SOUTHWEST RETORT
EIGHTIETH YEAR
October 2026
Published for the advancement of Chemists, Chemical Engineers and Chemistry in this area published by The Dallas-Fort Worth Section, with the cooperation of five other local sections of the American Chemical Society in the Southwest Region.
Vol. 80 (2) October 2026 Editorial and Business Offices: Contact the Editor for subscription and advertisement information. Editor: Connie Hendrickson: retort@acsdfw.org Copy and Layout Editor: Lance Hughes: hugla64@gmail.com Business Manager: Martha Gilchrist: Martha.Gilchrist@tccd.edu The Southwest Retort is published monthly, September through May, by the Dallas-Ft. Worth Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc., for the ACS Sections of the Southwest Region.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES and COLUMNS Letter from the Editor…..…..……..............16 And Another Thing………………………….5 NEWS SHORTS
A trick from tardigrades could help human blood withstand freezing..…………...………..7 Candy-coated Lollylab checks saliva for medication…...…………………...……...…….…...8 Sunlight and a catalyst in a trashcan lid get rid of garbage stink..............….……………........14 Making life more colorful on the wings of a butterfly…………......….......………..….….12 .
Extracting magnesium salt from seawater with Electricity…………….………... .………….14 ANNOUNCEMENTS ACS gets a new brand……………………...6 Call for Nominations! Local Section Officers …………………………………………….….9 US National Chemistry Olympiad 2026 National Exam Results………………………..10 Position: Sales Engineer…………………...10
Contact the DFW Section General: info@acsdfw.org Education: ncw@acsdfw.org Elections: candidates@acsdfw.org Facebook: DFWACS Twitter: acsdfw
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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
Huffman Laboratories……………..….........3 TMJ Data Entry and Editing.……….......…3 ANA-LAB………………….………...…..…..4
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SERVICES and ANNOUNCEMENTS
2026 ACS DFW Executive Committee Chair: Jonathan Dannatt, PhD
TMJ
Chair-elect: Rajani Srinivasan, PhD
Data Entry and Editing
Treasurer: Martha Gilchrist, MS
Past Chair: Denise Lynn Merkle, PhD Secretary: Celyna Rackov, PhD
Specializes in:
Councilors:
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Company newsletters
Mary E. Anderson, PhD (2025-2026)
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Confidential Data Entry
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Free Quotes
Kirby B. Drake, JD (2025-2027) Linda D Schultz, PhD (2026-2028)
Contact Lance at hugla64@gmail.com Or 214-356-9002
Rebecca Weber, PhD (2025-2027) Alternate Councilors:
Daniela Hutanu, PhD (2025-2026) Trey Putnam, PhD (2026-2028) Daniel Tran, PhD (2025-2027) Yunxiang Li, PhD (2025-2027)
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DOCUMENT TITLE
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And Another Thing...SWRM 2026 Edition' October 8, 2026 This year - next month, in fact- the DFW Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACSDFW) will host SWRM 2026. ACSDFW hosted wildly successful and enjoyable meetings in 1994, 2004 and 2014 - SWRM 2026 promises to be no different. In case you've noticed that 12 years is not the same as 10 years, '26 is because the Southwest Region of the ACS added in a couple new local section hosts. 2024 did not result in a SWRM in Cowtown or anywhere else in the Dallas-Fort Worth local section, but 2026 will - and it's coming up quick! Gear up to descend on Fort Worth from November 16th - 19th at the Hilton in Downtown Fort Worth. www.swrm.org The abstract submissions period is over. If you haven't submitted to present a poster or a talk, the many reasons to attend SWRM do not include putting on slightly fancier duds and sweating in front of a roomful of established and nascent scientists. Even if you won't be practicing your presentation technique, there remain a slightly-less-than-Avogadro's number of reasons to attend SWRM. Here are just a few: • • • • •
• • • • • • •
Participate in a professional Regional meeting for a fraction of the cost of a National meeting Stay in a not-super-pricey Hilton or one of the other Fort Worth hotels Meet up with colleagues Attend Exciting Symposia and Poster Sessions, maybe even a third! Ride the train - the TRE is a great wat to travVisit Cowtown's museums and attractions - the Stockyards even have a cattle drive, in case you're feeling nostalgic for the wild west Learn new chemistry and let the science inspire you Advertise your business, program, laboratory, innovations, whatever at the EXPO - or via a sponsorship Check out the latest and greatest in chem companies, grad programs, instrumentation and more at the EXPO Enjoy Socials & banquets with good food (or so one anticipates), honors for worthy chemists, and interesting talks galore Hear interesting presentations and read cool posters- always worth a second mention Call on the T's on-demand ZipZone to take you all over FW - easy peasy (but remember to meet your ride at the closest intersection) There are, in fact, many more reasons to SWRM, but this column has a word limit
So - head to SWRM.ORG to gather lots more info - including registration links, EXPO signup links, and sponsorship links. You might have to click a bit, but it will be worth it. Trust me. Chem Happy - and See you in Cowtown. Denise Lynn Merkle, PhD, ACSF October 2026
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ACS gets a new brand The update reflects the scientific society’s evolution and growing global impact.
