Source: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO submitted to NRP
I-TEAM UP USDA PROGRAM: TALENT POOL EXPANSION IN FAHN VIA THE SUSTAINED AND INTEGRATED CROSS-TRAINING OF STUDENT COHORTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1021384
Grant No.
2019-38422-30214
Cumulative Award Amt.
$250,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-03826
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2024
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[NJ]- Hispanic Serving Institutions Education Grants Program
Recipient Organization
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO
500 WEST UNIVERSITY AVE
EL PASO,TX 79902
Performing Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Non Technical Summary
The I-Team Up USDA program will significantly enhance the learning experience in FANH areas because the program vertically integrates with applied FANH sciences from early on and builds on that training with sustained, cross-training program with multiple stages of development. This will allow the students to engage in a structural, staged growth and professional development that has never been implemented, and which includes the peer-effect to master the content and to motivate student learning. Relative to traditional teaching,students' learning will besignificantly improved by learning (a) to acquire knowledge in a broader contemporary context, (b) to develop modern technical laboratory skills, (c) to valueeffective knowledgein the context of real-world problems, and (d) to see their own value added to the solution of a real-world problem, as well as develop professional and professional skills warranted by FANH employers. For example, they will develop skills such as (a) context- based information collection and analysis, (b) self-directed learning activities, (c) an opportunity to articulate the problem itself, (d) postulate, test & experiment, and evolve a hypothesis, (e) high-quality data collection, (f) data synthesis and interpretation, (g) interdisciplinary team collaboration, (h) project, data, and time management, (e) real-world technical writing, (j) technical oral presentation, (k) professional and scientific ethics, (l) intellectual property and innovation, and (m) understanding entrepreneurship and STEM business models, which will be covered.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
50%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
31402102000100%
Knowledge Area
314 - Toxic Chemicals, Poisonous Plants, Naturally Occurring Toxins, and Other Hazards Affecting Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) proposes to develop a FANH-centered educational program called I-TEAM UP USDA that takes two cohorts of 12 students from Chemistry and Biochemistry majors and takes them thru four well-defined training stages in the period of three years. The four sustained training stages are (1) to become an apprentice of fundamental knowledge in FANH areas, (b) to become a peer-leader teacher-scholar of FANH areas, (c) to become a research apprentice & peer-leader of specialized techniques, and finally, (d) to become an interdisciplinary research scholar in FANH areas with national scope and projection. This project integrates for the first time well-proven practices in higher education such as peer-led team learning, collaborative learning, sustained cross-training, and experiential learning in advanced research projects in collaboration with USDA national labs, all of which together are designed to result in a coherent development in the FANH- sciences in order to develop high-levels of professional competencies desired for the USDA workforce and the prestigious graduate programs. The I-TEAM UP USDA Program will lead students into a transformative educational experience that will give them a pathway for a structural growth in a new form of contextualized learning and development in the FANH priority areas of USDA. The program is designed to be easily replicated at other institutions in order to multiply its goals and objectives in training the next-generation of fireballs that will lead the FANH sciences in the future.
Project Methods
The program begins with the PI teaching a large class in General Chemistry centered around FANH-priority areas. From this large pool of nearly 100 students, only 12 students will be selected based on merit and potential. Given that UTEP has a demographics consisting of 81% underrepresented minorities and 58% females as well as a large number of students from low- economic backgrounds, the selected student will be a diverse group. Next, this new cohort will serve as Peer-leaders (Teaching Scholars) of the same class and receive a sustained 2-hourweekly training for 14 weeks to serve in that role in the second semester - this will allow them to reinforce their fundamental knowledge in the integration of FANH areas and basic science. Next, the students will enter the next stage called Research Apprentice (Fig. 1) where each student in the cohort will master an analytical instrumentation often used in FANH research, and they will train each other about their just acquired expertise, thus allowing them the opportunity to master it. This will be followed by a summer internship at a USDA National lab (see attached letter), allowing them the opportunity to apply their knowledge and further develop as a research apprentice. Finally, upon their return, the students will enter the final stage called Research Scholar and continue the USDA-related research in collaboration between the PI and the National labs and develop a senior thesis project, which will crystallize all their knowledge and skills in a coherent profound way, possibly transforming their lives and catapulting their career into the FANH areas.

