As a graduate student, I had a brief but impactful encounter with Nobel Laureate Dr. Melvin Calvin (i.e., the Calvin Cycle). For his research on the assimilation of carbon dioxide in plants via photosynthesis he won the Nobel Prize in 1961. Calvin also served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1971. Calvin bequeathed to me a maxim that has resounded in my head for 40 years. I’m passing it on to you. By my recollection he said: “Don’t be afraid to go where the research takes you.” That motivational advice is embedded in my psyche. The research trail explored in this presentation is a tribute to Calvin’s maxim. Calvin studied the “living” path of the carbon cycle. My environmental chemistry research frontier is the study of the “nonliving” organic carbon plant and animal detritus, waste materials, and pollutants in our water supply. They exist in a myriad of forms--diagenetic (degraded and rearranged fulvic and humic acids), biogenic (extracellular hydrophilic acids, amino acids, proteins, sugars, polysaccharides, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids), and anthropogenic (pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), macro-, micro- and nanoplastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), etc.) Diagenetic, biogenic, and anthropogenic compounds commingle as molecular, macromolecular, and supramolecular forms in water. Studies using excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) have advanced our knowledge of the self-assembly of diagenetic and biogenic organic matter. Out of this research, a new conceptual model for supramolecular aggregation has emerged. Metachemical (≤1 μm diameter) and physical (&gt;1 μm diameter) hydrogels form a hierarchical ‘supramolecular within supramolecular’ self-assembling architecture. Weak, moderate, and strong hydrogen bonds play a vital role. The practical applications impact antifouling in water treatment membranes, water-based sensing, the transport of organic matter through the microbial loop, and the fate and transport of environmental pollutants.

What’s in your water? Focus on molecular, macromolecular, and supramolecular nonliving organic carbon

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.