As of May 2022, Ms. Emily Delgado is a rising junior B.S. Biological Chemistry major with a medicinal chemistry minor at St. Peter’s University. Her love of chemical research began as Project SEED high school student in the summer of 2019. A Latino first-generation college student, her ambitions are to earn an MD/PhD degree and pursue biomedical research. She is one of the winners of the 2022 CME STEM Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarships.

Date for Research: June 1 – August 15, 2022
College Lab: Saint Peter’s University, 2641 Kennedy Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Research Advisor/Professor: Prof. Yosra Badiei, St. Peter’s University, NJ
Planned poster presentation: ACS National Meeting, “Sustainability in a changing World”, ACS Fall Mtg, Aug 21 – 25, 2022, Chicago, IL

Abstract Title: Ruthenium Water-Oxidation Catalysts on Functionalized TiO2 Polymer Nanocomposites for Applications in Artificial Photosynthesis

Solar panels composed of photovoltaics offer a green alternative to fossil fuels for generating electricity, however, they are expensive and inefficient. Taking inspiration from natural photosynthesis, this project aims to use photoactive ruthenium catalysts supported on Titaniumdioxide nanoparticles to store the energy collected from photovoltaics in chemical form, either as hydrogen gas from water-splitting or methanol from CO2 reduction.