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Graduate and undergraduate students in FAHN disciplines such as chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical science, environmental science, physics, and engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso were the target audience. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The undergraduate peer-leaders were trainedin leadership skills, communication skills, and active learning techniques. The research undergraduate students were trained in advanced chemical laboratory skills such as chemical synthesis, analytical chemistry, biotechnology techniques, and developed critical thinking skillsin experimental analysis, literature search,writing, and scientific presentations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project produced 24 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals of chemistry and biochemistry and 3U.S. patents. The project was disseminated in several local and regional conferences, as well as in two national conferences in chemistry and biochemistry. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Cohorts of undergraduate and graduate students majored in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical science, environmental engineering, material sciences, and physics participated in theprogram. They worked on developing (1) biomass conversion strategies to improve the valorization of agricultural biomass products, (2) create biomass-derived water filters to remove pollutants from water, (3) new photocatalysts using abundant metals to sanitize water, and (4) new electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction that is relevant to remove dioxygen in food packages to promote food preservation. The project produced 24 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals of chemistry and biochemistry and 3U.S. patents. The project was disseminated in several local and regional conferences, as well as in two national conferences in chemistry and biochemistry. Over sixteen undergraduate students who were in their sophomore and junior years in collegein FAHN disciplines participated as peer-leaders teacher scholars in chemical sciences with the PD. They served as peer-leaders of General Chemistry in workshop sections in which several hundred freshman and sophomore students students from FAHN majors participated. Over nine undergraduate students were trained in advanced laboratory skills and performed chemical and biochemical research with two graduate students in collaborative projects that involved scientists from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Islam, M. T.; Rosales, J. A.; Saenz-Arana, R.; Ghadimi, S. J.; Noveron, J. C. Rapid synthesis of ultrasmall platinum nanoparticles supported on macroporous cellulose fibers for catalysis. Nanoscale Advances 2019, 1, 2953-2964.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Islam, M. T.; Sultana, K. A.; Noveron, J. C. Borohydride-free catalytic reduction of organic pollutants by platinum nanoparticles supported on cellulose fibers. Journal of Molecular Liquids 2019, 296, 111988.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kim, H.; Manriquez, L. C. D.; Islam, M. T.; Chavez, L. A.; Regis, J. E.; Ahsan, M. A.; Noveron, J. C.; Tseng, T.-L. B.; Lin, Y. 3D printing of polyvinylidene fluoride/photopolymer resin blends for piezoelectric pressure sensing application using the stereolithography technique. MRS Communications 2019, 9, 1115-1123.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Imam, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Luque, R.; Noveron, J. C. Spent tea leaves templated synthesis of highly active and durable cobalt-based trifunctional versatile electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. Green Chemistry 2020, 22, 6967-6980.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Jabbari, V.; Imam, M. A.; Castro, E.; Kim, H.; Curry, M. L.; Valles-Rosales, D. J.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoscale nickel metal organic framework decorated over graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes for water remediation. Sci Total Environ 2020, 698, 134214.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Hong, Y.; Zhang, N.; Cano, M.; Rodriguez-Castellon, E.; Echegoyen, L.; Sreenivasan, S. T.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning of Trifunctional NiCu Bimetallic Nanoparticles Confined in a Porous Carbon Network with Surface Composition and Local Structural Distortions for the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction, Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2020, 142, 14688-14701.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Nair, A. N.; Weller, J. M.; Sanad, M. F.; Valles-Rosales, D. J.; Chan, C. K.; Sreenivasan, S.; Noveron, J. C. Metal-Organic frameworks-derived multifunctional carbon encapsulated metallic nanocatalysts for catalytic peroxymonosulfate activation and electrochemical hydrogen generation. Molecular Catalysis 2020, 498, 111241.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Noveron, J. C. Biomass-derived ultrathin carbon-shell coated iron nanoparticles as high-performance tri-functional HER, ORR and Fenton-like catalysts. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 275, 124141.