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Dr. Jun-Hyun Kim

Professor
Chemistry
Office
SLB Science Lab Building 217
Office Hours
On Sabbatical
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Current Courses

299.012Independent Honor Study In Chemistry

499.012Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

290.012Research in Chemistry

490.012Research In Chemistry

412.001Surface Structure And Chemistry

299.012Independent Honor Study In Chemistry

499.012Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

315.001Instrumental Analysis

316.001Instrumental Analysis Laboratory

316.002Instrumental Analysis Laboratory

290.012Research in Chemistry

490.012Research In Chemistry

Teaching Interests & Areas

Analytical Chemistry (CHE 215)
Instrumental Analysis (CHE 315)
Polymer Chemistry and Nanoscience (CHE380.23)
Surface/Materials Chemistry (CEH412.07)

Research Interests & Areas

Hollow Polymer Nanoparticles for Drug-Delivery Vehicles. We are interested in constructing hollow polymer nanoparticles (hPNPs) for use as selective/specific drug-delivery carriers that can have high drug-loading capacity, easy surface modification, and excellent stability. These polymeric materials can be reliably prepared by using a conventional radical polymerization to grow a shell of polymer around monodipserse sacrificial inorganic silica nanoparticles having tunable sizes. This approach can allow for the synthesis and development of uniform core-shell nanoparticles with tunable shell thicknesses from the nanometer to micron size. After cross-linking the resulting polymer shell via amide and/or ester bond, the removal of the silica cores with diluted fluoride can allow for the formation of stable shell cross-linked hPNPs. The crosslinking process can allow for the formation of hydrolytically degradable and biodegradable amide/ester bonds leading to the effective release of the encapsulated drugs in vivo. Thus, our hPNPs possess an additional feature for controlled release properties. These structures can then be highly loaded with small-molecule therapeutic agents within the hollow core to yield drug-delivery vehicles. In addition, surface functionalization of hPNPs with specific/selective targeting groups would enable them to be used as drug-delivery vehicles that can possess effective release properties at disease site. Our research, based on a combination of nanoscale materials and polymer chemistry, offers a unique means for the reliable preparation of complex polymer-based nanostructures that will form the next generation of multipurpose drug-delivery systems. Photochemical synthesis of nanoscale metal particles for catalytic applications. The main goal of this research is to prepare various metal nanoparticles (gold, silver, copper, palladium, and their alloys) possessing tunable absorption properties, and to examine their photothermal heating efficiency and catalytic activity in chemical reactions upon irradiation of a solar simulated light. Conventional spherical metal nanoparticles possess a strong but narrow absorption peak in the visible light area. Simply modified metal nanoparticles, however, can have a strong and wide absorption band across the visible to near infrared region, which largely covers the intense solar radiation spectrum on the Earth. As metal nanoparticles have a unique ability to absorb light energy and convert it into heat, the irradiation of these anisotropic metal nanoparticles with solar light can photothermally increase the temperature of the reaction media and the surface of the nanoparticles. Since most catalytic reactions take place on the surface of catalysts (e.g., a metal substance) and often require a moderate reaction temperature, employing these optically-active metal nanoparticles can enhance the reaction yields and reduce the reaction time without any electrical thermal input. Considering recent environmental concerns and the soaring demand for renewable energy this study is especially relevant. A thorough investigation of the structure-dependent absorption properties and the photothermal heating efficiency of metal nanomaterials and their catalytic activity in chemical reactions (including reduction, hydrogenation, homocoupling, Suzuki, and Ullman reactions) under a solar-simulated light allows for the development of highly effective, practical, and cost-efficient catalytic systems. Light-induced sysnthesis of gold nanoparticles Metal nanoparticle catalysis upon exposure to sunlight

Post-Doc Surface and Analytical Chemistry

Northwestern Univresity
Evanston, Illinois, USA

Ph D Organic and Materials Chemistry

University of Houston
Houston, TX, USA

MS Chemical Engineering

Keimyung University
Daegu, South Korea

BS Chemical Engineering

Keimyung University
Daegu, South Korea

Janice Witherspoon Neuleib Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement of the Year by a Tenured Faculty Member

