Medical Materials and Greener Methods

Artificial Intelligence is often portrayed as a scary algorithm that will one day destroy the world; but what about the ways in which it can save it? As the consequences of global warming become our bitter reality, we must learn to lessen our impact upon the environment by developing greener and more sustainable processes. This is particularly difficult in the chemical industry, as high energy demands and the production of toxic waste make day-to-day chemistry inherently polluting. Join us to learn about how we can use AI to address these problems and how we can encourage chemists to use our tools to make their chemistry greener!

Vaterite is a less stable crystalline form of calcium carbonate that has been difficult to control and engineer but holds huge potential for various cutting-edge applications. This research focuses on modifying vaterite crystals through novel covalent surface functionalization methods to utilize their high surface area, porosity, and solubility advantages over other CaCO3 polymorphs. However, due to its high surface area, vaterite tends to aggregate in water, limiting its benefits. By stabilizing vaterite that rapidly dissolves, we can transform it into a material for use in fields ranging from biomedicine to cosmetics to polymer composites.