Credit: Courtesy of ACS
The American Chemical Society recently displayed a new brand—one that reflects the organization’s evolution, growing global impact, and vision for a world built on science. “For 150 years, ACS has helped people, ideas, and discoveries connect to advance science,” ACS CEO Albert G. Horvath says in a press release. “Today, our brand reflects both who we are and the future we’re helping build. It strengthens our ability to connect and serve the
global scientific community for generations to come.”
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From the ACS Press Room A trick from tardigrades could help human blood withstand freezing When combined with a protective sugar, the tardigrade proteins preserve red blood cells better than a conventional technique. Temperature Trehalose Loading and Synergistic Suppression of Ice Damage” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Tardigrades, also called water bears, are famous for their ability to survive nearly anything. They protect themselves in extreme environments using proteins that researchers have developed into an efficient and effective strategy to preserve human red blood cells. Publishing in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, the researchers report that the technique, which is simpler than the current freezing method involving glycerol, restored red blood cell counts in anemic mice.
fore a transfusion, which causes cell damage. The tardigrade offers a simpler option:
they have a protein called CAHS (cytosolic abundant heat-soluble), that it uses to keep itself going in extreme conditions. These proteins uniquely interact with trehalose, a sugar that stabilizes cell membranes and proteins. It's often used to reduce freezer burn in frozen foods. So, Hui Yang, Leming Sun, and colleagues wanted to explore whether combining CAHS proteins and trehalose could protect red blood cells in mice better than glycerol could alone.
This study was our first attempt to translate a lesson from an extraordinarily resilient organism into a practical cell-preservation strategy.” — Leming Sun Tardigrades survive conditions that would destroy most other living things: freezing, dehydration, and the vacuum of space. Researchers even put tiny tattoos on them, and the animals don’t seem to mind. By learning how these critters carry on, researchers hope to find ways to protect human cells. One potential application is red blood cell cryopreservation — a process that stores rare blood types for long periods until they are needed. Blood cells are typically treated with glycerol to stop ice crystal formation during freezing. But glycerol must be removed beOctober 2026
“This study was our first attempt to translate a lesson from an extraordinarily resilient organism into a practical cell-preservation strategy,” explains Sun, one of the corresponding authors of the study. “If further developed, it could make the process simpler after thawing, reduce concerns associated with residual glycerol, and help preserve the quality of stored cells.”
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From the ACS Press Room
Candy-coated Lollylab checks saliva for medication A few licks of the lollipop-like prototype collect enough saliva to test for the common pain reliever acetaminophen, quickly measuring whether levels are safe or not “Lollylab: A Lollipop-Inspired Device for Saliva Collection and Detection of Acetaminophen Toxicity in Pediatric Patients” ACS Sensors
ers, cold and flu medications, and more. But taking more than the maximum recommended dose can cause serious side effects, such as liver damage. This is especially concerning for children who can be at risk of an unintentional overdose at low levels of the medication. Because acetaminophen concentrations in saliva closely reflect those in blood, Sina Khazaee Nejad, Maral Mousavi, and colleagues thought saliva could be a simple, noninvasive way to monitor the medication’s levels.
What if checking medication levels were as simple as enjoying a lollipop? A candycoated device, called Lollylab, could provide the answer. In ACS Sensors, researchers describe how the lollipop’s stem transfers saliva to a sensor that measures acetaminophen levels. In an initial test, a peach-flavored prototype reliably detected the pain reliever in six people’s saliva in less than two minutes. Participants also found it more comfortable and easier to use than traditional collection swabs.
