Synthesis and Analysis of Carbohydrate-based hydrogels
Rebecca Connor, Dickinson College
This CURE has been developed for first-year general chemistry students with a strong background in chemistry who have elected to take an accelerated one-semester general chemistry course. In this CURE, students will have the opportunity to study controlled drug release from carbohydrate-based hydrogels or protein purification using carbohydrate based hydrogels. After learning some basic lab skills and developing their ability to read the primary literature, the students will use what they have learned to design a new synthesis of a carbohydrate-based hydrogel. They will evaluate their hydrogels for mechanical properties and ability to absorb and release model drugs. After their first set of experiments, the class will meet in a "group-meeting" and they will present and discuss their in-progress data. The students will then propose their next set of experiments and perform them. They will write a formal report at the end of the semester detailing their methods used, results generated, and a comparison of their results to the published literature.

Photocatalytic degradation of model compounds
Sarah St. Angelo, Dickinson College
This CURE is intended for a junior/senior level inorganic chemistry laboratory. Students will synthesize various composite nanomaterials than can be tested for photocatalytic activity for the degradation of model compounds (organic dye molecules). The components of the nanocomposites will be varied and the effects on the photocatalysis will be measured. Students will synthesize the nanocomposites and characterize them with several techniques useful to materials chemists, such as SEM, XRD, and AA.