Researchers led by Purdue Chemical Engineering associate professor Dr. Vilas Pol have discovered how to tackle plastic landfills while improving the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries. Their process, recently published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, shows that putting sulfur-soaked plastic in a microwave, including transparent plastic bags, transforms the material into the ideal substance for increasing the life span of the forthcoming batteries to more than 200 charging-discharging cycles.

Purdue Chemical Engineering alumna Dr. Jennifer Sinclair Curtis (BSChE '83) has been awarded the 2018 Thomas and Donna Edgar CACHE Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Education from ASEE, ChED, and CACHE. The award, presented by American Society for Engineering Education, recognizes her significant contributions in the development of computer aids for chemical engineering education.

Dr. Vilas Pol, associate professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, has been named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar beginning fall 2018. The appointment will continue for a five-year term through 2023, and includes annual support for research and academic programs.

Dr. Arvind Varma, the R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, has been selected as a UC Regents' Lecturer at UCLA in the Chemical and Bioengineering department. Varma will present lectures based on his current research and education interests for two weeks during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Purdue Chemical Engineering faculty members Dr. Bryan Boudouris and Dr. David Corti partnered with researchers from the University of Notre Dame to study a membrane made up of block polymers that has customizable and uniform pore sizes needed for filtering or recovering particular substances from wastewater. The team believes a block polymer membrane could not only improve desalination and filtration of wastewater, but could also be used in forthcoming hybrid water treatment processes that simultaneously recover substances for other purposes.