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The manufacturing processes for cosmetics, medicines, plastics, and many other products rely on chemical solvents – and generate massive amounts of solvent waste, posing significant economic, safety, and environmental problems. If designed well, ionic liquids may be the answer to the chemical industry’s desire to develop cheaper, safer, and greener alternatives.
That’s where Michael Nappa ’08 (Milford, N.J.) comes in. The chemical engineering major studied some of these ionic liquids to classify their wetting behaviors. The research contributes to the growing body of knowledge about the properties of ionic liquids and their potential as a replacement for traditional industrial solvents.
Nappa collaborated with Samuel Morton, assistant professor of chemical engineering, through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year share their work through articles in academic journals and/or conference presentations.
By observing how droplets of the ionic liquids behaved in relation to surfaces such as glass, steel, and Teflon, Morton and Nappa made useful classifications of these substances. The materials were selected based on the potential for them to come into contact with ionic liquids in a chemical or pharmaceutical process environment.
Morton and Nappa measured the shapes and angles that formed by the adhesion of the droplets to surfaces. Recording how a droplet settles and calculating the contact angle helped indicate how effectively a surface was wetted.
One of Nappa’s roles in the project was to apply the drops to surfaces, being careful to maintain consistency in dispensing the liquids and preparing the surfaces.
“Michael is a meticulous and patient researcher – excellent traits for this sometimes tedious measurement approach – and the work he has performed is excellent,” Morton says.
Morton expects to present the results of their research eventually at an academic conference or publish them as a journal article.
The project has given Nappa an understanding of the nature of academic research and scholarship, as well as valuable information relating to the analysis of experimental data.
“The EXCEL program is pretty fantastic,” Nappa says. “It brings another dimension to undergraduate academia.”
Nappa also has been pleased with his collaboration with Morton.
“Dr. Morton was willing to take the time to make me informed and tell me how he felt things were going,” he says. “He supplied me with everything I needed and was encouraging, as he has much research experience himself. I hope to graduate with honors, and I expect he will help me reach that goal.”
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Twenty-one students have been accepted to present their research at this year’s conference.