GC Student and Faculty Research Published in The Journal of Chemical Education
Published: April 13, 2021
The American Chemical Society recently published an article co-authored by three student researchers, all veterans of the Greenville College Summer Science Research Experience (GC-SRE). Darrell Iler, chemistry department chair, received word in January that the Journal of Chemical Education had just posted the article on its website.
The news reflects an emerging strength of the Colleges science program. Independent research is a growing expectation for a degree in the sciences, explains Iler, and we want to offer that kind of experience to our students. This is the second published article to flow out of student research from a program that is just four years old.
Amber Brown (Class of 12), Amanda Landis (06) and Greg Schimke (14, pictured above) joined Professors Iler and George Peters, math department chair, in authoring the paper. Six students in all participated in the research across four summers. The article is titled, Free Radical Addition Polymerization Kinetics Without Steady-State Approximations: A Numerical Analysis for the Polymer, Physical, or Advanced Organic Chemistry Course.
Polymerization is the process of combining molecules to form a more complex product of higher molecular weight. Familiar polymers include polystyrene, polyethylene, silk and cellulose. Cellulose, a natural polymer, is the main component of paper and wood. The GC-SRE research provides more complete and precise descriptions of the mechanisms involved in the formation of long chain polymer molecules.
The students work benefits other researchers by providing new ways to quantitate, characterize and understand some of the underlying mechanisms of the polymerization process. It also gives educators for advanced courses in organic, physical and polymer chemistries a tool for justifying assumptions about the polymerization process that have been part of their coursework over the past 40 years.
The Greenville College Summer Science Research Experience is made possible by grants and donations to the Colleges Catalyst Fund. For more information about summer science research at Greenville College, contact Darrell Iler at darrell.iler@greenville.edu.
