July 31, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Two Western Kentucky University students and a chemistry faculty member participated in a research project this summer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, an internationally recognized award-winning facility.
Elizabethtown senior Morgan McGray, Bowling Green junior Derrek Brown and faculty mentor Eric Conte worked under the direction of the PNNL’s materials scientist Dr. Marvin Warner on a project using nanoparticles for the detection of terrorist agents.
In their work, the WKU team synthesized the nanoparticles then attached chemical groups on the surface. These chemically altered surfaces were tested for the ability to grab terrorist agents such as TNT (trinitrotoluene). This work will eventually lead to the development of sensors for the detection of terrorist agents.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is located in Richland, Wash. Among the PNNL’s recent research accomplishments include the possible discovery of the mechanism of brain deterioration that leads to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
During their 10-week visit to the PNNL, the WKU visited several Washington sites including Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, Yakima Valley and Seattle.
The project was supported by the FaST (Faculty and Student Team) program from PNNL and from National Science Foundation EPSCoR and Kentucky EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research).
Photo captions:
Morgan McGray, a WKU senior from Elizabethtown, works with a solution of fluorescent cadmium selenide nanoparticles during a summer research project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.
Derrek Brown, a WKU junior from Bowling Green, prepares silica nanoparticles during a summer research project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Eric Conte at (270) 745-6019.
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