Chemistry Newsblog

Category: News

New PHI 5800 XPS for Surface Analysis

Published
By

PHI-5800-XPS-6The Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory (ACMAL) on campus received a new PHI 5800 X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The PHI5800 XPS is equipped with dual source anode (Al and Mg), a hemispherical analyzer, for XPS and AES analysis, including elemental mapping capabilities, an electron gun source for AED analysis, an ion sputter gun for depth profiling, a heatable sample stage, and stage tilting for angle-resolved XPS.

The XPS was generously donated by the Army Research Laboratories with the help from the Department of Chemistry. The new XPS will help ACMAL and chemistry students greatly expand their research.

The Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory is a Michigan Tech University Core Facility which is part of the Materials Characterization & Fabrication Facilities.

Continue Reading →

New Glycobiology Study led by Tarun Dam

Published
By

image141037-rside

Tarun Dam led a new study, published this week in Biochemistry, examining the biomechanics of galectin-3’s interaction with glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and proteoglycans. His team includes graduate students Melanie Talaga, Ni Fan, Ashli Fueri, Robert Brown and Research Assistant Professor Purnima Bandyopadhyay.

At the Laboratory of Mechanistic Glycobiology, Dam and his students study the sugar, including glucose and other structural, complex sugars, that fuel our bodies. GAGs assist in controlling growth factor proteins, which go unchecked as cancerous tumors grow.

Even though the findings of the study were unexpected, it opens up new possibilities for understanding glycobiology and biomechanics. “Seeing galectin-3 interact with GAGs and proteoglycans is like finding a rose in the petunias—it’s very unexpected,” Dam says. “It’s fair to say that this requires revisiting the reported biological functions of GAGs, proteoglycans and galectin-3.”

Next, Dam and his team look into additional research, “Now we have to reconsider the whole drama, retracing the steps and actions of that character… we are using cell lines and animal models to study this interaction in a cellular context.”

Read more on Michigan Tech News, by Allison Mills.

 

Continue Reading →

Xia Research Group in Chemical & Engineering News

Published
By

RutheniumDeposition followed by etching yields ruthenium nanoframes

Michigan Technological University chemists Xiaohu Xia and Haihang Ye, together with researchers at the University of Texas, Dallas, and elsewhere used a ruthenium chloride solution to preferentially deposit ruthenium on the edges and corners of nanosized palladium octahedral seed crystals.

Read more at Chemical & Engineering News, by Mitch Jacoby.

A Noble Calling: Ruthenium Nanoframes Open the Doors to Better Catalysts

The world is run by catalysts. They clean up after cars, help make fertilizers, and could be the key to better hydrogen fuel. Now, a team of chemists, led by Xiaohu Xia from Michigan Technological University, has found a better way to make metal catalysts.

“We are fine-tuning the surface, size, shape and crystal structure,” he says. “Our goal is to increase their catalytic activity while reducing the usage of this precious material.”

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Allison Mills.

Continue Reading →

Melanie Talaga Receives the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship

Published
By

Graduate student Melanie Talaga is a Spring 2016 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship, as announced by the Graduate School.

Talaga’s advisor is Tarun Dam.

Talaga also received the Third Place Award for an Oral Presentation at the 2016 Graduate Research Colloquium. Hers was the Highest Attended Presentation.

Graduate students displaying research at Michigan Tech

“We use really big words and we’re use to using those words because we deal with it everyday,” said Melanie Talaga, MTU doctorate student. “Other general communities do not understand those words so we need to learn how to practice and break it down to everyone’s level. So then we can communicate our science and get people interested in our science.”

Read more at Upper Michigan’s Source, by Aleah Hordges.

GSC Winners 2016-2016
Sarah Hopson, Ni Fan, Tarun Dam, and Melanie Talaga
Continue Reading →