Session: Undergraduate Research Posters: Nanochemistry:

The formation of nanoparticles with inorganic materials like palladium is useful when creating more efficient catalysts because of the increased surface area to volume ratio which allows for more catalytic activity. The use of peptides to synthesize these nanoparticles has been tested and proven to be successful with the added benefit of requiring less energy. This is due to specific peptides having a high affinity for inorganic materials like palladium, but the environment in which the nanoparticles are formed can have an effect on the end product. The traditional Pd4 peptide used to form nanoparticles in water is not as effective in organic solvents like ethanol. This issue opens the doors for research into new peptides that may work better in forming nanoparticles in organic solvents such as the S2Pd4S2 peptide with its two hydrophobic S2 groups. Suzuki coupling reactions with the use of nanoparticles synthesized by the S2Pd4S2 peptide in ethanol have shown promising results.

Beverly Briggs Penland

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