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Barrera, L. A.; Escobosa, A. C.; Nevarez, A.; Ahsan, M. A.; Alsaihati, L. S.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoparticle-templated conversion of glucose to a high surface area biocarbon for the removal of organic pollutants in water. Water Sci Technol 2020, 82, 1370-1379.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Breister, A. M.; Imam, M. A.; Zhou, Z.; Ahsan, M. A.; Noveron, J. C.; Anantharaman, K.; Prabhakar, P. Soil microbiomes mediate degradation of vinyl ester-based polymer composites. Nature Communications Materials 2020, 1, 1-15.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Cleetus, C. M.; Alvarez Primo, F.; Fregoso, G.; Lalitha Raveendran, N.; Noveron, J. C.; Spencer, C. T.; Ramana, C. V.; Joddar, B. Alginate Hydrogels with Embedded ZnO Nanoparticles for Wound Healing Therapy. International Journal of Nanomedicine 2020, 15, 5097-5111.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sultana, K. A.; Islam, T.; Silva, J. A.; Turley, R. S.; Hernandez-Viezcas, J. A.; Gardea-Torresdey, J. L.; Noveron, J. C. Sustainable synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant and generation of hydroxyl radical. Journal of Molecular Liquids 2020, 112931.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Sanad, M. F.; Weller, J. M.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Barrera, L. A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Chan, C. K.; Noveron, J. C. Tissue paper-derived porous carbon encapsulated transition metal nanoparticles as advanced non-precious catalysts: Carbon-shell influence on the electrocatalytic behavior. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2021, 581, 905-918.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; He, T.; Eid, K.; Abdullah, A. M.; Curry, M. L.; Du, A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Echegoyen, L.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning the Intermolecular Electron Transfer of Low-Dimensional and Metal-Free BCN/C60 Electrocatalysts via Interfacial Defects for Efficient Hydrogen and Oxygen Electrochemistry. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021, 143, 1203  1215.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Xu, C., Puente-Santiago, A. R., Rodr�guez-Padr�n, D., Mu�oz-Batista, M. J., Ahsan, M. A., Noveron, J. C., & Luque, R. Nature-inspired hierarchical materials for sensing and energy storage applications, Chemical Society Reviews, 2021, 50, 4856-4871.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Fallas, P.; Quesada Kimzey, J.; Hundi, P.; Islam, Md; Noveron, J.C.; Alvarez, P.; Shahsavari, R., Combinatorial analysis of sparse experiments on photocatalytic performance of cement composites: A route towards optimizing multifunctional materials for water purification. Langmuir, 2021, 37, 18, 56995706.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Juan C. Noveron, Karsten Reuter, Alain R. Puente-Santiago, and Rafael Luque. Low-Dimensional Heterostructures for Advanced Electrocatalysis: An Experimental and Computational Perspective. Chemical Society Reviews, 2022, 51, no. 3: 81228.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Kamel Eid, Aboubakr M. Abdullah, Mohamed Fathi Sanad, Ali Aldalbahi, Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio, Aijun Du, Alain R. Puente Santiago, and Juan C. Noveron. Controlling the Interfacial Charge Polarization of MOF-Derived 0D2D VdW Architectures as a Unique Strategy for Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, 14, no. 3: 391929.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hernandez-Ortega, J.; Casillas, R.; Mohan, N.; Sirimulla, S.; Noveron, J. C. Theoretical prediction of superatom molecular orbitals (SAMOs) in the ice-like cluster (H2O)10 and its impact in the supramolecular chemistry and function of nanostructured water. Chemical Physics Impact 2022, 5, 100128.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sultana, K.A.; Hernandez Ortega, J.; Islam, M.T.; Dorado, Z.N.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Galindo-Esquivel, I.R.; Noveron, J.C. Saccharide-Derived Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with High Photocatalytic Activity for Water Decontamination and Sanitation. Sustainable Chemistry 2023, 4, 321-338.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Islam, T.; Ahsan, M. A.; Hassan, M.; Afrin, H.; Pena-Zacarias, J.; Aldalbahi, A.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Noveron, J. C.; Nurunnabi, M. Detection of Leptin Using Electrocatalyst Mediated Impedimetric Sensing. ACS Biomater Sci. Eng. 2023, 9 (5), 2170-2180.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Linnell, B. M. P.; Noveron, J. C. Gold nanoparticles with reversible colloidal aggregation mediated with Cu (II) ions. Colloid Surface A 2024, 682.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gonzalez, G. A.; Hernandez-Ortega, J.; Kalagara, S.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Martinez-Martinez, A.; Diaz-Sanchez, A. G.; Noveron, J. C. Self-assembled amphiphilic bipyridine and bisquinoline cisplatin analogues: synthesis and anticancer properties. Medicinal Chemistry Research 2024, 33 (2), 268-275.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Sultana, K.; Hernandez-Ortega, J. Islam, T. Md., Noveron, J.C., Device-Free Colorimetric Sensing of Lead by Kinetically Trapping Lead(II) Rhodizonate on Cellulose Paper.


Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate students majored in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Environmental Science, and Physics, and a graduate student in Chemistry were the target audience of this program. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The students were trained in advanced chemical laboratory skills such as chemical synthesis, analytical chemistry of characterization, critical thinking in experimental analysis, theory and experiment relationships, literature search and analysis, writing, and presentation skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A collaboration with Dr. Ronald C. Sabo from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory was been established with our program and the graduate and undergraduate students in the I-TEAM UP USDA Program worked on novel nanocellulose composites for food packaging systems that control gas permeability and prolong food transport and safety. A group of six undergraduate students who are in their sophomore and junior years in college and who major in FAHN disciplines such as Chemistry and Biology at the University of Texas at El Paso participated as peer-leaders teacher scholars in chemical sciences with the PD. They served as peer-leaders of General Chemistry in workshop sections in which over one hundred freshman and sophomore students students from FAHN majors participated. Two undergraduate students were trained in advanced laboratory skills and performed chemical research with one graduate student.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Sultana, K.; Hernandez-Ortega, J. Islam, T. Md., Noveron, J.C., Device-Free Colorimetric Sensing of Lead by Kinetically Trapping Lead(II) Rhodizonate on Cellulose Paper. Sensing and Imaging, 2024. Accepted. In-print. DOI: 10.1007/s11220-024-00482-5
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Gonzalez, G. A.; Hernandez-Ortega, J.; Kalagara, S.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Martinez-Martinez, A.; Diaz-Sanchez, A. G.; Noveron, J. C. Self-assembled amphiphilic bipyridine and bisquinoline cisplatin analogues: synthesis and anticancer properties. Medicinal Chemistry Research 2024, 33 (2), 268-275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-023-03175-y
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Linnell, B. M. P.; Noveron, J. C. Gold nanoparticles with reversible colloidal aggregation mediated with Cu (II) ions. Colloid Surface A 2024, 682. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.132806
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Islam, T.; Ahsan, M. A.; Hassan, M.; Afrin, H.; Pena-Zacarias, J.; Aldalbahi, A.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Noveron, J. C.; Nurunnabi, M. Detection of Leptin Using Electrocatalyst Mediated Impedimetric Sensing. ACS Biomater Sci. Eng. 2023, 9 (5), 2170-2180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c00642
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sultana, K.A.; Hernandez Ortega, J.; Islam, M.T.; Dorado, Z.N.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Galindo-Esquivel, I.R.; Noveron, J.C. Saccharide-Derived Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with High Photocatalytic Activity for Water Decontamination and Sanitation. Sustainable Chemistry 2023, 4, 321-338. https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem4040023


Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Students from the College of Science's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who are majored in FAHN science areas. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The students were trained in advanced chemical laboratory skills such as chemical synthesis, analytical chemistry of characterization, critical thinking in experimental analysis, theory and experiment relationships, literature search and analysis, writing, and presentation skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One student presented at the Americal Chemical Society National Meeting in Spring 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will recruit new undergraduate and graduate students from FAHN science areas and involve them in advance research in collaboration with the USDA's US Forest Service Lab.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A collaboration with Dr. Ronald C. Sabo from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory has been established with our program and the graduate and undergraduate students in the I-TEAM UP USDA Program are working on novel nanocellulose composites for food packaging systems that control gas permeabilityand prolong food transport and safety. A group of ten undergraduate students who are in their sophomore and junior years in college and who major in FAHN disciplines such as Chemistry and Biology at the University of Texas at El Paso were trained as peer-leaders teacher scholars in chemical sciences by the PD. They served as peer-leaders of General Chemistry I and II in workshop sections in which nearly six hundred freshman and sophomore students students from FAHN majors participated. Four undergraduate students were trained in advanced laboratory skills. The undergraduate students performed chemical research with graduate students.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hernandez-Ortega, J.; Casillas, R.; Mohan, N.; Sirimulla, S.; Noveron, J.C. Theoretical prediction of superatom molecular orbitals (SAMOs) in the ice-like cluster (H2O)10 and its impact in the supramolecular chemistry and function of nanostructured water Chemical Physics Impact, 2022, 5: 100128. 10.1016/j.chphi.2022.100128
