Catalyst Design for Isotactic Polycarbonates as Lithium-Ion Transport Membranes

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The Division of Chemistry supports William Ellis of Cornell University as an American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellow. Dr. Ellis will work on developing Zn-based catalysts for the copolymerization of epoxides and carbon dioxide. He will collaborate with scientists at SEEO, a Berkeley, California-based battery company. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop polycarbonate highly isotactic polycarbonate materials for use as lithium-ion transport membrane materials in Li ion batteries. For his plan for broadening participation, the PI will develop a hands-on science kits to engage rural students in science. In this activity, the PI will collaborate with educators at the Cornell Center for Materials Research.Research like that of Dr. Ellis is aimed at developing new kinds of materials for lithium ion batteries, an increasingly important technology. The particular chemistry that Dr. Ellis is developing is "green" in that it uses an earth-abundant element (zinc) that has low toxicity as the transition metal in his catalysts, and one of his feedstock chemicals is carbon dioxide. The efforts at broadening participation being pursued by Dr. Ellis are aimed at giving underrepresented students in rural areas hands-on activities in important areas of science.