ACS South Jersey Local Section Meeting

Location:  The May meeting will be held Dave & Buster’s in Blackwood, NJ.  It is conveniently located near Route 42.  Directions via Google Maps can be accessed by clicking this link.  Dr. Pamela Cohn will be our speaker, please see her abstract and bio below.

The event will cost $25 per person for adult members and $10 per student. 

Please RSVP by 4/27 @ 5PM here: https://doodle.com/meeting/organize/id/egnMYN9d

Abstract: 

 Ionic liquids are ionic compounds that melt below 100 °C. They have found wide application as a green solvent alternative for organic reactions and as a safe electrolyte-alternative for the battery industry. However, there are few reports of how the structure of the ionic liquid impacts its assembly in solution or solid phase, and thereby affect its properties. For two different cationic surfactants, the role of the counter-anion on assembly in the ionic liquid in solid phase and solution was investigated with thermal analysis, single crystal x-ray diffraction, and UV/vis and NMR spectroscopies. It was found that the critical micelle concentration for self-assembly in mixed organic solvents indicated when significant changes in the molecular packing in the solid phase would occur for different counter anions of a cationic surfactant. Future work will aim to establish broader relationships between structure and subsequent properties in solution and solid phases for various ionic liquids. The work was performed in collaboration with Dr. Patrick C. Hillesheim (Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Ave Maria University), and Dr. Arsalan Mirjafari (Professor of Chemistry at SUNY-Oswego).

Bio: Dr. Pamela Cohn began her academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Program at Stockton University in 2013. She is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry. She is a Florida native and performed her undergraduate and part of her graduate studies at Florida Atlantic University (B.S. Chemistry, 2004; M.S. 2006) in the field of organic synthetic methodology. Her doctoral studies were performed at the University of Florida (Ph.D. Chemistry, 2011) in the field of supramolecular chemistry, and her post-doctoral training was performed at Case Western Reserve University (2011-2013, Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering) in polymer science. Her current research projects span various challenges in materials science and physical organic chemistry.