UNews - plastics

C-CRAFT ushers in new era of fluorine research

trevor.kenney — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:25:24 +0000

Advanced research experiments, state-of-the-art laboratories, guidance from a top expert in the field - these are the exclusive benefits enjoyed by chemistry students studying fluorine at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, home of the new Canadian Centre for Research in Advanced Fluorine Technologies, or C-CRAFT.

Doug Turnbull, left, and Nathan Kostiuk have taken advantage of the practical learning opportunities provided them by Dr. Michael Gerken.

Over the last several years, the U of L has evolved into one of Canada’s premier institutions for studying the chemistry and physical properties of compounds containing fluorine, a versatile and highly reactive element used in a wide range of industrial and commercial processes and products. Playing a key role in that evolution has been Dr. Michael Gerken, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with 12 years of experience, and an internationally distinguished fluorine chemist.

By launching C-CRAFT, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will be able to serve as a hub for fluorine scientists and industry researchers worldwide to study and develop useful applications for this reactive element, which can be useful for everything from developing plastics, to performing medical imaging, to promoting cleaner oil production. It will also further enhance the department’s ability to provide high-quality, hands-on research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate chemistry students.

The new C-CRAFT institute, led by this stellar group of faculty members, creates a hub for fluorine research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Among the students who have enjoyed those practical learning experiences is Nathan Kostiuk, a fourth-year chemistry student who has completed multiple for-credit independent study projects with Gerken, and who also worked for two summers as his research assistant. Helping facilitate Kostiuk’s investigations into fluorine has been his extensive access to the labs’ sophisticated research equipment, which include two nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, a Raman spectrometer and an x-ray diffractometer.

“Being able to use these machines to conduct hands-on research is a huge advantage,” Kostiuk says. “Some things you can learn in a textbook, but it’s different when you can apply what you learn in a lab. What I do in the lab enhances what I learn in the classroom, and vice versa.”

Recently, Kostiuk and a graduate student in the Gerken lab analyzed sulfur tetrafluoride, or SF₄, a chemical compound that can be useful to processes for the pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries. Using the x-ray diffractometer, a machine for studying the structure of molecules in great detail, he was able to discern the molecule’s behaviour in solid form. It was the first time that this insight had ever been made in science, and his findings were published last June in the prestigious international scientific journal, Angewandte Chemie (German for: Applied Chemistry), published by the German Chemical Society. The accomplishment was rare, since at most universities, undergraduates have less access to leading-edge research equipment.

“I was really happy with that achievement, especially since I was just a third-year student at the time,” says Kostiuk, who is planning to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry after graduating. “Now, other researchers around the world can use it to help their own research.”

Another student who has been actively putting his classroom skills to use in the fluorine labs is Doug Turnbull, a third-year chemistry undergraduate. Turnbull came to the U of L with a budding interest in chemistry he had developed in high school, and was delighted to learn about the high-calibre expertise and facilities available in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

"I had been interested in fluorine at a superficial level, because it's the most reactive element, but at Lethbridge I was given the unique opportunity to gain a real-world idea of what fluorine chemistry is,” Turnbull says.

Turnbull has been conducting experiments involving fluorine and rhenium, another chemical element in the periodic table, to study how various reactions affect the geometry of rhenium compounds. He says Gerken’s insights and encouragement have made the lab learning exciting, and provided him with the confidence to continue exploring.

“This can be a challenging type of chemistry and the learning curve can be daunting. Michael makes it such a comfortable experience that you don’t have those worries anymore,” Turnbull says. “As far as his knowledge and communication style go, he is an outstanding supervisor.”

Probing beneath the surface

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:10:28 +0000

While you cannot see individual waves of light, they collectively compose a spectrum that allows our eyes to perceive emerald hills and brilliant blue oceans.

Digital photography has opened up ways of capturing light and colour far beyond what the human eye detects, but traditional formatting methods (like JPG) have limited the information the camera preserves to keep files small, explains ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Christopher Myhr (BFA '08).

This changed several years ago with the emergence of RAW: a format that captures unadulterated digital images in still photography. The result? Greater editing options and the ability to shoot images that were previously too difficult or expensive.

While professionals jumped on board, academia and the art community has been slow to explore RAW's full range of possibilities. Myhr has been working to fill this void. As an undergraduate student in the Department of Art, he systematically explored the tool's technical possibilities, largely by incorporating new techniques in his own works. His accomplishments earned him the J. Armand Bombadier CGS Masters Award.

This fall he'll start his master's degree at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he hopes to examine RAW's impact on society and the art world.

"Essentially, digital technology is now ubiquitous – it's everywhere. I'm interested in looking at how tools like RAW are affecting people and the history of photography," he says.

Like Myhr, Craig Wheaton has focused his studies on an often overlooked subject: the creation of biodegradable plastic.

Wheaton, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is working to develop catalysts – chemicals that trigger particular reactions – involved in the creation of polylactide polymer.

Derived from renewable resources like wheat and corn, the plastic is currently on the market (it can be found in certain kinds of food packaging), but there's a need to create cheaper, more efficient ways of producing it. A better chemical catalyst can make this happen, says Wheaton, who recently earned a doctoral scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

"I really believe in the development of plastics made from renewable resources - this is a sustainable way of developing materials. I'm really quite interested in environmental issues, and I would like to do a little bit to make a difference if I can."

Wheaton, who published six times as an undergraduate and master's student, chose doctoral studies at the U of L over larger institutions. "It has a good balance between the resources of a large school and the atmosphere and learning environment of a small school."

Ambra Gullacher has also aligned her academic career with a strong drive to make a difference. The undergraduate health sciences student is gearing up for a career in nursing and says recent research experience has changed her view of the profession.

Gullacher has been participating in an interdisciplinary, international research study of the impact of wildfires on rural communities. Led by nursing researcher Dr. Judith Kulig, the research team represents a wide range of disciplines and locations (Canada, the U.S. and Australia).

"What we're looking at, on a community collective scale, is what has t

he community's response to the fire been both immediately and in the aftermath?" says Gullacher. Gullacher has been working as an undergraduate project leader on a program examining two communities which experienced wildfires in the last decade: La Ronge, Sask., and Barriere, B.C. In 2003, Barriere was evacuated for a month when forest fires ripped through BC's interior. La Ronge was affected by forest fires in 1999, though the impact has been long-lasting. "Some people talk about it as if it happened yesterday," she says.

While the SSHRC-funded research is ongoing, some themes have already emerged.

"A lot of people have identified a sense of community as a factor in resiliency," she says. "When you live in a community that's smaller and is farther away from the city or other services, you're more dependent on each other. And because of that dependence, there's a bond there."

She's been amazed to discover that in some ways, the fires ben

efited the communities.

In Barriere, a mill where most of the community worked was slated to be shut down before the fire, and property values were expected to plummet.

When the fire destroyed the mill, it didn't re-open, but ex-employees received insurance and relief money from the loss of their homes, and were able to either relocate or rebuild.

"There's been a bit of a rejuvenation – a reclaiming of the community's sense of pride and spirit – whereas before there was a sense that things were going downhill."

Gullacher's work has earned her a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Health Professional Student Research Award and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Summer Studentship Award. It's also taught her that health isn't just a matter of physical well-being; it's impacted greatly by how a community affects people emotionally and socially.

"Being able to see how a community works together, and how it acts as its own little organism gives me a better perspective."

UNews - plastics

C-CRAFT ushers in new era of fluorine research

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