Meet at Holmes Lobby at 5PM. Or, if you can not make it at 5PM go to Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church right behind Blazer Hall anytime between 5PM and 7PM.
There are a multiple volunteering opportunities located at Get Involved! http://getinvolved.uky.edu/
Abstract: Although the conversion of oleaginous biomass to the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) that constitute biodiesel is a mature technology, feedstock availability issues as well as challenges stemming from the high oxygen content of FAMEs have limited the widespread application of biodiesel. Consequently, attention has shifted to processes capable of catalytically deoxygenating oleaginous biomass to afford fuel-like hydrocarbons. Deoxygenation via decarboxylation/decarbonylation (deCOx) represents a promising alternative to the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) processes typically employed to achieve this transformation, as deCOx does not necessitate the high pressures of hydrogen and the problematic sulfided catalysts required by HDO.
To date, the majority of deCOx reports involve Pd or Pt catalysts, the cost of which may be prohibitive. However, Ni-based catalysts have been shown to be capable of affording comparable results to precious metal-based formulations [1]. Recently, we have observed that the promotion of Ni with other earth-abundant metals – such as Cu – leads to considerable improvements in activity, selectivity and resistance to coking [2]. Results of Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurements suggest that these improvements can be attributed to the ability of the aforementioned metal promoters to improve the reducibility of Ni. This results in an increased amount of Ni0, which is believed to be the active phase in the deCOx reaction.
Ni catalysts promoted in this manner afford remarkable results in the conversion of a wide variety of model, waste and/or highly unsaturated lipids – including tristearin, triolein, yellow grease, brown grease, hemp seed oil and algal FAMEs – to fuel-like hydrocarbons [3-6]. Indeed, using a fixed-bed reactor operated using industrially-relevant reaction conditions, close to quantitative yields of diesel-like hydrocarbons are obtained. In addition, as shown in Figure 1, a catalyst employed has displayed remarkable stability and recyclability in a run comprising two 100 h time on stream cycles [5].
Mentoring has been identified as an effective tool not only for attracting and retaining students from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines, but also for improving their academic performance. However, additional benefits could be obtained by housing mentoring initiatives in research centers as opposed to in traditional academic departments. Therefore, a mentoring initiative based at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research is striving to test this hypothesis [7]. Recently, providing the participating students access to international research opportunities has become a focus of this mentoring program.
References
[1] T. Morgan, D. Grubb, E. Santillan-Jimenez, M. Crocker. Top. Catal., 2010, 53, 820.
[2] R. Loe, E. Santillan-Jimenez, A.F. Lee, M. Crocker, et al. Appl. Catal. B: Environ., 2016, 191, 147.
[3] E. Santillan-Jimenez, R. Pace, T. Morgan, C. McKelphin, M. Crocker, et al. Fuel, 2016, 180, 668.
[4] E. Santillan-Jimenez, R. Loe, M. Garrett, T. Morgan, M. Crocker. Catal. Today, 2018, 302, 261.
[5] R. Loe, M. Maier, M. Abdallah, R. Pace, E. Santillan-Jimenez, M. Crocker, et al. Catalysts, 2019, 9, 123.
[6] R. Loe, K. Huff, M. Walli, R. Pace, Y. Song, E. Santillan-Jimenez, M. Crocker, et al. Catalysts (IN PRESS).
[7] E. Santillan-Jimenez, W. Henderson. 124th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference Proceedings, 2017, Conference Paper ID #17681.
Professor Grace Jones
January 30, 1951-January 12, 2019
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that our friend and colleague, Professor Grace Jones, has passed away peacefully after a prolonged illness. She was a dedicated teacher, scholar and scientist and will be missed by all. She was in the loving embrace of her dedicated husband, Dr. Davy Jones, at the very end.
The demise of the monarchy and the bodily absence of a King caused a representational crisis in the early republic, forcing the American people to reconstruct the social symbolic order in a new and unfamiliar way. Social historians have routinely understood the Revolution and the early republic as projects dedicated to and productive of reason, with "the people" as an orderly and sensible collective at odds with the volatile and unthinking crowd. American Enchantment rejects this traditionally held vision of a rational public sphere, arguing that early Americans dealt with the post-monarchical crisis by engaging in "civil mysticism," not systematic discussion and debate. By evaluating a wide range of social and political rituals and literary and cultural discourses, Sizemore shows how "enchantment" becomes a vital mode of enacting the people after the demise of traditional monarchical forms. In works by Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, Catharine Sedgwick, and Nathaniel Hawthorne--as well as in Delaware oral histories, accounts of George Washington's inauguration, and Methodist conversion narratives--enchantment is an experience uniquely capable of producing new forms of popular power and social affiliation. Recognizing the role of enchantment in constituting the people overturns some of the most common-sense assumptions in the post-revolutionary world: above all, that the people are not simply a flesh-and-blood substance, but also a mystical force.
A richly textured, diverse collection of stories that illuminate the heartland and America itself, exploring questions of history, race, and identity. Grounded in place, spanning the Civil War to the present day, the stories in I Was a Revolutionary capture the roil of history through the eyes of an unforgettable cast of characters: the visionaries and dreamers, radical farmers and socialist journalists, quack doctors and protestors who haunt the past and present landscape of the state of Kansas.
The Fluid Boundaries of Suffrage and Jim Crow: Staking Claims in the American Heartland engages in an important conversation about race relations in the twentieth century and significantly extends the historical narrative of the Civil Rights Movement. The essays in this collection examine instances of racial and gender oppression in the American heartland—which is conceived of here as having a specific cultural significance which resists diversity—in the twentieth century, instances which have often been ignored or overshadowed in typical historical narratives. The contributors explore the intersections of suffrage, race relations, and cultural histories, and add to an ongoing dialogue about representations of race and gender within the context of regional and national narratives.
