Physical
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BYU physical chemistry student Joshua Washburn receives outstanding poster award
Joshua Washburn, BYU student of Dr. James Patterson, recently received the outstanding poster award at the Spring 2023 American Chemical Society Physical Chemistry Poster Session. The competition, held in-person in Indianapolis, Indiana, featured research posters summarizing student work from around the United States.
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35th Annual Broadbent Lecture Series with Melanie Sanford: Review
Why do we care about electrical energy storage? What does the future of renewable energy look like? How are scientists racing to keep up with ever-increasing energy consumption rates?
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Professors Create Chemistry Camp to Inspire Young Minds
The inaugural BYU Chemistry Camp was a fun-filled three-day event for campers ages 9-12 who participated in hands-on, inquiry-based chemistry experiments. Campers came from all local Provo schools (Franklin, Provo Peaks, Timpanogos, and Wasatch) and from as far away as Alaska and Tennessee.The idea for the camp was sparked by Dr. Ess who was looking for a science camp for ...
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Research Pays Off at ACS National Meeting
Of around 140 physical chemistry students in a poster session at the ACS (American Chemical Society) National Meeting in Denver last week, only a handful were chosen to receive awards for their research. One of these few was BYU’s own Conner Harper, who graduated with his BS in chemistry this last December.
About
Physical chemists study matter, which of course includes nearly everything upon the Earth. Physical chemists theorize and experiment in an effort to understand the fundamental structures and properties of different states of matter, particularly including the vibrational dynamics of solids, the chemical dynamics of gases, and everything in between.
Related Faculty
Matthew C. Asplund
Using short-pulsed lasers, Dr. Asplund and his lab group directly probe chemical reactions in real time. Typically, one laser pulse initiates a reaction, and a second pulse probes the intermediates or products some time later. The Asplund Lab places particular importance on infrared spectroscopy in probing chemical species, since infrared spectroscopy affords easier, more efficient correlation with molecular structure than ...
David V. Dearden
The Dearden Group’s research centers on the development and use of state-of-the-art, extremely sensitive chemical analysis tools. The Group primarily works with a Fourier transform mass spectrometer (FTMS), which weighs molecules with accuracies of about one part per million and can distinguish between molecules with similar weights better than any other available technique. With the FTMS's kind of accuracy, merely ...
James K. Harper
The primary research goal in the Harper Lab is the NMR characterization of structure in solids that are difficult or impossible to examine by more conventional techniques. The relevance of our methods is, perhaps, best demonstrated by the Harper Lab's recent characterization of the complete crystal structure of (+)-catechin, a ubiquitous and extensively studied antioxidant that had defied characterization for nearly ...
Jeremy A. Johnson
The Johnson Spectroscopy Laboratory uses ultrafast spectroscopy with expertise in high-field Terahertz (THz) generation to study characterize and control material properties on trillionth-of-a-second time scales.
James E. Patterson
The Patterson Research Lab focuses on establishing links between molecular structure and function in interfacial systems. Many phenomena occur primarily or exclusively at interfaces. These include adhesion, friction, lubrication, chromatographic separations, catalysis and many biological processes. To trace connections between the above and molecular structure, Patterson reseachers use a non-linear spectroscopy technique known as vibrationally resonant sum-frequency generation (VR-SFG). This technique allows ...
Eric T. Sevy
Students of the Sevy Lab study the dynamics of chemical reactions. In particular, Sevy Lab is interested in studying events involving highly excited molecules with a chemically significant amount of energy. Highly excited molecules are of great importance, due to their reactivity; however, they are often extremely difficult to study as a result of their complexity. Reactants are produced using laser ...
Brian F. Woodfield
The Woodfield Lab Group studies industrially and technologically important materials. Research Interests The study of superconducting, magnetic, nanocrystalline, or other technologically important materials using specific-heat measurements from as low as 0.5 K to 400 K. Current research projects are funded by the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and various private companies. The current research focus also includes the synthesis and characterization of a wide ...