Dr. Michael Bender

Associate Professor of Chemistry

(434) 592-3704
tmbender@liberty.edu
Center for Natural Sciences, Room 119

Education

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Leland Stanford Junior University
• B.S. in Chemistry, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Biography & Research

Prior to joining Liberty’s chemistry faculty, Dr. Bender worked in private industry for Rohm and Haas and Dow Chemical.

Dr. Bender’s industrial experience involves the use of analytical chemistry to help confirm and refute hypotheses that industrial researchers were proposing to widen the intellectual property scope of potential inventions. By identifying and claiming the mechanisms underlying inventions, and not merely specific narrow recipes within the invention, his work brings increased value to the owners of intellectual property.

Dr. Bender’s recent interests have involved issues related to natural and manmade impurities in the natural aquatic environment. In 2007, he worked on the Grainger Challenge and its goal of discovering a practical way to reduce the natural arsenic contamination found in the drinking water supplies of certain world regions. More recently Dr. Bender has been involved in studies of the concentrations and identities of manmade particles such as microbeads and microplastics in wastewater effluents.

Courses Taught

• General Chemistry I Laboratory (CHEM 121L)

Professional Membership

• American Chemical Society

Publications (ORCID = 000-0002-2144-0166)

• “Acrylic/Urethane Hybrid Liquid Encapsulants for Photovoltaic Modules“, Melinda L Einsla, Cheryl I. Teich, Michael T. Bender, Jill A. Ottinger, Catheryn L. Jackson, Kenneth B. Laughlin and Edward C. Greer, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (2017) 165 103-110
• “A Unique and Versatile Sensory Modifier for Skin Care Application“, Y. O’Connor, Q. Wan, M. Bender, V. Kalihari, X. Lu, R. Toth, Household and Personal Care Today (2014) 9(5) 31-35
• “Development of Chemical Vapor Deposited Spinel“, H.A.G. Stern, V. DiFilippo, J. S. Goela, J. Bai, D. Chakraborty, H. Wang, J. Grayson, M. Bender, T. Powell, M. A. Pickering. Full paper published in the proceedings from the 14th DoD Electromagnetic Windows Symposium, (May 1-3, 2012, San Antonio, TX – available only to US citizens invited to attend the symposium)
• “Column Selection and Related Issues for Acrylic Acid and Acrylate Ester Polymers“, T. M. Bender and D. A. Saucy, Chapter 19 in Column Handbook for Size Exclusion Chromatography, Academic Press (Chi-san Wu, Editor), 1999
• “Peroxide Drum Explosion and Fire“; R.F. Antrim, M. T. Bender, M. B. Clark, Jr., L. Evers, D. C. Hendershot, J.W. Magee, J M. McGregor, P.C. Morton, J.G. Nelson, and C.Q. Zeszotarski Process Safety Progress (1998), 17(3), 225. Given the William Doyle Award for best presentation in the Loss Prevention Symposium of the spring 1998 AICHE meeting.
• “Reassessment of Khazanovich’s Theory of Thermal Diffusion of Polymers in Solution“; T. M. Bender, Macromolecules (1995) 28, 1309.
• “An Environmental Fate and Safety Assessment for a Low Molecular Weight Polyacrylate Detergent Additive“; M. B. Freeman and T. M. Bender, Environmental Technology (1993) 14, 101.
• “Prediction of Velocity Cross-Correlation Coefficients of Binary Liquid Mixtures“; T. M. Bender and R. Pecora, J. Phys. Chem. (1989) 93, 2614.
• “The Effect of Aging on the Mutual Diffusion Coefficients in Aqueous Solutions of Low Molecular Weight Analogs of Poly(ethylene glycol)“; T. M. Bender and R. Pecora, J. Colloid Interface Sci. (1988) 126(2), 638.
• “Molar Volumes of CH3OH, CH3OD, and CD3OD, and Apparent or Excess Molar Volumes for (methanol-OH+water), (methanol-OD+deuterium oxide), and (methanol-OH+methanol-OD) at 288.15, 298.15, and 313.15K“; T. M. Bender and W. A. Van Hook, J. Chem. Thermodynamics (1988) 20, 1109.
• “Dynamic Light Scattering Measurements of Mutual Diffusion Coefficients of Water-Rich 2-Butoxyethanol/Water Systems“; T. M. Bender and R. Pecora, J. Phys. Chem. (1988) 92, 1675.
• “Absolute Rayleigh Ratios of Four Solvents at 488 nm“; T. M. Bender, R.J. Lewis and R. Pecora, Macromolecules (1986) 19, 244.
• “A Dynamic Light Scattering Study of the tert-Butyl Alcohol-Water System“; T. M. Bender and R. Pecora, J. Phys. Chem. (1986) 90, 1700.
• “Osmotic Coefficients of Low-Equivalent-Weight Organic Salts. 2“; P.C. Ho, T. M. Bender and M. A. Kahlow, J. Chem. Eng. Data (1985) 30, 292.
• “Osmotic Coefficients of Low-Equivalent-Weight Organic Salts“; P.C. Ho, M. A. Kahlow, T. M. Bender and J.S. Johnson Jr., J. Phys. Chem. (1984) 88, 4152.
• “Phase Compositions of Aqueous/Hydrocarbon Systems Containing Organic Salts, Alcohol, and Sodium Chloride“; P.C. Ho and T. M. Bender, J. Phys. Chem. (1983) 87, 2614.