CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, FUEL CELL RESEARCH
TO BENEFIT FROM UH ADVANCEMENTS
Six Professors to Present ‘Interdisciplinary Material Innovations’
at American Chemical Society Meeting
HOUSTON, July 24, 2007 – From turning gasoline into electricity
to improving the operation of energy-saving devices, University
of Houston professors are working on a number of breakthroughs they
plan to showcase at the next American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting
Aug. 19-23 in Boston.
With applications in consumer electronics and furthering fuel cell
research, the presentations of a half dozen UH researchers will
be unveiled at the 234th ACS conference. Founded in 1876, the ACS
– the world’s largest scientific society – hosts
two national meetings a year. The theme for the August meeting is
“Material Innovations: From Nanotech to Biotech and Beyond,”
covering a broad range of topics on interdisciplinary material innovations
and featuring approximately 15,000 scientists and 9,000 abstracts.
Five professors with the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Department of Chemistry and one professor with the Cullen College
of Engineering Department of Chemical Engineering will conduct presentations.
• Rigoberto Advincula, associate professor of chemistry,
with co-authors, will present a paper on conjugated polymers and
hybrid nanomaterials that are useful for energy conversion devices
and display devices. The hybrid materials emit light or generate
photo-current for use in consumer electronics and energy-saving
devices.
• Arnold M. Guloy, associate professor of chemistry, with
co-authors, will present the exploratory work in rare earth suboxides
that leads to the discovery of two new compounds with new structure
types. The structure-bonding-property relationships are investigated
by performing theoretical calculations and magnetic property measurements.
• Michael P. Harold, professor and department chair of chemical
engineering, is presenting his research on a Pd membrane reactor
that converts a fuel, such as gasoline, propane or methanol, into
a high-purity stream of hydrogen, which can then be used to make
electricity in a fuel cell.
• B. Montgomery Pettitt, Cullen professor of chemistry, is
conducting two presentations on the fundamental advances made in
liquid state theory in the last two years. He will apply these new
methods to demonstrate how the macromolecules of life recognize
each other.
• Boris Makarenko, a research assistant professor of chemistry,
and J. Wayne Rabalais, professor emeritus of chemistry and vice
president for research at Lamar University, will discuss how the
preferable adsorption position of sodium atom on copper surface
is determined experimentally for the first time, which is fundamentally
important and can promote catalytic reactions, enhance oxidation
and increase electron emission rates.
For more information about the ACS meeting and to access a schedule
of presenters and presentations, visit http://acswebcontent.acs.org/nationalmeeting/boston2007/home.html.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
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