Mousavi says they were inspired by the saliva sampling system CandyCollect — a lollipop-like device meant to replace throat swabs — but those specimens need to be analyzed elsewhere. In this work, the researchers wanted to create a miniature analyzed elsewhere. In this work, the researchers wanted to create a miniature laboratory-on-alollipop, or Lollylab. “By turning a familiar object like a lollipop into both a saliva collection device and a sensor, Lollylab can collect the sample and perform the measurement directly at the point of care,” says Nejad, the By turning a fa- first author of the paper. miliar object like a lollipop into both Lollylab is built from two plastic pieces a saliva collection (each with a round end and a thinner stem) device and a sen- snapped together, with holes at the top for sor, Lollylab can saliva to enter through. The team coated the collect the sample top of the device with a red, peach-flavored and perform the edible candy shell, which did not interfere measurement di- with measurements. Saliva flows through the rectly at the point glass fiber paper-lined lollipop stem toward a of care.” – Sina graphene sensor at the bottom, which Khazaee Nejad measures acetaminophen levels as changes in electrical current. The prototype device deAcetaminophen is an ingredient in many over tected acetaminophen in both artificial and -the-counter products, including pain reliev- human saliva. October 2026
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From the ACS Press Room Sustainability Research Award. The authors As proof of concept, six adults used Lollylab also thank Dr. Ashleigh Theberge for insightbefore and an hour after taking a standard ful conversations about the CandyCollect adult dose of acetaminophen (650 milli- manufacturing. grams). The device reliably measured the drug in the participants’ saliva in less than Some authors have filed a provisional patent two minutes, and they said it was easy to use based on this device. and more comfortable than typical saliva swabs.
Call for Nominations! Local Section
Blue-dyed human saliva enters the Lollylab through holes at the top (left image) and flows through the stick within 60 seconds. Adapted from ACS Sensors 2026, DOI: 10.1021/ acssensors.6c00691
“The main takeaway is that diagnostic testing can be made much easier and more comfortable, especially for children,” says Nejad. Next, the researchers plan to validate Lollylab’s acetaminophen measurements with more participants, including children, and develop it to detect other substances in saliva such as naturally occurring stress markers. “Our longer-term goal is to create a multiassay platform capable of measuring several biomarkers, which could then be evaluated alongside acetaminophen in larger clinical studies.” The authors acknowledge funding from the 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, Women in Science and Engineering at the University of Southern California, and the President’s October 2026
Details Start:September 15 @ 8:00 pm End:October 15 @ 11:30 pm Event Categories:Current Events, News Website:https://acsdfw.org/ contact-us/
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US National Chemistry Olympiad 2026 National Exam Results While none of this year’s national qualifiers made it into the “Top 20” list of students invited to the USNCO Study Camp this past summer, the D/FW Section did have more than half of our students earning recognition at the national level. The ACS compiles two lists placing national examinees into either the “High Honors” (the next highest achieving 54 students) or “Honors” (the next 150 students) groups. Students are listed alphabetically. High Honors: • • • • • • • • •
Aryan Roy—Frisco Liberty High School—Angela Montgomery, teacher Honors: Michael Chang—St. Mark’s School of Texas—Kenneth Owens, Teacher Brian Han—Lewisville Flower Mound High School—Alexa Jones, Teacher Yumu Jiang—Southlake Carroll High School—Lacey Bastian, Teacher Everett Jin—St. Mark’s School of Texas—Kenneth Owens, Teacher Athena Wen—Southlake Carroll High School—Lacey Bastian, Teacher Owen Xie—Frisco Emerson High School—Deshaun Dotson, Teacher Zhanghe Xu—Frisco Liberty High School—Angela Montgomery, Teacher
This year’s national examinees were the strongest that we’ve tested in the sixteen years that I have been USNCO Coordinator for the D/FW Section! Eight of our thirteen national examinees were recognized this year. My sincerest thanks to the D/FW Section for supporting both these students and the USNCO program.
