Dr. Webster Publishes Latest Research in the High-Impact Journal, Carbon

 In this work, the Webster research group reported the low-cost synthesis of a highly functionalized carbon material synthesized through controlled acid dehydration of  glycerol, a renewable resource starting material. The synthesized carbon demonstrated considerable capacity as a nano-adsorbent to remove heavy metal contaminants from water with results rivaling the best currently used adsorbents. The new material also showed potential as a catalyst and was shown to perform better than commonly used commercial catalysts used in the production of biodiesel. Overall, the process provides a simple method to produce large quantities of a functionalized carbon nanomaterial having many potential applications.

This research was successfully completed through the tireless efforts of many undergraduate research students, and several co-authors are now pursing doctorate degrees in Chemistry or Materials Engineering. The research was published in the journal Carbon, a high impact journal that ranks in the top 4% of current scientific publications. The full text of this publication can be found here.