State College: Towards a Green Chemistry...
Transcript of State College: Towards a Green Chemistry...
Worcester State College: Towards a Green Chemistry Center
Meghna Dilip, Margaret Kerr, Eihab Jaber
Worcester State College
Worcester State College
Located in Worcester, MA
Evolved from the Worcester Normal School estd. in 1874.
Student Enrollment (Fall 2007)Undergraduate (full‐time): 3,342Undergraduate (part‐time): 1,260Graduate (full‐time): 103Graduate (part‐time): 653
Student CharacteristicsWomen (undergraduate): 59%Men (undergraduate): 41%Residential students: 30%Average age (undergraduate): 24
The Chemistry Department
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Chemistry Majors
• 8 faculty members
• Currently 110 majors
• Major in Chemistry• Concentration in nuclear medicine
technology
• Concentration in biochemistry
• Concentration in environmental chemistry
Green Organic Chemistry
• Switched to green organic labs in 2003.
• The first college in the region at that time to go “green”
Environmental Chemistry Track
Requirements for a Major in Chemistry, Concentration in Environmental Chemistry
CH 320 Environmental Chemistryand any two of the following:CH 330 Environmental ToxicologyCH 410 Biochemistry ICH 470 Instrumental AnalysisGS 250 HydrologyGS 335 Hydrogeology
Green Chemistry Course Proposal
• A new course for undergraduates has been submitted and is going through the approval stages.
• 3 credit course with embedded laboratory
• Prerequisites: General chemistry I and II
• Will be offered every other semester.
• Will be part of the environmental chemistry track.
Green Chemistry Grant: Stoddard Grant
• The Stoddard Charitable Trust has awarded Worcester State College a three‐year, $200,000 grant.
• Will fund equipment purchases for the college’s new green chemistry program.
• Equipment bought will help build research and teaching facilities.
Special Topics Course in Green Chemistry
• Was offered in the Spring of 2009 for the first time at WSC.
• 3 credit lecture cum lab course.
• Prerequisites for any special topics course: 18 credits of chemistry.
• Total enrolment : 5 (all seniors)
• Class met 2ce a week for 1 ½ hr.
Special Topics in Chemistry : GREEN CHEMISTRY
• There was no prescribed textbook for the course.
• Topics covered included :– Green metrics, alternate solvents, water as a reaction media, microwaves, photochemistry, catalysis, green analytical chemistry.
– Less organic chemistry knowledge based.
– Drew heavily from presidential green chemistry award winning examples.
More on the course
• Evaluation methods – Periodic short quizzes
– 2 exams
– Review 2 articles from the journal “ green chemistry”
– A presentation and paper on a chosen topic related to green chemistry
• Papers included “Biomimicry and Green Chemistry”, “Biocatalysts”, “Advances in green metrics”
Laboratory portion• 4 labs were conducted during the course of the semester .
Distribution of gentian violet in an aqueous biphasic systemWater based alternative separation system PEG 1100/ (NH4)2SO4 system with the dye being partitioned from
the salt rich phase to the PEG rich phaseSpectrophotometric detection of dyeCalculation of partition coefficientDiscussion of how pollutant is transferred and not eliminated
Dissolution of Whatman Filter Paper in Ionic Liquid
Dissolution of Whatman filter paper in ionic liquidAlternate route to dissolution of celluloseAdvantages and disadvantages of ILMicrowave and thermal comparisonSimple gravimetry to determine recovered
cellulose.
WHATMAN FILTER PAPER
RECONSTITUTION USING WATER
Remsing et al. Chem. Commun. 2006, 1271.
More Green Labs
How green are “green cleaners”Survey of market cleaners and “green” markersCollected MSDS of ingredientsComparison of pH and phosphate content of different cleaners and validation of claims.
Process Life Cycle Analysis Chloride and Sulfate process for TiO2 productionUse of www.lcacalculator.com to calculate transportation and approximate energy costs.
Student Voice
• “The green chemistry course offered at Worcester State opened my eyes to the idea that being “green” is not simply about cutting carbon emissions, cleaning up toxic waste, or recycling paper or plastic.”
• “The best thing about learning green chemistry is that it encouraged critical thinking – solving decades‐old problems in the most efficient and least destructive manner possible, while preserving resources and the environment, is no easy task, but is entirely achievable”
Computational Research• Carbon monoxide molecules have been known to form polymeric like‐
chains that consist of several molecules in length, with relative stabilities often referred to as polyketones. Understanding the stability of these molecules can help to predict how easily these polymeric forms of carbon monoxide can exist in the atmosphere.
• Destruction of ozone by bromine nitrate (BrONO2). The Enthalpy of
reaction (ΔHRXN
) will be calculated for the reaction of bromine nitrate with ozone.
The Thai Collaboration• Erika Kubota, a senior in industrial
management at ChulalongkornUniversity in Bangkok, accepted an invitation for an academic exchange in the Fall.
• Worked with Dr Kerr researching ways to extract biodiesel from soybean oil using ferric chloride as a catalyst. Ferric chloride eliminates the use of potassium hydroxide.
• This fall 4 more students will be joining us from Thailand.
• Special “Research Methods” course setup to facilitate exchange and green chemistry research
College‐wide sustainability efforts• Purchase of a biodiesel processor to
convert waste cooking oil into fuel by fall of 2009.
• Single stream recycling since October 2006, to double recycling.
• Elimination of cafeteria trays and the installation of high efficiency valves, reducing hot water used in dishwashing by 166,000 gallons a year.
• Every week since November 2008, 500 pounds of food waste has been diverted from the college’s solid waste stream to feed pigs at Sayebrook Farms in Holden, Massachusetts.
• College purchasing now requires recycled content in paper products, trash bags, paper clips and staples
The Future
• Strengthen our environmental chemistry track.
• Target general chemistry and non major students.
• Organize college‐wide awareness events.
• Apply for more green chemistry related funding
• More independent research that is “green” oriented.
• New hires should have similar department values.
AcknowledgementsDepartment of Chemistry
Worcester State College
Keith Dusoe
Worcester State College