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Last Reviewed May 27, 2008
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Jessica presented the results of her research at the 72nd Annual Intercollegiate Student Chemist Convention at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, and won the First Place Award in the Analytical Division for her presentation. Jessica is pictured here with Dr. Betts shortly after the announcement of awaards. Congratulations Jessica!

This is an ongoing effort. Another undergraduate researcher will pick up the project where Jess left off.

Jessica Pietruch spent a year synthesizing, derivatizing, purifying and evaluating gold nanoparticles. Her goal was to construct a novel sugar sensor.

Jess at fluorometer
A large portion of her efforts were spent evaluating whether the synthesis and derivatization worked. For these tasks a variety of techniques were used including fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and high performance liquid chromatography.

KU Chemistry Undergraduate Research
A Sugar Sensor based on
Gold Nanoparticles
Jessica Pietruch, Gary Baker* and Dr. Tom Betts

Derivatized gold nanoparticles

*Gary Baker is our collaborator currently in the Chemical Sciences Division of the Nanomaterials Chemistry Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Jess and Dr. Betts