Chemical Engineering research takes many forms. This library research guide is designed to make your search easier.

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Library Research

Let’s say that you are a chemical engineering student who read a recent news story about how engineers in Iceland are filtering carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to combat climate change. After a quick glance at the Carbon Capture and Storage Wikipedia page, you realize there are many different technologies that engineers use to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One class of technology, membrane gas separation, caught your interest.

After a few Google searches, you decide to look for library resources to learn more.

Getting Started: Defining a Research Question

Start by brainstorming a list of questions that interest you:

• What types of materials are used for membranes that capture CO2?
• How selective can membranes be for capturing CO2 specifically?
• What are the airflow mechanics passing through a membrane?
• Can membranes be regenerated after they are saturated with CO2?
• What surface chemistry helps capture a CO2 molecule?
• Can capturing membranes be combined with surface catalysts?

If you’re not sure where to start with your question list, it can be useful to do some quick internet searches or to look for an introduction to the broad topic in a book or e-book. Make notes of the things you’re curious about while reading.

Next, narrow your focus and choose a specific research question.

• Focus: I want to know how polymeric membranes can be used to capture CO2. I am also interested in how the permeability of the membrane affects its performance. I am not interested in CO2 capture from anything but air, membranes that use metals, or how the captured CO2 is used afterwards.
• Scope: carbon dioxide capture, polymeric membranes, membrane permeability, gas separation
• Outside of scope: metal-organic framework membranes, carbon sequestration or storage, capture of CO2 from seawater
• Research Question: What polymeric membranes have been reported for the capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and what are the properties of these membranes?

Choosing Search Terms

Thinking about your research question and scope, come up with a list of key search terms to find relevant information. It is also useful to list out as many synonyms for these terms as you can think of so that you don't miss any important sources.

Here are some possible search terms:

• Carbon dioxide capture, CO2 capture
• Polymeric membranes
• Gas separation membranes
• Porosity, permeability, fluid mechanics

If you are seeing topics that are outside of your scope in your search results, you can also choose terms to exclude. For example, you might want to exclude the term “metal-organic framework,” since metal-organic framework membranes are often used in CO2 capture.

Searching for information is a process. Try entering your search terms in different combinations and adjusting as necessary. Keep good notes of your search strategy.

Connecting to Library Resources from Home

If you are doing research from off-campus, you will need to connect using either the Virtual Private Network (VPN) software or the UF Proxy Server to access electronic resources. For long searches, we strongly recommend the VPN.

Finding Sources

The Chemical Engineering Research Guide has jump off pages for finding specific types of resources. To familiarize yourself with the types of sources that make up the chemistry literature, take a look at the “Types of Sources” page.

You can find books and e-books using the UF Libraries Catalog. Books and e-books can be a very useful place to start, especially for background information on a topic that is new to you.

You can search for scholarly journal articles using a literature database. One of the biggest advantages of using databases over Google or Google Scholar is that databases have specific filters to help narrow your search.

Every database has different strengths and weaknesses depending on your information needs. For example, some of the chemical information databases allow you to search by chemical structure. Some of the engineering databases allow you to search by specific properties.

When you find an article that is relevant to your research question, take a look at the keywords with which the article is tagged, and consider adding these keywords to your search terms.

You can look backwards to a useful article’s references or forwards to when that article was cited by others to see more of the research conversation.

Keeping Track of Your Sources

It is very helpful to use a reference manager from early on in your research process. You can use these programs to keep a library of the sources you have saved, make notes to yourself on each source, and automatically format your references while you write. One free reference manager that we recommend is Zotero.

When you write reports on this information that you’ve found in the literature, you’ll need to cite your sources. Every journal has their own specific formatting requirements, so make sure you check the Information for Authors pages.

Getting Help

Librarians are here to help you on every step of the way!

You can also reach out to the Chemical Sciences Librarian, Michelle Nolan, for personalized guidance regarding chemical engineering searching.

Happy searching!