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Islam, T.; Ahsan, Md A.; Hassan, M.; Afrin, H.; Pena-Zacarias, J.; Aldalbahi, Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Noveron, J.C.; Nurunnabi, Md. Detection of Leptin Using Electrocatalyst Mediated Impedimetric Sensing ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2022.10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c00642
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sultana, K. Hernandez-Ortega, J. Noveron, J.C. Preparation of metastable zinc oxide nanoparticles with high photocatalytic activity for water decontamination and sanitation. ChemSus, 2023.


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Gradutate and undegraduate students from the College of Science's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who are majored in FAHN sciences. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The students were trained in advanced chemical laboratory skills such as chemical synthesis, analytical chemistry of characterization, critical thinking in experimental analysis, theory and experiment relationships, literature search and analysis, writing, and presentation skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to recruit new students to engage in the activities that prepare them for the advance track opportunities in chemical research in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service lab.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A group of ten undergraduate students who are in their sophomore and junior years in college and who major in FAHN disciplines such as Chemistry and Biology at the University of Texas at El Paso were trained as peer-leaders teacher scholars in chemical sciences by the PD. They served as peer-leaders of General Chemistry I and II in workshop sections in which nearly six hundred freshman and sophomore students students from FAHN majors participated. Four undergraduate students were trained in advanced laboratory skills. Four undergraduate students performed chemical research with graduate students. Two graduate students participated as in-lab leaders and trained the participating undergraduate students in advanced laboratory skills and professional competencies in the chemical sciences. The graduate students lead research projects in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Laboratory. A collaboration with Dr. Ronald C. Sabo from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory has been established with our program and the graduate and undergraduate students in the I-TEAM UP USDA Program are working on engineered composite science projects connected to his lab.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Sanad, M. F.; Weller, J. M.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Barrera, L. A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Chan, C. K.; Noveron, J. C. Tissue paper-derived porous carbon encapsulated transition metal nanoparticles as advanced non-precious catalysts: Carbon-shell influence on the electrocatalytic behavior. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2021, 581, 905-918.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; He, T.; Eid, K.; Abdullah, A. M.; Curry, M. L.; Du, A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Echegoyen, L.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning the Intermolecular Electron Transfer of Low-Dimensional and Metal-Free BCN/C60 Electrocatalysts via Interfacial Defects for Efficient Hydrogen and Oxygen Electrochemistry. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021. 10.1021/jacs.0c12386
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Juan C. Noveron, Karsten Reuter, Alain R. Puente-Santiago, and Rafael Luque. Low- Dimensional Heterostructures for Advanced Electrocatalysis: An Experimental and Computational Perspective. Chemical Society Reviews, 2022, 51, no. 3: 81228. 10.1039/D1CS00498K
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Kamel Eid, Aboubakr M. Abdullah, Mohamed Fathi Sanad, Ali Aldalbahi, Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio, Aijun Du, Alain R. Puente Santiago, and Juan C. Noveron. Controlling the Interfacial Charge Polarization of MOF-Derived 0D2D VdW Architectures as a Unique Strategy for Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, 14, no. 3: 391929.


