Summer 2023-Exploring Chemistry for Making New, 3D-Printable Glass Materials

Teacher: Samia El-Touny, (Omaha) Westview High School 

Principal Investigator: Joel Destino, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 

Project Description: Researchers on this project will make new nanoparticles that will be used to make 3D-printable glass materials. They will also learn conventional wet chemistry techniques and more cutting-edge, 3D-printing, and materials fabrication methods as well. State-of-the-art instrumentation such as electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and spectroscopy will be used to investigate nanoparticle growth and explore glass network formation from the bottom­–up.  

Teaching Background/Educational Interests: Dr. Destino primarily teaches Analytical Chemistry courses at Creighton. His educational interests include integrating active learning activities and using 3D printing to design and construct educational tools/instruments.

Summer 2022-Electrochemical Light: Glowing Materials for Electrochemiluminescent Sensors

Principal Investigator: Erin Gross Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 

Teacher: Naomi Kirkvold, Omaha Central High School 

Project Description: Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a similar phenomenon to chemiluminescence (i.e., glow sticks), only a potential applied at an electrode makes the glowing chemical reaction happen. When two ECL reagents are dropped onto an electrode surface, a glow is produced, and this glow can be used to detect substances of interest. The goal of this project is to modify an electrode with one of the ECL reagents as a solid material that produces a glow. This modification has the advantages of minimizing the number of liquid reagents required and overall simplification the sensors. These electrodes also have the potential for producing brighter sensors. This project will entail the fabrication of materials, electrode modification, and testing of various materials.

Teaching Background/Educational Interests: My background is in analytical chemistry, which is a measurement science. The techniques I use involve electrochemistry and luminescence and integrating measurements onto micro-scale devices. These devices are small and inexpensive and use small (< 1 mL) volumes of chemicals. However, they offer good visuals (i.e., the glow) for students.

Summer 2022-Sweet Solution: Making Solar Cells from Sugar

Principal Investigator: Andrew Baruth Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Physics

Teacher: Aaron Musson, Ph.D., Omaha North High School 

Project Description: Dye-sensitized solar cells are a novel, sustainable, and beautiful method for harvesting sunlight to generate electricity. Researchers on this project will work to optimize existing solar cell technology using earth-abundant materials like sugar, copper, and sulfur. They will learn device physics, including straight-forward electronics, as well as chemical and physical techniques to produce nanomaterials. This project utilizes solar simulators, opto-electronics, electron microscopy, wet and solid-state chemistry, atomic force microscopy, and various spectroscopy techniques to investigate material and device properties of constituent materials being incorporated into these solar cells.

Teaching Background/Educational Interests: Dr. Baruth has a Ph.D. in Physics and did post-doctoral work in Chemical Engineering and Material Science. He teaches Physics, Materials, and Photovoltaics courses at Creighton. His educational interests include project-based and academic service-learning, youth outreach, and integrating national competitions into classroom curriculum.