UK Chemists Tackle Battery Overcharge Problem
Research from the Department of Chemistry will help batteries resist overcharging, improving the safety of electronics from cell phones to airplanes.
Research from the Department of Chemistry will help batteries resist overcharging, improving the safety of electronics from cell phones to airplanes.
Chemistry professor Susan Odom has hosted two Paul Laurence Dunbar High School students in her chemistry laboratory over the past semester, conducting a project that could change the way lithium-ion batteries are produced.
At the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, we met with all of the new faculty hires in the College of Arts and Sciences. This series of podcasts introduces them and their research interests. Susan Odom is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. Odom, an organic and materials chemist, studies lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries to try to make them safer and increase their longevity. In her lab at UK, she synthesizes organic molecules and polymers and incorporates them into Li-ion batteries to see if they improve the batteries' performance.
Energy will be a central focus for new assistant professors, who will find a second home at UK's Center for Applied Energy Research.