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in FAHN areas from the College of Science's Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Advanced students at both levels - graduate and undergraduate level - will continue to engage research collaboration and summer research in collaboration with the US Forest Service in the Forest Products Laboratory of the USDA.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A collaboration with Dr. Ronald C. Sabo from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory was established with our program and the graduate and undergraduate students in the I-TEAM UP USDA Program are working on engineered composite science projects connected to his lab.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Imam, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Luque, R.; Noveron, J. C. Spent tea leaves templated synthesis of highly active and durable cobalt-based trifunctional versatile electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. Green Chemistry 2020, 22, 6967-6980. 10.1039/D0GC02155E
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Jabbari, V.; Imam, M. A.; Castro, E.; Kim, H.; Curry, M. L.; Valles-Rosales, D. J.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoscale nickel metal organic framework decorated over graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes for water remediation. Sci Total Environ 2020, 698, 134214. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134214
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Hong, Y.; Zhang, N.; Cano, M.; Rodriguez-Castellon, E.; Echegoyen, L.; Sreenivasan, S. T.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning of Trifunctional NiCu Bimetallic Nanoparticles Confined in a Porous Carbon Network with Surface Composition and Local Structural Distortions for the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction, Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2020, 142, 14688-14701
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Noveron, J. C. Biomass-derived ultrathin carbon-shell coated iron nanoparticles as high-performance tri-functional HER, ORR and Fenton-like catalysts. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 275, 124141. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124141
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Barrera, L. A.; Escobosa, A. C.; Nevarez, A.; Ahsan, M. A.; Alsaihati, L. S.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoparticle-templated conversion of glucose to a high surface area biocarbon for the removal of organic pollutants in water. Water Sci Technol 2020, 82, 1370-1379. 10.2166/wst.2020.410
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Cleetus, C. M.; Alvarez Primo, F.; Fregoso, G.; Lalitha Raveendran, N.; Noveron, J. C.; Spencer, C. T.; Ramana, C. V.; Joddar, B. Alginate Hydrogels with Embedded ZnO Nanoparticles for Wound Healing Therapy. International Journal of Nanomedicine 2020, 15, 5097-5111
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sultana, K. A.; Islam, T.; Silva, J. A.; Turley, R. S.; Hernandez-Viezcas, J. A.; Gardea-Torresdey, J. L.; Noveron, J. C. Sustainable synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant and generation of hydroxyl radical. Journal of Molecular Liquids 2020, 112931.10.1016/j.molliq.2020.112931


Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Graduate and undergraduate students from FAHN-related majors such as Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. Changes/Problems:Issues caused by the pandemic affected the recruitment and engagement of students. However, this problem is resolving and we expect more student participation for this summer. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional competences were fostered for the participating students such as presentation skills, scientific writing, literature research, leadership, and laboratory skills in experiemental chemical science. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Advanced students at both levels - graduate and undergraduate level - will continue to engage research collaboration and summer internships at the US Forest Service in the Forest Products Laboratory of the USDA.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A group of eighteen undergraduate students who are in their sophomore and junior years in college and who major in FAHN disciplines such as Chemistry and Biology at the University of Texas at El Paso were trained as peer-leaders teacher scholars in chemical sciences by the PD. They served as peer-leaders of General Chemistry I and II in workshop sections in which nearly six hundred freshman and sophomore students students from FAHN majors participated. Nine undergraduate students were trained in advanced laboratory skills. Four undergraduate students performed chemical research with graduate students. Three graduate students participated as in-lab leaders and trained the participating undergraduate students in advanced laboratory skills and professional competencies in the chemical sciences. The graduate students lead research projects in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Laboratory. A collaboration with Dr. Ronald C. Sabo from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory has been established with our program and the graduate and undergraduate students in the I-TEAM UP USDA Program are working on engineered composite science projects connected to his lab.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hernandez-Ortega, J.; Casillas, R.; Mohan, N.; Sirimulla, S.; Noveron, J.C. Theoretical prediction of superatom molecular orbitals (SAMOs) in the ice-like cluster (H2O)10 and its impact in the supramolecular chemistry and function of nanostructured water Chemical Physics Impact, 2022, 5: 100128. 10.1016/j.chphi.2022.100128
