat from the hot rock and transfer it to the surface. The aim of the study is to provide a tool for rapid order-of-magnitude assessment of the effects of essential design variables on the circulating water temperature at the production well outlet as well as on power generation. Our analytical model is based on a simplified version of a model that appeared in literature (Gringarten et al., 1975). Modeling simplifications respect mass and energy conservation laws, but allow for an analytical solution of the simplified partial differential equations, thus enabling rapid parametric investigations. Based on the simplified model, we built an interactive simulation in Mathematica, which produces the rate of heat extraction as well as the water temperature at the outlet as a function of fracture dimensions, fracture spacing, and water flow rate. Simulations indicated that the outlet temperature will drop for an increase in well spacing or water flow rate per well, and a decrease in fracture radius. Similarly, an increase in fracture are enables heat transfer increase towards the thermodynamic upper bound.Item Your Brain on Art: Neurodynamics of Art Appreciation(2023-04-13) Agbesanwa, Oluwadurotimi; Khalil, Dana; Tovias, Moses; Oladejo, JoshuaNeurohumanities is an emerging field of research that analyzes neurological processes in a societal context, such as aesthetic responses to art. While the need for this type of interdisciplinary research has increased, little has been done to minimize disruptions while incorporating standardized research protocols. In this research, we attempt to create a commercially viable protocol for Neruohumanities research that can improve brain machine interfaces (BMI).