CHEMSEM 10: March 18, 2021

• Download: jessica-ray-poster.pdf

The faculty, students and staff of the Andrews University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry are pleased to invite all to view a Zoom lecture by Jessica Ray, PhD, on Thursday, March 18, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. EST on Vanadium Carbide Nanomaterials for Rapid Defluorination of Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid. She was selected and featured as the "Water Protector" in Chemistry & Engineering News 2020 Talented 12: https://cen.acs.org/environment/water/Jessica-Ray/98/i31.

This is the tenth installment of the Dwain L. Ford Lecture Series in the Andrews University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 2021 spring seminar program. Everyone is invited to view the lecture at https://andrews.zoom.us/j/92307867479. The meeting ID is 923 0786 7479.

Teachers are encouraged to announce this lecture in their classes and/or forward this email to their classes. Please share and encourage your colleagues, friends and others to tune in online. This lecture is free and open to all: students, high school through college, and everyone in our community and general public.

The Dwain L. Ford Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Andrews University Office of Research & Creative Scholarship, Berrien RESA Math Science Center and the Chemistry Honors Society.

Seminar Zoom Protocol:

• Mute your sound.
• Everyone can ask/write a question in the chat.

Short Abstract:
Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), such as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), are persistent, acutely toxic synthetic organic chemicals that are widespread in environmental waters. This study seeks to exploit the vanadium (V) reactivity and leverage​ the V2C MXene nanosheet high surface area and energy transfer to degrade PFOS, a representative PFAA, in the presence of H2O2 in water.

Speaker’s Bio:
Professor Jessica Ray (she/her) is the Robert and Irene Sylvester Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. Ray received her BS degree in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009. Upon graduation, Ray remained at Washington University in St. Louis to obtain an MS degree (2010, funded by the NSF GK–12 Graduate Research Fellowship) and a PhD in energy, environmental engineering & chemical engineering (2015, funded by the EPA Students to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship). During her PhD, Ray employed surface chemistry techniques to investigate interfacial reactions of nanomaterials in water. Ray then moved to California as a Miller Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. As a postdoc, Ray developed low-cost polymer-clay composites to treat urban stormwater. At the University of Washington, Ray is continuing to develop and characterize new composite materials for selective contaminant removal in water, for enhanced degradation of persistent contaminants, and for recovery of valuable species in waste streams. In recognition of her novel, interdisciplinary research addressing urban water supply and sustainability, Chemical & Engineering News named Ray one of the "Talented 12" honorees for 2020. 

For more information on Ray's research, see https://ray-aimslab.com/.