NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Taiwan

Marti Anne, Mckinney TX

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Anne Marti of The University of Texas at Dallas to conduct a research project in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences area during the summer of 2013 at The National Tsing University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The project title is "The Design and Characterization of Novel Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for carbon dioxide Capture." The host scientist is Dr. Sue-Lein Wang. The global consumption of energy has steadily increased each year due to population and industrial growth, thus issues such as global warming have received much attention. As a result, scientists have been investigating ways to reduce carbon dioxide produced from the burning of fossil fuels. One approach is carbon capture and sequestration technologies, which allow carbon dioxide to be captured and stored. Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline hybrid-like materials that consist of metal ions and organic linkers) that combine to form a variety of porous structures tunable to meet application requirements. MOFs can have high surface areas, large pores, and can be thermally and chemically stable for gas storage, separation, catalysis, and chemical sensing. MOFs are potential candidates for carbon dioxide capture due to their unsaturated metal sites and organic moieties that can have a high affinity for carbon dioxide. New MOFs for carbon dioxide capture have been synthesized. They are being characterized at the host University in order to determine their crystal structures using single crystal x-ray diffraction. This technique helps determine the MOF's internal lattice characteristics such as bond angles, lengths and other details of site ordering. The information gathered allows the MOF's performance to be evaluated for carbon dioxide capture. The study is based on extensive characterization of new materials for carbon dioxide capture; therefore it is expected to provide new insights to the scientific community in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the proposed research study is anticipated to promote not only scientific collaboration between the current and host Universities but bring a positive outlook about the experience to other graduate/undergraduate students from these areas. The fellow will learn valuable communication skills from this experience, which will aid in the teaching of current and future graduate/undergraduate, and high school students all of whom work within the Fellow?s group. Being of Hispanic descent, the Fellow's experience may influence other minority groups to apply and participate in higher learning experiences.