Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Chemistry (not Biochemistry)
Session: 2
Amber Osborne - Xavier University of Louisiana
Co-Author(s): Amber Osborne,1 William Winchester,2 Morgan Reed,2 Lorice Dykes2, Pinghua Ling2, Kevin Riley2 and Zhe Wang 2* 1Department of Biology, Xavier University of Louisiana 2Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana
This study is primarily about targeting the most efficient and inexpensive method of synthesizing urea and it derivatives that today are most commonly used for fertilizers and industry materials. However, the current methods are relatively low efficient. Our group is developing a new approach to utilizing the CO2 as resource to synthesizing the urea in the ionic liquid with an electrochemistry method. Currently, the goal of experimentation is to decipher whether the urea product is catalyst or a reagent which will further explain the reasoning for the overall methods when using Urea. The methods being used is applying the optimal ionic liquid and DMSO to a cell along with CO2 purging in between. In addition, the product will be washed with Acetone, the product and salt will be isolated, and the amount of product will be confirmed. Multiple trials will take place in which the precise amounts of ionic liquid and DMSO will be applied in varying amounts dependent on the amount of product obtained and whether it’s a product or reagent. In doing this, previous tests using the NMR and FTIR machines have confirmed the importance of using ionic liquid to obtain valid product. It’s been validated that in order to obtain product and not solely salt, the ionic liquid must be present during experimentation. The identification of urea being confirmed will give insight into the best possible methodology for the common use of Urea. As a result of future findings, the use of Urea in current industries and laboratories could be significantly enhanced in regard to the amount of time, cost, and resources needed.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Dr. Zhe Wang
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Zhe Wang, zwang@xula.edu
Role: I conduct multiple trials throughout the experiment with various amounts of ionic liquid and DMSO in order to determine the identity of Urea. These trials in turn contribute to the overall goal of of targeting the best method in synthesizing Urea and its' derivatives.