Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series Presents, Chibueze Amanchukwu from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago
“Electrolyte engineering for energy-relevant transformations”
Electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies are of great importance because they harness ‘renewable’ electrons to drive chemical reactions relevant to devices such as batteries. Electrolytes are the ionically conductive media that are in contact with both electrodes. Hence, electrolyte design often plays a pivotal role in enabling batteries with long cycle life and selective, active electrocatalytic transformations. My group is especially interested in how electrolyte design affects electrochemical reactions.
In this talk, I will discuss (1) my group’s focus on the design of novel electrolytes for next-generation batteries with a focus on deploying AI/ML approaches to navigate wide electrolyte chemical spaces and accelerate electrolyte selection. (2) We use ideas from battery electrolyte design to address challenges in electrocatalysis and environmental remediation. We show that by modulating water activity and subsequent reactivity in ‘designer’ electrolytes, the undesired hydrogen evolution reaction can be suppressed, enabling waste valorization, such as the conversion of CO2 and PFAS.
Chibueze Amanchukwu is a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, a faculty affiliate in the Data Science Institute, and a joint appointee at Argonne National Laboratory. His research is focused on (1) developing earth-abundant and intrinsically safe batteries for the electric grid (2) inventing new methods for waste (CO2, PFAS) conversion to valuable fuels and chemicals and (3) accelerating energy materials discovery with AI/ML. He has been named a “Talented Twelve” by Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) and an Inventor Under 35 by MIT Technology Review (Global). His work has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, DOE Early Career Award, Army Research Office Early Career Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, Google Research Scholar Award, Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, ECS-Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Award, and the 3M Nontenured Faculty Award. He obtained his PhD in chemical engineering as a NDSEG Fellow at MIT and was a TomKat Center Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University.
Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series Presents, Chibueze Amanchukwu from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago
