2024-2025 Faculty Research Grant
Ryan Hayes (Chemistry).
PAMAM Dendrimers for Remediation, Stabilization, Emission, and Other Emerging Applications.
PAMAM dendrimers are small, highly branched polymers with a roughly spherical shape that can be manufactured in a variety of sizes (1-5 nm) and surface chemistries (polar to nonpolar). This research will involve three project areas with the first area to explore copper(II) ion removal from tap water using a G2-octyl dendrimer. In addition, a variety of dendrimers will be tested for vitamin stabilization in water while maintaining the vitamin’s antioxidant functionality. Lastly, dendrimers will be evaluated for their novel fluorescent properties in a variety of solvents, pH, and concentrations to continue to reveal the mechanism of their unusual emissive properties. Each project has been advancing through the help of student researchers in the Honors program and with Chemistry Department students. New areas of dendrimer research are emerging and involving more undergraduates including testing the antimicrobial properties versus facial-type microbes in collaboration with Medical Laboratory Sciences. Our group is also testing novel dendrimer structures from a Southern Methodist University for fluorescence that were synthesized by David Y. Son, Professor of Chemistry (AU alumnus). This grant will help further the involvement of undergraduates in hands-on cutting-edge research in nanotechnological areas and cross-departmental collaborations.