A multi-institution team of researchers led by Dr. Letian Dou, the Charles Davidson Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, has discovered a unique mechanism that explains how halide ions diffuse through stacked two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskite heterostructures. Their discovery, published in Nature Nanotechnology, may help solve the perovskite instability issues and consequently speed up their commercialization for application in common electronic devices.

Dr. Christopher N. Bowman (BSChE '88, PhD '91) has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, for development of photopolymerization reactions for adaptable polymer networks and their innovative applications.

Former Purdue Chemical Engineering faculty member Dr. Francis (Frank) Doyle has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, for insights into natural biological control systems and innovative engineering of diabetes control devices.

American Resources Corp., a next-generation and socially responsible supplier of raw materials to the new infrastructure marketplace, has engaged technology veteran William E. Smith III, a Purdue Chemical Engineering alumnus, to advance the company's goal of supplying isolated pure rare-earth elements from domestic sources using an environmentally safer method. Smith will lead the design, build and operation phase of its rare-earth element (REE) and critical mineral purification facilities using ligand-assisted displacement (LAD) chromatography technology, which was developed by Dr. Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, the Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor of Purdue Chemical Engineering. Smith earned his BS in Chemical Engineering in 1969.

Davidson School of Chemical Engineering graduate student Akriti was recently named 2020 recipient of the Arvind and Karen Varma Fellowship. Created in 2019, the Varma Fellowship supports Purdue Chemical Engineering graduate students with outstanding academic and research performance.