Our chemical fingerprinting method to discriminate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent pollutants with significant health and environmental consequences, has been accepted for publication in Chemical Science. The method was developed by Nick White and Michael Ihde in our group, using polymers developed by Joshua Tropp and Dr. Jason Azoulay at the School of Polymers at the University of Southern Mississippi. Our method, based on detecting how PAHs affect the fluorescence of fluorene-based conjugated polymers through the inner-filter effect (IFE), was able to discriminate between 16 PAH compounds identified as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Yifei, and Xiyuan, graduate students in the group, are organizing a student-led symposium at the upcoming Fall ACS meeting in San Diego (August 2019). They are lining up some really interesting speakers, so plan to stop by if you are at the conference!

Xiyuan successfully completed her initial research review today, presenting the work she carried out in the last nine months on the ITC calorimetric investigation of the binding of hydrophobic molecules of nutritional interest to polysaccharides in water. Congratulations Xiyuan!

Xiaoli Liang, a PhD student in our group, successfully defended her dissertation today! Xiaoli also recently accepted a position as a postdoctoral researcher in the Gillies research group at the University of Western Ontario. Congratulations Dr. Liang, and best wishes for your future career!

Michael Ihde, a fourth-year student in our group, was notified today that he was selected to give an oral presentation on his research at the 2019 Physical Organic Gordon Research Seminar, taking place right before the corresponding GRC on June 22-23. Congratulations Michael!

Flor Lozada Santiago is a first year graduate student in our group. She was previously an REU researcher with us in Summer 2017. Flor was recently recognized with the Outstanding First-Year Graduate Student award from our Department. This award recognizes excellence and dedication in teaching among our first-year graduate students. Congratulations Flor!

Yifei, a graduate student in the group, successfully passed her oral candidacy exam at the end of March, presenting an original proposal on the use of modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles for photo-controlled guest molecule storage and release. Yifei is now a Ph.D. candidate: congratulations!

Gabrielle Covey, an experienced undergraduate researcher in our group, presented a talk at the ACS Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC 2019) held this year at the University of Tennessee - Martin. She spoke on her research on metal complexation by modified rhodamine dyes carried out in collaboration with the Wallace Group at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Just like past years, many of us participated in the presentations at the 2018 Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2018, Augusta, GA).

• Xiyuan Yao gave a talk on Complexation thermodynamics between cyclodextrins and fatty acids. Xiyuan is a second-year graduate student, and this was her first report on work she conducted in our group.
  
• Yifei Xu gave a talk on Fingerprinting penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics in neutral aqueous solution.
  
• Gabrielle Covey, an undergraduate researcher in the group whom we also recently hosted as an REU student (below), presented a poster on Fluorescent turn-on sensors for transition metals.

Congratulations to all of them!