Dr. Craig Barnes, professor of chemistry at the University of Tennessee, will present two lectures on green chemistry on Jan. 23 in Martin. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Barnes will be a guest speaker for the University of Tennessee at Martin Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) and the Kentucky Lake Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Following a 3 p.m. reception in Room 318 of Johnson EPS Building, Barnes will present a seminar called New Generation of Catalysts for Green Chemistry. Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous materials associated with the manufacturing and use of chemical products.

Barnes will present on New Methodologies for the Synthesis of Nanostructured Metal Oxides for the KLS-ACS at 7 p.m. at the Hearth Restaurant, located at 615 North Lindell Street in Martin.

“In this talk I will present a brief overview of the developing field of nanostructured materials as well as some results of our recent work in the synthesis of nanostructured catalysts,” Barnes said.

Barnes’ research group has recently developed a general methodology with which to prepare nanostructured, mixed metal oxides in which the composition and surface structure may be tailored to enhance their catalytic activities.

“In this approach, rigid nanometer sized building blocks are linked together with metals to produce a variety of functionalized silicas which can be tailored to the envisioned type of catalysis,” he said.