Contacts: Mark Bussell, WWU Chemistry Department, (360) 650-3145 or Mark.Bussell@wwu.edu.
BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University graduate student Amy F. Gaudette and her advisor Professor Mark Bussell collaborated with Northwestern University chemists to design a new material called a cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur chalcogel that may have numerous applications, including removing mercury from polluted water, separating hydrogen from other gases and pulling sulfur out of crude oil.
The sponge-like cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur solid is a part of a newly discovered family of materials called chalcogels, which are comprised of random networks of metal-sulfur atoms with very high surface areas. The surface area of one cubic centimeter of cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur is approximately 10,000 square feet. The chalcogel materials were discovered by Northwestern University Professor Mercouri Kanatzidis and graduate student Santanu Bag.
Gaudette, a Burlington native, conducted tests on one of the material's most noteworthy potential applications-hydrodesulfurization, which is a catalytic process to remove sulfur from crude oil. In an article Gaudette, Bussell and the researchers at NWU published in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry, they reported that the cobalt-molybdenum-sulfur chalcogel is twice as effective at removing sulfur from crude oil as the currently used material.
"It's thrilling to be involved with such monumental research on chalcogels. Collaborations are a great part of scientific research and I am delighted be a part of the development of this novel catalyst," Gaudette said. "I never expected this work to be published in a journal as prominent as Nature Chemistry."
Gaudette is working toward a master's degree in Chemistry at WWU, and will graduate this summer. Her thesis work involves synthesizing and analyzing materials used in hydrodesulfurization with WWU Professor of Chemistry Mark Bussell.
For more information, contact Mark Bussell, WWU Chemistry Department, at (360) 650-3145 or Mark.Bussell@wwu.edu.
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