About

Kevin Bell is an Associate Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University, earned in 2000. His areas of specialization include African American Literature and Language, Critical Theory and Cultural Studies, American Literature after 1900, Black American Literature and Film, and Film Studies. Bell is the author of the book "Ashes Taken for Fire: Aesthetic Modernism and the Critique of Identity," published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2007. His current work involves an interpretive study titled "Drift Velocities: the Aesthetic Curve of Radical Black Film and Literature." His research focuses on trans-Atlantic literary modernisms, Black American literature, film, and music, as well as critical theory and experimental traditions in film.

Research topics

• Organic chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Composite material
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Polymer chemistry
• Computer Science
• Ecology
• Environmental engineering
• Pulp and paper industry
• Waste management
• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental science
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Photolabile SI-PET-RAFT Initiators for Wavelength-Selective Grafting and De-grafting of Polymer Brushes

  ACS Applied Polymer Materials · 2024-02-20 · 9 citations

  article

  Polymer brushes offer a wide array of applications in surface modification. While recent advances have made these chemistries more user-friendly, scientific questions about fundamental polymer properties often remain unanswered. For example, copolymer brush composition, chain end fidelity, and dispersity often remain prohibitively challenging to characterize. This conundrum produces a need for chemically precise pathways to evaluate polymer brushes. To this end, this contribution describes the synthesis of an o-nitrobenzyl-based photolabile initiator for surface-initiated reversible deactivation radical polymerization. The product can be immobilized on surfaces, enable growth of polymer brushes under visible light, and be cleaved under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Wavelength selectivity is confirmed using a combination of ellipsometry, tensiometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and patterning experiments indicate good spatial control over photocleaving. Finally, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicates visibility of characteristic peaks for both chain ends after degrafting of the polymer brush.

  PublisherDOI

• Best practices in catalyst screening

  Catalysis Reviews · 2024-09-05 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Thermoresponsive polymer brush photocatalytic substrates for wastewater remediation

  Polymer Chemistry · 2023 · 10 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Chemistry
  • Waste management
  • Environmental science

  NIPAAm and fluorescein o -acrylate are copolymerized on glass beads to develop multiresponsive heterogeneous photocatalysts that exhibit structural changes at elevated temperatures and alter their photocatalytic performance in wastewater remediation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Hydrolysis-resistant heterogeneous photocatalysts for PET-RAFT polymerization in aqueous environments

  Journal of Materials Chemistry A · 2023-01-01 · 6 citations

  article1st author

  This article describes the development of polymer brush-based heterogeneous photocatalysts for PET-RAFT polymerization in aqueous environments.

  PublisherDOI

• Heterogeneous Photocatalysts for Light‐Mediated Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization

  ChemPhotoChem · 2023-07-12 · 10 citations

  article

  Abstract Heterogeneous photocatalysis combines the benefits of light‐mediated chemistry with that of a catalytic platform that facilitates re‐use of (often expensive) photocatalysts. This provides significant opportunities towards more economical, sustainable, safe, and user‐friendly chemical syntheses of both small and macromolecular compounds. This contribution outlines recent developments in the design of heterogenous photocatalysts and their use to mediate polymerizations. We outline four classes of heterogeneous photocatalysts in detail: Nanoparticles, conjugated and non‐conjugated polymer networks, metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), and functionalized solid supports.

  PublisherDOI

• Reusable polymer brush-based photocatalysts for PET-RAFT polymerization

  Polymer Chemistry · 2022 · 25 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Chemical engineering
  • Materials science

  Fluorescein polymer-brush functionalized glass beads synthesize polymers via photoelectron reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization. These shelf stable heterogeneous catalysts can be recycled after simple filtration.

  PublisherDOI

• Heterogeneous photoredox catalysis using fluorescein polymer brush functionalized glass beads

  Journal of Polymer Science · 2021 · 23 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Chemical engineering
  • Polymer chemistry

  Abstract Photocatalysis is a valuable and versatile method to perform a variety of chemical transformations under ambient temperatures and pressures using mild visible light. This work showcases an example of fluorescein‐functionalized polymers grafted to micro‐scale glass beads as heterogeneous photoredox catalysts. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were used to analyze the resulting functional glass beads. Model reactions that are demonstrated include a cyclic condensation and a radical dehalogenation that can both be performed to high yields. Successful recyclability of the fluorescein polymer brush beads is demonstrated with detailed characterization confirming that photocatalytic polymer brushes remain tethered to the surface. As such, this allows for purification and reuse of the heterogeneous photocatalyst beads after simple filtration.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christian W. Pester

  Pennsylvania State University

  6 shared

• Sarah Freeburne

  Pennsylvania State University

  3 shared

• Brock Hunter

  Pennsylvania State University

  3 shared

• Yiwen Guo

  Pennsylvania State University

  2 shared

• Seong H. Kim

  Pennsylvania State University

  2 shared

• Samuel Barker

  Pennsylvania State University

  1 shared

• Marvin Alvarez

  The University of Texas at Dallas

  1 shared

• Sai Dileep Kumar Seera

  Pennsylvania State University

  1 shared