The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is pleased to present a seminar by Whitney Loo, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Loo will be presenting a seminar titled "Investigating the Phase Behavior of Charged-Neutral Polymer Blends Using X-ray and Neutron Scattering."
The ongoing development of rechargeable batteries with increased energy density is critical to continue the growth in the electrification of mobile technologies. To achieve these goals, new electrolytes must be developed that possess fast ion transport characterized by high ionic conductivity and high cation transference number (the fraction of ions that carry current), a combination of properties typically not found in a single material. Therefore, we propose to engineer polymer blend electrolytes as suitable electrolyte replacements. In this presentation, we will study charged-neutral polymer blends, which contain an ion-containing polymer and an ion-conducting polymer, and determine how blend composition and counter ion identity affects resulting phase behavior. Through a combined approach leveraging X-ray and neutron scattering, we are able to resolve the nanostructure across a wide range of length-scales ranging from monomer sub-units to inter-chain interactions. By quantitatively fitting the scattering profiles, we can extract thermodynamics parameters and relevant length-scales and show how local charge correlations affect nanoscopic structure. We will conclude by suggesting how molecular engineering of these blends can enable precise tuning of the strength of charge correlations and the concentration of charged species to further probe blend thermodynamics.
Whitney Loo joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as an Assistant Professor in January 2023. Whitney obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley with Nitash Balsara studying block copolymer electrolytes for Lithium metal batteries. She completed her postdoctoral training jointly at the University of Chicago with Paul Nealey and the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab with Ricardo Ruiz. Her postdoctoral research involves the design of novel polymers and nanofabrication techniques for block copolymer nanolithography. Her independent research group at UW-Madison focuses on designing polymers for a more sustainable future and her group conducts polymer physics research in energy storage, advanced manufacturing and plastics recycling. To recognize her research achievements, she was recently awarded the DOE Early Career Research Award and the Vilas Early Career Investigator Award.
Cost: Free
Olivia Wise
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