Double Bond - October 2002

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Double Bond

October 2002

October Meeting

Officers and Staff:

 EDITORIAL

I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Joe Bieron for giving his very interesting and entertaining presentation on the nearly one hundred years of history of the Western New York ACS section at the dinner meeting on Thursday, September 26^th. As one who is new to Western New York, I learned that the early growth and vitality of the section was closely linked to the dynamic growth of the chemical industry through the 1890’s and the first half of this century. Even long time residents were surprised to learn that Buffalo was the host of not one, but four ACS national meetings over the years. While combing through the section archives housed at UB, Joe had unearthed programs, and even dinner menus, from the meetings. In 1931 Linus Pauling was presented the first ACS Award in Pure Chemistry and spoke on the nature of the chemical bond.

Over the last few decades, the majority of our membership has shifted from largely an industrial base to a majority in academics. At recent meetings, the number of students attending has been steadily increasing. The chance for young scientists to interact with and befriend those in the preceding generations is beneficial to all. In order to encourage this, the executive board recently decided that undergraduate and graduate students can attend dinner meetings at half the regular price. A real pleasure for me at the dinner meetings is the opportunity to meet colleagues from local schools and industry in the area.

The executive board of the section has been working hard to schedule a variety of dinner meeting speakers and other activities for the next six to seven months. The details of the next two talks are announced elsewhere in this issue of the Double Bond.

I hope you be able to attend one or even both of the next two dinner meetings. On October 24, Tom Whelan, Sr. Engineer, Process Systems Engineering, will be speaking on “Low Level Radioactive Waste Water Treatment at the West Valley Demonstration Project”. Then, on November 7^th, Dr. Suzanne Lomax, of the National Gallery in Washington, DC, will speak on “The Application of Chemistry to the Examination of Works of Art”. The plans for the dinner meetings in December and January are being firmed up, and will be announced in the next newsletter. December’s will be a holiday celebration talk will be on an aspect of either wine or beer and be held at one of the local brewing establishments if possible. In January, we have a talk on the very timely subject of fuel cells. If you would like to speak about your area of interest and expertise, would you please consider giving a talk to the section?

Elections for positions on the section executive board will be held soon. If you would like to learn more information about serving or nominating anyone for an office, please contact our current section chair Joanna Christopher. In addition, there are numerous standing committees, such as those for National Chemistry Week (Dave Nalewajek), the Chemistry Olympiad (Mariusz Kozik), Education (Ken Takeuchi), or membership (Larry Springsteen) that always welcome enthusiastic help.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Fall and I look forward to meeting you soon at a section meeting.

Larry Springsteen

“Low Level Radioactive Waste Water Treatment

at the West Valley Demonstration Project”

The West Valley Demonstration Project is well known for vitrification of high level radioactive waste, but there is also a state-of-the-art low level waste water treatment facility in operation there. This presentation will cover the General Site History of the WVDP, Site Water Sources, Process Description and Operation of WVDP Low Level Radioactive Waste Water Treatment Facilities, and Sampling and Analysis.

Tom earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. He has been with West Valley Nuclear Services since 1994 in various cognizant engineering and project lead roles. His current responsibilities include Cognizant System Engineer for the operation of the Low Level Waste Water Treatment Facility (LLW2), Contact Size Reduction Facility Ventilation (CSRF), Laundry Operation, and Fuel Receiving and Storage (FRS) Facility. Prior to 1994 Tom worked at the Hanford, Washington waste site as an Advanced Quality Assurance Engineer. Tom held several field engineering positions prior to his employment with Westinghouse Hanford Company.

“The Application of Chemistry to the

Examination of Works of Art”

Dr. Suzanne Quillen Lomax,

Scientific Research Department

of the National Gallery of Art

Date: Thursday, November 7, 2002

Place: Fairdale

672 Wehrle Dr. at Beach

Cheektowaga, NY

Dinner: 6:00 PM 3 meal choices
@ a cost of $20.00 each

There will be a cash bar.