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Islam, T.; Ahsan, Md A.; Hassan, M.; Afrin, H.; Pena-Zacarias, J.; Aldalbahi, Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Noveron, J.C.; Nurunnabi, Md. Detection of Leptin Using Electrocatalyst Mediated Impedimetric Sensing ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2022.10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c00642
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Kamel Eid, Aboubakr M. Abdullah, Mohamed Fathi Sanad, Ali Aldalbahi, Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio, Aijun Du, Alain R. Puente Santiago, and Juan C. Noveron. Controlling the Interfacial Charge Polarization of MOF-Derived 0D2D VdW Architectures as a Unique Strategy for Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, 14, no. 3: 391929.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ahsan, Md Ariful, Tianwei He, Juan C. Noveron, Karsten Reuter, Alain R. Puente-Santiago, and Rafael Luque. Low-Dimensional Heterostructures for Advanced Electrocatalysis: An Experimental and Computational Perspective. Chemical Society Reviews, 2022, 51, no. 3: 81228. 10.1039/D1CS00498K
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; He, T.; Eid, K.; Abdullah, A. M.; Curry, M. L.; Du, A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Echegoyen, L.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning the Intermolecular Electron Transfer of Low-Dimensional and Metal-Free BCN/C60 Electrocatalysts via Interfacial Defects for Efficient Hydrogen and Oxygen Electrochemistry. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021. 10.1021/jacs.0c12386
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Sanad, M. F.; Weller, J. M.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Barrera, L. A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Chan, C. K.; Noveron, J. C. Tissue paper-derived porous carbon encapsulated transition metal nanoparticles as advanced non-precious catalysts: Carbon-shell influence on the electrocatalytic behavior. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2021, 581, 905-918.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sultana, K. A.; Islam, T.; Silva, J. A.; Turley, R. S.; Hernandez-Viezcas, J. A.; Gardea-Torresdey, J. L.; Noveron, J. C. Sustainable synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant and generation of hydroxyl radical. Journal of Molecular Liquids 2020, 112931.10.1016/j.molliq.2020.112931
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Cleetus, C. M.; Alvarez Primo, F.; Fregoso, G.; Lalitha Raveendran, N.; Noveron, J. C.; Spencer, C. T.; Ramana, C. V.; Joddar, B. Alginate Hydrogels with Embedded ZnO Nanoparticles for Wound Healing Therapy. International Journal of Nanomedicine 2020, 15, 5097-5111
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Barrera, L. A.; Escobosa, A. C.; Nevarez, A.; Ahsan, M. A.; Alsaihati, L. S.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoparticle-templated conversion of glucose to a high surface area biocarbon for the removal of organic pollutants in water. Water Sci Technol 2020, 82, 1370-1379. 10.2166/wst.2020.410
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Maturano-Rojas, V.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Noveron, J. C. Biomass-derived ultrathin carbon-shell coated iron nanoparticles as high-performance tri-functional HER, ORR and Fenton-like catalysts. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 275, 124141. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124141
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Puente Santiago, A. R.; Hong, Y.; Zhang, N.; Cano, M.; Rodriguez-Castellon, E.; Echegoyen, L.; Sreenivasan, S. T.; Noveron, J. C. Tuning of Trifunctional NiCu Bimetallic Nanoparticles Confined in a Porous Carbon Network with Surface Composition and Local Structural Distortions for the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction, Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2020, 142, 14688-14701
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Jabbari, V.; Imam, M. A.; Castro, E.; Kim, H.; Curry, M. L.; Valles-Rosales, D. J.; Noveron, J. C. Nanoscale nickel metal organic framework decorated over graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes for water remediation. Sci Total Environ 2020, 698, 134214. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134214
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ahsan, M. A.; Imam, M. A.; Santiago, A. R. P.; Rodriguez, A.; Alvarado-Tenorio, B.; Bernal, R.; Luque, R.; Noveron, J. C. Spent tea leaves templated synthesis of highly active and durable cobalt-based trifunctional versatile electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. Green Chemistry 2020, 22, 6967-6980. 10.1039/D0GC02155E