SUMMER RESEARCH TRAINING IN MEMBRANE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2008 NSF REU SITE PROGRAM at the UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
The Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to offer this research project as part of the 2008 summer NSF-REU Site Program administered by the Department of Pharmacology & Cell Biophysics.  Students interested in this project are urged to contact Professor Heineman to discover more about the project, learn what your responsibilities will be during the ten-week research training program.
Project #:  08 - 008 Faculty Supervisor/Mentor: William R. Heineman, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor, College of Arts & Sciences Email:  william.heineman@uc.edu
Analysis of Membranes for Sensor & Bio-Sensor Applications
General background and significance of the project: This REU research project is in the areas of electroanalytical chemistry and bioanalytical chemistry.  These areas are closely aligned with membrane technology as applied to bio-sensors.  Many of the projects are interdisciplinary in nature and involve collaborations with scientists in physical chemistry, biochemistry, engineering, and the medical sciences.  Currently, most of the research involves exploration of new concepts for development of chemical sensors and biosensors.  Some projects come from the general area of developing sensors based on spectroelectrochemistry.  This new type of sensor combines three levels of selectivity in one device:  selective partitioning into a film, electrochemical excitation signal, and optical response signal.  The improved selectivity is a breakthrough in sensing methodology.
Brief description of proposed research and activities for the 10-week REU period: The REU student will gain experience in electrochemistry, absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, preparation of thin selective coatings, instrumentation theory to describe the spectroelectrochemical behavior, and applications to environmental and biomedical sensing problems.  The REU student will be part of a large research group of about 15 graduate students, postdocs, and visiting scholars from other universities.  Although they work closely with some of the more advanced graduate students, each REU student has an independent project of their own.
What the REU Student can gain from participating in this project: The project has a carefully defined scope so that the REU student will learn new experimental techniques with which he/she can obtain positive results within a ten-week period.  Results from their experiments are typically published in a journal such as Analytical Chemistry with the undergraduate student as a co-author.  Because they are part of a large graduate student research group, the REU students get a good look at what the Ph.D. is all about.