Inaugural Energy and Sustainability Symposium hosted at UIC
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The UIC Department of Chemical Engineering, in collaboration with the UIC Department of Chemistry, hosted the inaugural Energy and Sustainability Symposium November 14, bringing together faculty, students, and industry researchers for an afternoon focused on clean energy, environmental remediation, and sustainable materials.
The event featured keynote talks by Northwestern University Professor of Chemistry William Dichtel, who discussed advances in Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) capture technologies, and Amir Chammani of MilliporeSigma, who highlighted emerging battery materials and sustainable carbon-based anodes. These presentations provided context for the broader challenges and opportunities facing the fields of water purification and energy storage.
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Graduate students from both the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering departments contributed a series of short research presentations spanning catalysis, water treatment, material design, carbon capture, energy storage, and photocatalysis.
Presentations were given by Atefeh Nadeali of Chemical Engineering Professor Brian Chaplin’s lab, Shilpa Choya of Chemistry Professor Nan Jiang’s lab, Pragati Ganatra of Chemistry Assistant Professor Andy Nguyen’s lab, Roushan Singh and Ananthu Modappilappally of Chemistry Professor and Associate Head Neal Mankad’s lab, Anwesa Samanta of Chemistry Professor Jordi Cabana’s lab, and Xin Zheng of Chemistry Professor Ksenija Glusac’s lab, each offering a brief look into their ongoing sustainability-driven research.
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The talks focused on electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia, achieving a Faradaic efficiency >72%, STM studies revealing nanoscale nickel confinement on graphene surfaces for catalysis applications, peptide-based porous frameworks designed for selective PFAS detection, and heterometallic complexes capable of stabilizing rare CO2 intermediates.
Additional presentations explored the structural evolution in Mg0.5V2O5 cathode materials for battery applications, designing Mo(IV) based complexes mimicking enzymatic functions, and high surface area photocatalytic MOFs (2396 m²/g) engineered for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Together, these presentations showcased the depth of innovation within UIC’s graduate community and underscored the university’s strong presence in climate and energy research.