Stereo Chemistry

Without fail, the name John Goodenough crops up during Nobel Prize season. Many scientists believe he’s deserving of chemistry’s top honor. The University of Texas at Austin materials scientist is credited with developing a material that led to mass commercialization of lithium-ion batteries, the technology that powers our smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other gadgets big and small. Though Goodenough, aged 97, hasn’t yet won a Nobel Prize, he’s not mired down by what could have been. He is renowned for his scientific accomplishments, warm personality, and infectious laugh. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporter Mitch Jacoby joins cohost Kerri Jansen to tell the story of how a former meteorologist with a background in physics came up with a key material that enabled an electronics revolution and how he continues to pursue big questions in electrochemistry today.

Register for C&EN’s Nobel Prize predictions webinar at bit.ly/nobelwebinar19.

UPDATE: We're happy to announce that Goodenough, along with fellow battery pioneers M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read our coverage of the award and these scientists' contributions to lithium-ion batteries at C&EN.

CORRECTION 10/23/19: The material Akira Yoshino used for his seminal battery anode was petroleum coke, a graphite-like material derived from petroleum. Researchers, including Samar Basu, had previously worked with graphite but found that it broke down in the battery’s electrolyte. Also, estimates for the voltage of Stan Whittingham’s TiS2 battery vary. This podcast episode refers to a 2.4-volt battery; some sources estimate the voltage at 2.5 V.

A script of this podcast is available here.

"Shir Hama’alos” is by Even Sh’siyah, provided courtesy of Mitch Jacoby.

“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Image credit: Mitch Jacoby/C&EN

Research science is full of hazards. Chemists and safety professionals do their best to minimize the danger, but accidents do happen and the stakes can be extremely high. So how can chemists ensure that when things do go wrong—or when they nearly go wrong—that we learn from those experiences to work toward a safer future? Communication is key. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we talk with four chemists who have survived accidents and shared their stories so others can learn from them.

Read the full transcript of this episode here.

Nominate a Start-Up to Watch by August 1!

Music credits:

"Pure Water" and "Interplanetary Forest" by Meydän are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

"Let That Sink In" and "We Don't Know How it Ends" by Lee Rosevere are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

"Blue Lobster" by Daniel Birch is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Image credit: Shutterstock/C&EN

In our last episode of Stereo Chemistry, we talked to chemists who had survived accidents at the bench to learn what went wrong and what lessons we could share to improve lab safety. In this episode, we’re looking at what it takes to build a culture of safety. That is, what can organizations do to let researchers know that their safety is not only valued, but expected? Hosts Jyllian Kemsley and Matt Davenport talk to experts about the importance of leadership, commitment, and education to transform lab safety from an exercise in compliance to a core element of the central science.

Find the transcript for this episode on our webiste.

Visit ACS Webinars to learn more about their excellent programming.

Music credits:

“Played by Ear” by Unheard Music Concepts is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

“Compassion (keys version),” “Let That Sink In,” and “Thought Bubbles” by Lee Rosevere are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Image credit: Shutterstock/C&EN

In the aftermath of a building fire, investigators study the scene for clues to the fire’s cause. They look for burn patterns and suspicious materials while chemists search charred debris for traces of flammable liquids. But investigating fires is not as straightforward as it once was, because investigators now know more about the complexity of how fires burn. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen explores how scientists are working to better pinpoint specific chemicals amid the chaos a fire leaves behind and how a new understanding of the chemistry and physics of fire has revolutionized the way fire scenes are interpreted.

Nominate innovative young companies for C&EN’s 10 Start-Ups to Watch feature at cenm.ag/startupnom.

A script of this episode is available on our website.

“Blonde” by Nctrnm is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Image credit: UL FSRI

The discovery of the ozone hole in the mid-1980s sent shock waves through the scientific community and society at large. As scientists scrambled to make sense of the unprecedented phenomenon, a clear culprit emerged. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—once thought of as near-miraculous compounds that revolutionized refrigeration—were suddenly revealed to be one of the biggest environmental dangers known to humankind. What followed was an international push by scientists, media, and policy makers to ban CFCs. In October 2019, NASA announced the ozone hole is the smallest recorded since 1982. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we hear from some of the scientists who were instrumental in discovering—and helping heal—the ozone hole and who think lessons learned could help us fight climate change.

A script of this episode is available here.

To read more from C&EN on hot trends in chemistry, check out our 2019 Year in Chemistry issue at cenm.ag/yic2019.

Image credit: D. Murphy/NOAA