Visiting faculty Urvashi Gangal and three of her research students -- Tristan Contreras ’20, Vincent Yang ’22 and Kay Dolan ’23-- and colleagues from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry at the University of Minnesota recently published an article in the Journal of Plasma Processes and Polymers. The article was entitled "Synergies Between Polyacrylamide Polymerization and Nanoparticle Generation Using an Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet."
This study describes the free radical polymerization of acrylamide in an aqueous solution by a radio frequency-driven atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The polymerization was catalyzed by simultaneous generation of nanoparticles resulting in a percentage polymer yield increased by a factor of 2–30 times. As plasma enables reduction without the addition of chemicals, this procedure might be a novel biocompatible approach to generate polyacrylamide/silver nanocomposite hydrogels.
Future research in the Hamline Plasma Laboratory would focus on the diverse applications of cold plasmas in the field of water purification, material synthesis, degradation of carbon di oxide and the effects of plasma on plant germination and growth.
The link to the full study can be found at http://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.202200031
