Two research proposals in the Department of Chemistry have been selected to receive Discovery Fund awards. The funding will support electrochemistry research that could lead to improvements in the design, operation and lifetime of batteries, sensors and fuel cells and another project will explore creating an entirely new class of "triggerable" catalyst.

The Discovery Fund was established in 2018 to provide funding for innovative research in the Department of Chemistry and is generously supported by a gift from chemistry alumni Ving Lee (PhD, ‘75, Rinehart) and May Lee (PhD, ‘76, Rinehart). This marks the fifth consecutive year that the fund has supported chemistry research projects in the initial discovery phase. To offset the shrinking availability of federal and state funding for starter projects, the Chemistry Discovery Fund enables Illinois chemistry faculty to explore fresh ideas by applying for overhead-free grants for new projects.

• Professors Joaquín Rodríguez-López and Josh Vura-Weis will use the Discovery Fund support to uncover hidden chemical reactivity caused by the strong electric fields at the electrolyte/electrode interfaces of batteries and electrocatalysts. The researchers hope to achieve a fundamental understanding of molecular reactivity in the adsorbed state on electrodes, which will be critical for the design, operation, and projected lifetime of interfaces used in batteries,
  sensors, electrocatalysts, fuel cells and other technologies.

• Professor Gregory Girolami will use the Discovery Fund support to develop an entirely new class of triggerable catalyst, in which a mixture of reagents
  and catalyst remains latent for an extended time (six months to a year) until application of a trigger such as a temperature increase. Such a catalyst could be beneficial in various industrial applications, because it would not be necessary to mix the reagents, just apply the trigger.

Image

Ving and May Lee wanted to establish the Discovery Fund to help counter the downward trend in funding for discovery-based research.

• “I am a firm believer that academic discoveries need paths to monetization, some earlier versus later. As Illinois has a rich history in converting academic discoveries to practical applications, it is a pleasure to provide financial support for such opportunities.” — Ving Lee

• “For me, the Discovery Fund is to encourage and foster pioneering research, that ultimately contributes toward building and maintaining the Department to be recognized as the very best in the country.” — May Lee

Previous Discovery Fund awards

• Fourth round of Discovery Fund awards will support DNAzyme and neurodegenerative disease-related research | Chemistry at Illinois
• Third round of Discovery funding supports innovative health, environmental research projects | Chemistry at Illinois
• Round two of Discovery Fund will support research by Fout, Lu, and Rodríguez-López | Chemistry at Illinois
• First round of Chemistry Discovery Fund launches innovative projects by Burke, Jain and Mitchell | Chemistry at Illinois