Dr. Kathleen Holley USNCO Coordinator, Dallas/Fort Worth Section The U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) In the United States, the competition is organized in multiple tiers by the American Chemical Society (ACS): [1] Local Exam: Administered through local ACS chapters (typically in March/spring) for thousands of high school students nationwide. •
National Exam: Around 1,000 top-scoring students qualify for a comprehensive multipart national test consisting of multiple-choice questions, free-response problem-solving, and a laboratory practical. •
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Study Camp: The top 20 students from the national exam are invited to an intensive
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two-week summer study camp. International Team: Four students are chosen from the camp to represent the United States at the international level. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) Structure: The global event features a 5-hour written theoretical exam and a 5-hour practical laboratory exam held on separate days. •
Scope: It covers organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry, as well as biochemistry and spectroscopy. •
Awards: Top performers receive gold, silver, and bronze medals. The 2026 International Chemistry Olympiad takes place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. [1, 2] •
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VITALS
Location: Fort Worth, Texas Job title: Professor of chemistry, Texas Christian University Volunteer role: National Chemistry Week coordinator, Dallas–Fort Worth Local Section Favorite element: Copper
Kayla N. Green (center) holding the Dallas–Fort Worth Local Section’s 2025 ChemLuminary Award during a ceremony at ACS Fall 2025 in Washington, D.C., in August 2025. She is accompanied by fellow local section members; Keith Krise, chair of the American Chemical Society Committee on Community Activities (far left); and 2025 ACS president-elect Rigoberto Hernandez (far right). Credit: Event Photography of North America Corporation
Kayla N. Green has been a chemistry outreach volunteer since she was a toddler. “My dad taught chemistry at a university and was the chemistry club adviser. Some of my earliest memories are getting in the truck on a Saturday and going to a local school to do an outreach event with my dad,” she says.
Green started her independent research career at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2010. “My lab is interested in understanding how we can control or use metal ions to mitigate the levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's,” she says. Before she had even officially started her TCU role, Green was helping the students there establish a chemistry club, which planned a National Chemistry Week (NCW) event. “That fall, they wanted to do something at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and so we started that event,” she explains. The NCW event has taken place every year since that fall, and it has grown significantly in size and impact. In 2025 over 200 volunteers provided hands-on chemistry activities to around 2,000 people. The Dallas–Fort Worth Local Section received the 2025 American Chemical Society ChemLuminary Green recently spoke with Nina Notman about the role of NCW coordinator. This interview was edited for length and clarity. What happens during the NCW celebrations at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History? The big event is on Saturday. The volunteers on the day are mainly groups of students from local universities and high schools. They run booths where visitors do hands-on activities. Science is a verb—people need to experience it to really make it tangible. Some groups also give science talks. One high school group puts on a play where they tell a story and have demonstrations—for example, one year, it was a murder mystery. People from industry will also come in and show materials related to what their company does, if that year’s topic is relevant. Some years, when the museum is available, there are additional days
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of activities too. A really cool day is homeschool day, when the local homeschool community come in and work with student volunteers.
What does your NCW coordinator role involve? At the university level, the students drive what our chapter decides to do. My role (along with my chemistry club cosponsors) is to make sure that the students have the support they need to do what they think is important. I try to steer them in the right direction and ensure that the resources are there and that everyone is safe. At the local section level, we organize meetings to get everyone on the same page, get volunteers details about numbers and experiments, as well as help with ensuring the volunteers and guests have a great experience. What is one of your favorite experiments to run during an outreach event? I really like the rainbow test tube experiment where visitors get to create a gradient of different pH values across a rack of test tubes. Each solution turns a different color, so they see a lovely rainbow effect. This activity requires the visitors to slow down and concentrate, and they are rewarded with a colorful outcome that makes them want to do it again. My colleague, Julie Fry, has perfected how to run this activity. How has chemistry outreach changed since you started this NCW event in 2010? There is more of a focus on green chemistry—we try to incorporate the principles of green chemistry into our outreach activities. We also use social media to reach different audiences. My postdoc, Hannah Pyle, recently did a series of science history posts on our chemistry department Instagram that received lots of engagement.
Kayla N. Green (bottom row, far left) poses with members of
Is it hard to get enough student volunteers to the Texas Christian University Chemistry Club and the American Chemical Society mascot Meg A. Mole at ACS run these events? Spring 2025 in San Diego in March 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Kayla N. Green
No. Some colleges offer NCW volunteering as extra credit in gen chem, and once they come once, they are hooked. I have had students who volunteered as freshmen in high school and then volunteered every year until they were seniors in college. We’ve also had several visitors who came back in later years as volunteers. That's when you know you've established something that is making an impact. Why do you think others should consider volunteering to be a NCW coordinator?