Illinois State University
2020

College of Arts and Science Outstanding College Service Award

Illinois State University
2015

College of Arts and Science Excellence Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement of the Year (Pre-tenured Faculty)

Illinois State University
2013

University Research Initiative Award

Illinois State University
2012

Penny Severns Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer Research Fellowship (Illinois Department of Public Health, Office of Women's Health)

Illinois
2007

Outstanding Poster Award

Welch Foundation Lecture (University of Houston)
2004

Outstanding Research Award

Dow Chemical Fellowship (Unviersity of Houston)
2004

Outstanding Poster Award

NSM Challenge (University of Houston)
2003

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

University of Houston
2001

Research Award

Korea Rubber Society, Republic of Korea
1999

Journal Article

Ebbah, E., Amissah, A., Kim, J., & Driskell, J. Antibody-Driven Assembly of Plasmonic Core-Satellites to Increase the Sensitivity of a SERS Vertical Flow Immunoassay.. ACS sensors 9.7 (2024): 3496-3501.
Ebbah, E., Amissah, A., Kim, J., & Driskell, J. SERS-based immunoassay on a plasmonic syringe filter for improved sampling and labeling efficiency of biomarkers.. The Analyst (2023)
Frimpong, R., Jang, W., Kim, J., & Driskell, J. Rapid vertical flow immunoassay on AuNP plasmonic paper for SERS-based point of need diagnostics.. Talanta 223.Pt 2 (2021): 121739.
Burr, D., Fatigante, W., Lartey, J., Jang, W., Stelmack, A., McClurg, N., Standard, J., Wieland, J., Kim, J., Mulligan, C., & Driskell, J. Integrating SERS and PSI-MS with Dual Purpose Plasmonic Paper Substrates for On-Site Illicit Drug Confirmation. ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 92.9 (2020): 6676-6683.
Eyimegwu, P., & Kim, J. Atypical catalytic function of embedded gold nanoparticles by Controlling Structural features of polymer particle in alcohol-rich solvents. Nanotechnology 30 (2019): 285704.

Presentations

Expansion of a fundraising initiative to support student travel and research grants at Illinois State University. 243rd ACS National Meeting. ACS. (2012)
Catalytic Activity of Aggregated Gold Nanoparticles upon Irradiation of Light. ISU Undergraduate Research Symposium. ISU. (2011)
Catalytic Activity of Aggregated Gold Nanoparticles upon Irradiation of Light. ChemClub Research Symposium. ChemClub-ISU. (2011)
Catalytic Activity of Thermosensitive Polymer-Gold Nanocomposites. ISU-Department of Chemistry. (2011)
Development of a new fundraising initiative to support student travel and research grants at Illinois State University. 241st ACS National Meeting. ACS. (2011)
Hollow Polymer Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug-Delivery Vehicles. ISU-Department of Chemistry. (2011)
Light-Assisted Coupling Reaction in the Presence of Bimetallic Metal Nanoparticles. 241st ACS National Meeting & Exposition. ACS. (2011)
One-Pot Synthesis of Gold-coated Silver Nanoparticles at Room Temperature. Illinois Heartland Local ACS Section. ACS. (2011)
One-Pot Synthesis of Gold-coated Silver Nanoparticles at Room Temperature. 42nd Central Regional ACS Meeting. ACS. (2011)
One-Pot Synthesis of Gold-coated Silver Nanoparticles at Room Temperature. ISU Graduate Research Symposium. ISU. (2011)

Grants & Contracts

MRI: Acquisition of a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope to Advance Multidisciplinary Research and Education. National Science Foundation. Federal. (2021)
Coupling Raman Spectroscopy with Ambient Sampling, Portable Mass Spectrometry for On-site, High-Throughput Evidence Confirmation on a Single Instrument Platform. NIJ. Federal. (2018)
Understanding Transmembrane Filtration of Nanofiber-Based Membranes. KMU. Other. (2018)
Regulating Self-Assembly of Short-Chain Amphiphilic Polymers. American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund. Other. (2017)
International Outreach to Increase Activities for National Chemistry Week during the International Year of Chemistry 2011. American Chemical Society. Federal. (2011)