College of Chemistry

Alumna Carol Burns receives Garvan-Olin Medal

September 3, 2020
Press release | Los Alamos Lab

Carol Burns, alumna, Los Alamos Lab

(Photo: Los Alamos Lab)

Carol Burns (Ph.D. '87, Chem) executive officer for the Deputy Director for Science, Technology & Engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Francis P. Garvan‒John M. Olin Medal. This national award recognizes...

Peidong Yang awarded 2020 Global Energy Prize

September 10, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Peidong Yang

Peidong Yang, S.K. and Angela Chan Distinguished Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry, has been recognized as one of three laureates of the 2020 Global Energy Prize for the pioneering invention of nanoparticle based solar cell...

Chemistry of the orange sky

September 11, 2020
Tracy Taylor | Berkeleyside

Orange sky at the College

Image: Looking toward Tan Kah Kee Hall (l) and Campbell Hall (r) from the mining circle (9/9/20). Photo by Pete Rosos for Berkeleyside

This event happened on September 9th, 2020.

The sky is orange because longer wavelength light (reds and oranges) are able to push through smoke particulates, whereas shorter...

Anne Baranger announced as inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

August 19, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Anne Baranger

Dean Douglas Clark of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley has announced that Anne Baranger, Teaching Professor in the Department of Chemistry, will serve as the College’s first Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for a three-year term.

Dean...

A forgotten legacy: How nuclear reactors built for war transformed peacetime science

July 28, 2020
by Catherine Meyers | Inside Science

X-10 Reactor at Oak Ridge, Tenn, WWII

Workers load uranium slugs into the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge in 1943. Image: Ed Westcott/US Army/Manhattan Engineer District.

On July 16 this year, on what marks the 75th anniversary of the first nuclear bomb test, a patient may go to the doctor for a heart scan. A student may open her...

Your weekend read: History of chemical engineering at Berkeley

August 26, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

A history of CBE, 2020

The College is pleased to announce C. Judson King's A History of Berkeley Chemical Engineering: Pairing Engineering and Science is now available on eScholarship, Berkeley's flagship scholarly repository, and as a print book from...

Chemists #ShutDownSTEM to reflect on diversity in science

June 10, 2020
by Jyllian Kemsley | C&EN

shut down STEM

On June 10, 2020, under the banners of #ShutDownAcademia and #ShutDownSTEM, scientists around the world call for non-Black scientists to step back from their usual work to educate themselves and develop concrete actions to promote change. “Wednesday June 10, 2020 will mark the day that we transition into a lifelong commitment of actions to eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM,” the organizers say. “Your plan should include an actionable goal, steps you will take to reach your goal, and metrics/indicators you will look for to know whether you are successfully moving towards your goal.”

Alumni created startup aims to tackle battery degradation in electric cars

August 18, 2020
Stephen Nellis | Reuters

Coreshell Technologies' Roger Basu, Jose Rodriguez and Jonathan Tan

(l to r) Coreshell Technologies' Roger Basu (B.S. '06, Chem; M.S. '08, Materials Sci Eng), Jose Rodriguez, intern (B.A. '20, Phys) and Jonathan Tan (B.S. '06, ChemE) are seen at one of the company's labs in Richmond, California. Courtesy Coreshell...

Hidden atomic patterns discovered in mixed-metal MOFs

August 18, 2020
Fernando Gomollón-Bell | Chemistry World

Atom probe tomography

Atom probe tomography determines the so-far undiscovered sequences that exist in mixed-metal MOFs (carbon = grey, oxygen = white, metals = blue, green, pink and orange) Source: © Science/AAAS

Layer-by-layer laser slicing of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has...

Battery breakthrough gives boost to electric flight and long-range electric cars

August 3, 2020
Theresa Duque | Berkeley Lab

solid electrolytes

Researchers at Berkeley Lab and Carnegie Mellon University have designed new solid electrolytes that light the path to wider electrification of transportation. (Image courtesy of Jinsoo Kim)

In the pursuit of a rechargeable battery that can power electric vehicles (EVs) for hundreds of miles on a single charge, scientists have endeavored to replace...