Hi Alexwarren91, welcome here!
I feel that the synthesis of an already industrial product isn't exactly research, so here are some suggestions in and outside synthesis.
Distillation by rotating disks. More mechanical engineering.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=57335.0Dessicate and regenerate the acetone in one step. Feed the compound trails manually for your project.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=68477.msg253893#msg253893Store hydrogen, release at will. The result, including "doesn't work", interests people.
http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/79128-alloys-to-store-hydrogen/- Try alloys that are abnormally light, bell bronze, invar...
- Try magnetosctrictive materials.
- Try shape-memory alloys.
Syntheses using metal vapour. Spiropentane would be fun. May need to build hardware first.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=72951.0http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79757.msg299039#msg299039Dimerize alkanes using light and HCl. I'm interested in cyclobutane and cyclopropane
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=81721.msg297374#msg297374needs an ArF lamp; Xe
2 seems less good.
Make alcohols from alkanes, (unconcentrated) hydrogen peroxide and light
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=80085.msg296423#msg296423needs an ArF or Xe
2 lamp.
Synthesize a few aminated quadricyclanes as rocket fuels. I'm interested in the ease of mass-production, the melting point, the flash point, the heat of formation
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79658.msg291343#msg291343http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79658.msg291409#msg291409Needs an Xe
2 lamp
Synthesize bis- and tris-cyclobutane mix in a scaleable process
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=50579.msg296973#msg296973Needs an Xe
2 lamp.
Synthesize cyclopropanone (for immediate use) from CO and excited ethylene?
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=78226.0Meanwhile I believe it produces something else but can't find the paper again.
Needs an Xe
2 lamp.
UV lamps other than mercury are relatively new. Their use in chemical synthesis can only expand. Good time to start now?
Check how easily Led replace mp-Hg lamps in photochemical reactions
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79940.msg291270#msg291270Hot new thing, time to jump in.
Pmdpta, or rather its diethyl variant, as a prospective rocket fuel. What's the melting point? Is the mass-production easy?
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79637http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=56069.msg272080#msg272080Strained amines as prospective rocket fuels.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79637.msg290098#msg290098Again, I'm interested in ease of mass-production, melting points, flash points, heat of formation, ease of use including odour.
Synthesize farnesane, phytane and longer ones in significant amount a reasonable cost. Not really done up to now, but Yamamoto showed a route, so checking its ease of scale would be nice, from isoprene or maybe (??) myrcene
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=56069.msg297847#msg297847Definitely useful.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=81517.msg296976#msg296976Reactor for liquids and gas. Many alternatives exist, maybe this one has some merit, for instance run with dirty liquid.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=56452.0Coat lithium with something waterproof so it can serve as a float deep in the Ocean
http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/85991-bathyscaphe-float/#entry834413looks bizarre, but other methods work badly. This one seems more reliable, and bathyscaphes are much in demand right now. Since Ni and Ni+Co coatings aren't done on Li up to now, this is more chemistry than metal technology. At least AlH
3 pellets have already been coated with thin metal to use as a solid rocket fuel, paper at an AAAF meeting.
Measure the density of solid n-alkanes. Try to confirm or (...rather) infirm that this explains the odd-even effect on the melting point
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=75605.0Easy, and interesting contribution to human knowledge.
Electrolyzer
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=76907.0I'm not a chemist, so it's even more important that you get advice on my suggestions, from members here, from your professors...