Toward Homogeneous Carbon Media for Separation Science

俄亥俄州立大学的Susan Olesik教授和她的团队在化学测量和成像项目的支持下，研究了一种新发现的生产碳介质的方法，这种方法可以将分离装置中每单位距离分离的组分数量增加至少两个数量级。他们的方法包括开发分子印迹碳，并需要深入研究这些介质如何以及为什么具有如此高性能的特性，目的是在化合物分离方面提供更大的改进。高选择性吸附碳表面应具有广泛的应用，如污染修复和疾病检测。正在研究的碳吸附剂在解决许多世界上最具挑战性的问题方面也具有潜在的相关性——例如，从大气中大规模选择性吸附二氧化碳和用于疾病检测和药物开发的DNA片段的高度选择性分离。仪器分析专业的本科生将通过扩展REEL项目（以研究经验增强教育）参与这些研究的各个方面。通过讨论独特的碳材料的特性，学生们将决定如何在他们的课堂项目中使用这项新技术。

Prof. Susan Olesik and her group at Ohio State University are supported by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program to study a newly discovered means of producing carbon media that can increase by at least two orders of magnitude the number of components separated per unit distance in a separation device. Their approach includes development of molecularly-imprinted carbon and entails thorough study of how and why these media have such high performance characteristics, with an aim of providing even greater improvements in compound separations. Highly selective adsorptive carbon surfaces should have broad-reaching applications, such as pollution remediation and disease detection. The carbon adsorbents under study also have potential relevance in addressing many of the world's most challenging problems - for example, large-scale selective adsorption of CO2 from the atmosphere and highly selective separations of DNA fragments for disease detection and drug development. Undergraduate students in instrumental analysis will be involved in aspects of these studies through an extension of the REEL program (Research Experience to Enhance Education). Through discussions about the properties of the unique carbon materials, students will make decisions about how this new technology can be used in their class projects.