(1) Stuffed Chicken Breast

(2) Broiled Pork Chop

(3) Vegetarian meal

Meal selections 1 & 2 come with red roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables, and side salad

Dessert with choice of coffee or tea

Reservations: Patty at 888-2340 by Friday, November 1, 2002

The Application of Chemistry to the Examination of Works of Art

Scientists have been associated with museum conservation laboratories for many years. Only recently, however, have art curators and conservators begun to appreciate the contributions that scientists can make in the preservation and restoration of art objects. At present, about a dozen museums in the United States have conservation science departments.
Art conservators frequently require specific information about the component materials of a painting or object prior to treatment. Due to their complex stratification, most questions that arise concern the nature of the components of paintings. Microscopic cross sections of a painting are frequently taken and viewed with a polarizing microscope to understand the different layers that make up the object. Pigment identification is frequently employed to determine if the pigments are in keeping with the time period of the object, as well as to understand the artists’ materials and methods. They are performed using polarized light microscopy and x-ray diffraction of powdered samples, or x-ray fluorescence, which is well suited to this task due to its non-invasive nature.

To study the identity of binding media, the conservation scientist uses gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and infrared spectroscopy. GC is used to identify oil-containing binders, as well as for the identification of waxes and various low molecular weight resins. HPLC can be used to identify proteinaceous binders and organic dyes. Ultraviolet radiation can be used to examine the varnish layer of a painting as well as to identify areas retouched in previous conservation treatments. Infrared reflectography is frequently used to examine underdrawing on a painting. In addition, x-rays are often used to determine where lead white has been used on a painting, as well as to reveal damaged areas beneath the painting’s surface.

The talk will focus on the application of these various techniques to the examination of paintings and sculpture. Examples will be presented from the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
Biography:

Suzanne Quillen Lomax received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1984 from the University of Maryland, working with Patrick Mariano exploring the photochemistry of iminium salts. She then studied intramolecular photoaddition reactions with Frederick Lewis at Northwestern University. Dr. Lomax has been in the Scientific Research Department of the National Gallery of Art since 1986, investigating the identification and aging behavior of artists’ materials. She has been a tour speaker for the American Chemical Society Speaker Service since 1991. Her areas of interest include the identification of synthetic organic pigments and modern paint binders. In addition, she has performed extensive analyses on traditional 15^th and 16^th century artists’ paint binders.

East Asia Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students

(Summer Institutes in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan)

NSF Program Announcement (NSF02-714)

http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf02174

http://www.nsftokyo.org/spmenu.html

http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/int_gradstud.htm

For more information, contact eapinfo@nsf.gov

International Opportunities for Scientists and Engineers

NSF Program Announcement (NSF00-138)

http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf00138

http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/int_tbl.htm

Other International programs

- International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP) [nsf02149]

- Research Fellowships in Japan

[http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/int_postdocs.htm#postjap]

- American Workforce and Research and Education (AWARE)

[http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/eap/start.htm#aware]

- Women's International Science Collaboration Program (WISC)

[http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/eap/start.htm#wisc]

Other NSF programs with strong international elements

- Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE): Integrated Research and Education in

Environmental Systems [nsf02167]

- Information Technology Research [nsf02168]

- Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) Program Solicitation [nsf02148]

- Dear Colleague Letter - Proposals for Inter-American Materials

Collaboration [nsf02141]

- Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program [nsf02145]

- Dear Colleague Letter: Proposals for Cooperative Activities in Materials Research Between 
U.S. and European Investigators [nsf02135]

- Research Experiences for Undergraduates [nsf02136]

- Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in the Directorate for Biological
- Sciences (DDIG) [nsf02173]

- Graduate Research Fellowships [nsf02150]

Luncheon Meeting Noontime

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

The Fairdale Banquet Center

672 Wehrle Dr. at Beach Rd.

Put it on your calendar, a letter will follow with details.

Direct inquiries to Joseph Bieron, 888-2357

Contact Mary Jean Sryek @ 894-2128

Put these dates on your calendar

Saturday, October 26

Saturday, November 30

Saturday, January 25

Saturday, February 22

Saturday, March 20

All meetings will be at

Canisius College, 2001 Main St., Buffalo, NY in Room # 015 of the

Horan-O’Donnell Science Building located on Hughes Street

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Contact

Canisius College Press
Phone: 716-888-3254
FAX: 716-888-3112
E-Mail bieron@canisius.edu
Website: www.canisius.edu/historyproject

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