Good things come in microscopic packages, according to the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology’s new DROPLETS project.
By packaging electrochemical reactions in smaller-than-standard serving sizes, interdisciplinary researchers aim to produce clean hydrogen, sequester carbon dioxide, and store renewable energies like wind and solar inexpensively and sustainably. Their project, called DROPLETS, received $4.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science through its Energy Earthshots Initiative.
The project is led by Chemistry professor Joaquín Rodríguez-López. Additional investigators include chemical and biomolecular engineering professors Charles Schroeder, Paul Kenis and Hong Yang; Qian Chen, the Racheff Faculty Scholar and an associate professor of materials science and engineering; Jeffrey Moore, the Stanley O. Ikenberry Endowed Chair Emeritus of Chemistry and a professor emeritus of chemistry; Christy Landes, the Jerry A. Walker Endowed Chair and a professor of chemistry; and Lisa Olshansky, an assistant professor of chemistry.