Senior Jacqueline Bodycomb's psychology/gender studies article, "Generational Perspectives on 'Feminism' in Relation to Race and Political Party Affiliation," has been accepted for publication by The Curieux Academic Journal's Fall volume. Her computational chemistry paper, "Carbon Stability with Various Cations in Graphene-Based Secondary Cell Batteries," will appear in The Journal of High School Science this Summer.
The University of North Carolina-bound senior has earned a very rare distinction, indeed. Before graduating from high school, Ms. Bodycomb has had two very different scholarly papers - one in the behavioral sciences, one in the physical sciences - accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Hundreds of submissions by the top high school researchers in the nation were submitted to each publication. Experts in each field - graduate students, professors, etc. - carefully reviewed each submission, and selected Jackie's work in both cases. Jacqueline's accomplishment is "very, very unusual," according to Dr. Stephen Sullivan, Sacred Heart Academy Research Director. "That might be a first for me - in 38 years of mentoring high school research. Jackie’s first (11th grade) paper involved gender studies. Her senior thesis addressed computational chemistry. I directly advised the first. She worked with a wonderful young Hofstra Chem professor, David Miller, on the second. Her academic range is really quite remarkable."
See for yourself. Abstracts of both papers can be found below:
Generational Perspectives on 'Feminism' in Relation to Race and Political Party Affiliation
Generational, racial, and political differences shape perceptions of feminism among American women. Results revealed Generation Z embraces feminism, Millennials and Generation X resist labels, while Baby Boomers reject equality. Racial and political disparities highlight the importance of intersectionality. Historical, cultural, and ideological interplay in the feminist discourse creates evolving perspectives.
Carbon Stability with Various Cations in Graphene-Based Secondary Cell Batteries
Graphene-based secondary cell batteries have emerged as candidates for advanced energy storage systems boasting high electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and thermal stability. Despite the well-documented drawbacks, these batteries traditionally employ lithium ions as the primary cation for charge storage. This study investigates the suitability of alternative cations. Computational simulations utilizing the WebMo software and the PBE density functional theory calculated the binding energies of various cations interacting with graphene sheets within secondary cell battery configurations. The results reveal that several ions exhibited more negative binding energies than the conventional lithium cation, suggesting stronger binding affinity. Furthermore, sodium ions could be a superior choice to enhance the performance of these batteries. Several factors support the adoption of sodium ions as an alternative cation including its abundance, which could substantially reduce production costs. The higher abundance would reduce concerns regarding resource scarcity and geopolitical tensions associated with lithium mining. Additionally, sodium-based batteries are less prone to safety concerns like thermal runaway and dendrite formation, which have plagued lithium-based batteries. Moreover, the environmental impact of sodium-ion batteries is relatively benign compared to lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, these findings challenge the conventional use of lithium ions in graphene-based batteries and suggest that sodium ions may be a more suitable alternative.
