Dr. Letian Dou, Assistant Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, is leading a team of Purdue scientists and engineers creating a new crystal structure that will improve the stability and safety of materials used in solar cells. The team recently published two papers detailing their discoveries in new perovskite compositions and applications, which are better for the environment, and can also be safely used for bioelectronics sensors on the body. The research was published on November 11 in Nature Chemistry.

Dr. Rajamani Gounder, the Larry and Virginia Faith Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, was recently elected Area 20A Programming Chair for 2020-2021 by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Researchers at Purdue University led by Dr. Michael Ladisch (MS '74, PhD '77) have received $2.3 million in funding from the Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office for their work to create computer models to simplify the design and construction of biorefineries to help them better perform reliably, sustainably, safely and economically. The team includes researchers from Purdue's Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, a multi-disciplinary laboratory which includes faculty and students from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering.

A Purdue University student with a dual major in chemistry and chemical engineering has been selected a 2019 Astronaut Scholar. Natalie Kadlubowski, of Lebanon, Ohio, and 51 other awardees from 38 universities were honored at the 2019 Innovators Gala on Aug. 24 in Washington, D.C. Natalie, who is double-majoring in chemical engineering and chemistry, is a student in the Purdue Honors College, the College of Engineering and the College of Science. She has participated in undergraduate research with Jianguo Mei, an assistant professor of chemistry, in his Laboratory for Polymer Innovation for Advanced Organic Electronics.

Renewable energy could often be land constrained by the diffuse nature of renewable resources. To relax land constraints, Purdue researchers led by Dr. Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, have proposed the concept of 'aglectric' farming, where agricultural land will be sustainably shared for food and energy co-production. Their research is published in the current issue of Nature Sustainability.