Chemistry Department

Research

The Chemistry Department has been blessed with alumni and friends who have recognized the need for modern instruments in science instruction. They have provided funds to supplement equipment budgets so that students can have experience on a variety of major pieces of scientific instrumentation. As a result, chemistry and biochemistry graduates are well-prepared to enter graduate school or work in a modern laboratory upon graduation. We are deeply grateful to those who have understood the significance of advanced instrumentation in science instruction and research and who have helped to provide the instrument holdings the Department enjoys. If you have an interest in helping the Chemistry Department acquire additional modern instruments, we would be delighted to talk with you.

Research with Dr. Ed Wilson

Shown here are a labscale hybrid rocket motor being test fired and Harding students Dee Horne and Alex Hamilton preparing a sample for reaction rate experiments in Harding's GC/Mass Spectrometer.

Atmospheric and Space Research Team (Research Website)

Operating under the leadership of Dr. Ed Wilson, Professor of Chemistry and Dr. James Mackey, Professor of Physics, the team's research is funded by grants from NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development (ASTID), NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Cooperative Research (EPSCoR), and the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. Link to promotional poster (large file).

Through this research, Harding University undergraduate students gain valuable hands-on experience and knowledge in chemistry and physics. Current research projects include analysis of hybrid rocket motor exhaust plumes, development of a distributed spectrometer for use on a future NASA rover mission to Mars, and studies of atmospheric chemical reaction kinetics, and are explained in brief below.

Major Areas of Research: Hybrid Rocket Motors

With research focusing on non-invasive measurements of a chemical rocket motor, measurements will be made on UALR's HTPB/oxygen hybrid rocket motor as well as on a minihybrid designed by Harding students designed to the effects of scaling the rocket down. A "snap-shot" UV-Vis spectrometer will be designed to give real time measurement of temperature and species in both the plume and the combustion chamber. A laser diode infrared spectrometer will be developed to look at both water and carbon dioxide in the plume.

Atmospheric Chemical Kinetics

People everywhere are concerned about global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion and ozone production in the lower atmosphere. Accurate assessment of the effects of pollutants requires the construction of mathematical models, which need the most accurate reaction rate data possible. The objective of this research is to measure the rate constants of nine pentanes with hydroxyl radical over the range +200C to -70C. Reaction with hydroxyl radicals is the first step in degradation and removal of pollutants from the atmosphere. Activation energies and pre-exponential factors will be calculated from the rate data, a stringent assessment and refinement of predictive rules of hydroxyl radical reaction rate constants can be made, including nuances due to chain branching and methylene group addition.

Distributed Spectrometer for Mars

We will develop a mobile science instrumentation system capable of doing wide-area surveys for the detection of biogenic gases that may serve as indicators of life on Mars. We will provide the capability to increase in situ measurement coverage and improve chances of detecting biosignatures by developing a distributed spectrometer instrument system employing a rover and lander. Gases to be probed include methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and formaldehyde.

Further information on the research being done by Harding's Atmospheric and Space Research Team, as well as recent publications and funding information may be found at the research Website.

Research with Dr. Dennis Matlock Research with Dr. Dennis Matlock involves several projects aimed at elucidating the mechanism of action of DNA helicase enzymes. Dr. Matlock's research has been funded by The Arkansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network ($17,090), The Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Arkansas INBRE) ($17,838).

Research with Dr. Dennis Province Currently Dr. Province is involved with a project that is looking to see if a protein found in the urine of individuals while fasting is the same as that found in the urine of subjects with Lawrence Syndrome that eat normal diets. Working in collaboration with the Institutional Review Board of Harding University, a physician from Oklahoma, and the Mass Spectrometry facility at the University of Arkansas his students have collected samples from volunteers, isolated the proteins and analyzed these using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). They are in the process of isolating a particular protein candidate using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry to be sequenced and identified.

Research with Dr. Burt Hollandsworth Dr. Hollandsworth has several research interests including homogeneous catalysis using compounds containing metal-metal multiple bonds (reduction of CO to produce alkanes), computational chemistry using Density Functional Theory (DFT), and the synthesis of simulated lunar dust materials.