Trine University faculty member receives grant for research, student opportunities

Trine University professor Matthew Liberatore, Ph.D., who serves as the chair of the McKetta Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, received a Petroleum Research Fund for Undergraduate Research grant from the American Chemical Society. The $70,000 grant will fund research, stipends, and supplies for Liberatore and his students.

According to an article on Trine University's website, Liberatore explained, “The students will gain experience using industry tools such as a rheometer and skills that come with independent, lab-based projects. Undergraduate research experiences are essential for motivating students to pursue challenging science and engineering problems.”

The project is called “Finding synergy between entanglements and crosslinks in aqueous polyelectrolyte gels,” and will include Jacob Bilby, a chemical engineering major, and several other undergraduate students who will join the project during its three-year run. The grant funding will provide a stipend to Liberatore and the involved undergraduate students, as well as provide funding for materials and supplies and travel expenses to regional conferences for students to present their findings. 

The overall goal of the project is to develop improved gels that can be used in pharmaceuticals, underground oil recovery, cosmetics, and food production.

In underground oil recovery, gels are used to move oil around, and the gels for this purpose are usually made of polymer chains and added salts. This is inefficient, however, as huge amounts of these ingredients are needed for this purpose.

Liberatore said, “Our idea is that the long polymer chains naturally tangle with each other, like cooked spaghetti. These tangles might act like additional links in the molecular netting. Thus, we hope our new gels will be mostly water with very small amounts of other chemicals.”

For more information about Trine University, visit the school’s website.