It's so rewarding. So much of what we do as academics is long-term investments that won’t yield returns for years. Doing outreach is one of the easiest ways to see a great return in a short period of time. Interacting with the general public and giving our students the opportunity to interact and volunteer is such a fantastic reminder that what we do is important.
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From the ACS Press Room
Sunlight and a catalyst in a trashcan lid get rid of garbage stink “Ionic-Covalent Bond-Mediated ElectronRich Lattice Oxygen for Solar-Driven Acetic Acid Abatement” Environmental Science & Technology Garbage left outside starts smelling unpleasant very quickly, especially in warm, humid climates that accelerate food decay. In ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, researchers report a solar-powered lid insert that fits onto standard wheeled trash bins and helps combat the stench. In tests with real food, the lid insert efficiently breaks down acetic acid, the main culprit released from rotting waste that’s responsible for its odors, and continues working for more than a month.
work well in hot and humid environments. Another option is to harness sunlight that hits outdoor garbage bins to remove odorcausing chemicals. “Our motivation was therefore very practical. We wanted to address the odor at its source, inside the bin itself, instead of letting it escape into the street,” says Jinlong Wang, a corresponding author of the study. An inexpensive catalyst like manganese oxide (MnO2) could help — when activated with sunlight, it both adsorbs volatile organic acids and breaks the chemical bonds of acetic acid. So, Wang and colleagues wanted to develop a MnO2-based catalyst and integrate it into a lid insert made from a transparent membrane that concentrates sunlight onto the catalyst.
We wanted to address the odor at its source, inside the bin itself, instead of letting it escape into the street.” — Jinlong Wang Researcher Jinlong Wang stands beside a garbage bin fitted with a solar-powered insert on the lid that efficiently removes food waste smells compared to a garbage bin with a typical lid. Pan Yan
Household waste is often unwanted food that rapidly degrades in bins on neighborhood curbs, forming strong odors such as acetic acid (vinegar), an astringent-smelling compound often associated with stinky garbage. Placing filters with activated charcoal, also called activated carbon, under the lid can help keep the stink contained, but they don’t October 2026
A solar-powered insert in the right bin's lid breaks down food waste smells that get stink in a garbage bin with a typical lid (left image). Adapted from Environmental Science & Technology 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6c07573
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From the ACS Press Room
From the ACS Press Room continued
The team ionically bonded lithium to MnO2 A trick from tardigrades as a sort-of electronic booster, creating a refined catalyst that is more effective at breakContinued from page 7 ing down acetic acid than MnO2 alone or activated carbon in simulated sunlight condi- Rather than using the full-length CAHS protions in the lab. The catalyst also performed tein, the researchers determined that a section provided the desired protective effect. When well in humid conditions. combined with trehalose at a low temperature For a real-world test, the team developed a and then frozen in liquid nitrogen, the two transparent gas-permeable insert containing a components changed the way ice formed and lens that concentrated light onto a layer of the melted, shielding cells from damage. And afcatalyst. The removable module fit onto the ter thawing the cells, the CAHS-trehalose can lid of a standard wheeled trash bin. The cata- easily be washed away by centrifugation. Up lyst insert continuously and efficiently broke to 89% of the mouse red blood cells preserved down acetic acid generated by decaying fruit, with the new method recovered fully, combread, and wine for more than 40 days in nat- pared to about 82% of the cells frozen using ural sunlight, demonstrating its long-term sta- glycerol. Finally, the team tested the new cryopreservation approach and found that the bility. blood cells were biocompatible after being “Conventional catalytic odor abatement relies frozen, thawed, and washed. In anemic mice, on electrical heating to activate the catalyst, a transfusion with cryopreserved blood signifbut we use light instead,” says Wang. The au- icantly improved their blood cell counts and thors anticipate their results could someday hemoglobin levels without causing an inflamprovide a sustainable solution for odor con- matory response. trol in waste management. The researchers hope that this work can help The authors acknowledge funding from the design better strategies for cryopreservation Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, and even lead to protective strategies for the National Natural Science Foundation of blood that can function at room temperature. China, the Wuhan Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, and the Central China The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of ChiNormal University. na, the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China.
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From the Editor Don’t forget: The 82nd annual Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM) of the American Chemical Society takes place November 16–19, 2026, at the Hilton Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, themed Chemistry at the Intersection of Energy, Sustainability, and Biology. Registration is open through the website SWRM.org. National Chemistry Week is coming up, too; be sure and read the article on Dr. Kayla Green of TCU and her planned events.
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