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Chemistry remains at the forefront of society’s past, present, and future. We are currently living through a seemingly continuous COVID-19 pandemic in addition to other infectious diseases such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV), monkeypox, and several others. The depletion of natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, fossil fuels, and others have led the race towards clean, green, sustainable, and renewable energy sources such as hydrothermal, geothermal, solar, wind, nuclear, and others. The safety, efficiency, and feasibility of these alternative sources are primarily determined by engineers and chemists alike. Chemistry is often referred to as “The Central Science” because it is at the intersection of the physical and life sciences and integrates several fields of knowledge through high impact research and relevant studies. Several subdisciplines such as electrochemistry are incredibly diverse as they encompass several fields such as sensors, catalysis, batteries, electroanalytical, and many more. We are proud to announce that Prof. Robert Savinell from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and Prof. Kara Bren from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Rochester have been named our Chemical Pioneer awardees for the year 2023 at the AIC Annual meeting in May of 2023. Their contributions to The Chemist are currently planned to be included in a subsequent issue. In this issue of The Chemist published by the American Institute of Chemists (AIC), we explore several research topics relevant to all forms of chemistry. We begin this issue with a contribution from Dr. Thad Le-Vasicek, who details the development of catalysts immobilized to magnetic nanoparticles. The study ultimately shows that increasing the recovery of the magnetic nanoparticles decreases the loss of recycled enzyme activity illustrating the importance of optimizing particle recovery to increase the retained activity of recycled catalysts, which has been shown to be a crucial parameter for the industrial use of enzymes to magnetic nanoparticles. We further present research from Dr. Atolani’s laboratory that depicts an eco-friendly formulation and characterization of cosmetics prepared from seed oils. The study shows that seed oils from several underutilized plants can be used for industrial and medicinal purposes such as green cosmetics formulation for the regulation of skin pigmentation. Another contribution from the Atolani laboratory focuses on the isolation and characterization of novel bioactives from Vernonia amygdalina, a tropical shrub that has been known to have health-promoting properties. Hassan et al. also analyzed other plant extracts as they studied the quantitative chemical analysis and biological effectiveness on germination and the growth of Maize seeds. They analyzed many chemical compounds extracted from fig, eucalyptus, and mulberries such as proteins, carbohydrates, phenols, flavonoids, and several other compounds as well. In the fields of polymer and physical chemistry, Yousef Alqaheem contributed a review on testing methods for permeability and selectivity of polymeric membranes. The paper provided precise guidelines for evaluating membrane permeability and porosity for energy-saving gas separations and several commercial applications. Continuing in the fields of membranes, Tawari and Brika developed a statistical analysis for developing cellulose acetate (CA) Hollow-fine-fiber membranes. This work had great applications for brackish water desalination with improved salt retention and flux. Lastly, Busari et al. detail synthesis, characterization, and docking studies of zinc and copper complexes of 4-methylbenzoic acid and 2-methylimidazole. These metal-derived complexes could be considered promising candidates for combatting pathogenic infections. We sincerely hope that you enjoy reading this issue and wish you a safe and prosperous New Year. With best wishes, Alexander G. Zestos and Nayiri M. Kaissarian |
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