UA Student’s Discovery Wins Green Chemistry Award, Sends Him to Meet Nobel Laureates

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A University of Alabama chemistry graduate student is on the way to eliminating the smell synonymous with the many paper plants located throughout Alabama and the rest of the country.

Richard P. Swatloski, who is working on his doctorate in chemistry at UA’s Center for Green Manufacturing, has been awarded the 2003 Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Student Award in Green Chemistry. The Enterprise native will be presented the award during the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards ceremony at the National Academy of Sciences Auditorium on June 23 in Washington, D.C.

The award is for his discovery of a new solvent system to dissolve cellulose. “Our goal is to develop greener, more environmentally-friendly ways of doing things,” Swatloski said. “The use of cellulose based materials is appealing from an environmental point of view as traditional solvents have significant processing limitations, as well as environmental consequences.”

Cellulose, found in plants, is nature’s most abundant chemical and is a cheap and renewable resource. However, the process used today for breaking down cellulose is the same as it has been for almost a century with CS2 (carbon disulfide), which gives off a strong odor. The multistepped process creates a larger amount of waste and byproduct than the newly discovered method.

“Legislatively, there will come a time when today’s methods will be restricted,” Swatloski said. “We’re hoping to stay ahead of the curve and significantly reduce the time it will take to implement new methods.”

His research has attempted to combine two major principles of green chemistry: the development of alternative solvents that are more environmentally benign; and the utilization of nondepleting, biorenewable resources.

“We have shown that some new, potentially environmentally-friendly solvents, ionic liquids, can act as solvents for cellulose,” Swatloski said. “The cellulose dissolves like sugar in a glass of iced tea. This can make the process cleaner and more efficient, along with a reduction or elimination of environmentally undesirable byproducts.” Ionic liquids, essentially salts with low melting temperatures, have unique properties that contribute to their “greenness” as a class of solvents, including a minimal odor, high thermal stability and non-flammability.

Another result of his research is that Swatloski has been selected for student participation at the 53rd Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, from June 30-July 4.

The United States Department of Energy Office of Science is sponsoring 18 graduate students from across the country to attend the meeting. Since 1951 Nobel Prize winners and students in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine have met annually in Germany. Each year an international group of more than 400 scientists is invited to attend the weeklong meeting.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity, and I’m honored to have been chosen,” Swatloski said. “I am particularly interested in learning from the scientists about chemical and biological weapons and the possible applications of cellulose filters with active molecules that respond when in the presence of contamination.” Such responses are seen as a possibility for an early warning system.

While there are formal lectures in the mornings, the afternoons and evenings are set-aside for the students to meet informally with the Nobel Laureate scientists. The sessions provide world-renowned scientists with an opportunity to motivate and inspire students.

Eligible students must have completed two years, but not more than three years, toward a doctoral degree in geology, medicine or a related discipline, be a U.S. citizen and currently be enrolled at a university as a full-time graduate student. They also must be participating in a research project funded by the Office of Science.

The Department of Chemistry and The Center for Green Manufacturing are housed in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama – the largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and A&S students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 15 Rhodes Scholarships, 13 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships and 15 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.