Courses

Graduate

CHME 5621 Electrochemical Engineering

Electrochemical Engineering
CHME 5621, Northeastern University

Electrochemistry is fundamentally an interfacial science, dealing with reactions that happen between an electrode and electrolyte. At this interface, there is a nm-scale separation of charge (the double layer) and a micron-scale concentration gradient (the mass transport boundary layer). Cell performance may be limited by reaction kinetics across the double layer or transport phenomena across the boundary layer. This class is almost always about figuring out which one. Through the lens of chemical engineering fundamentals, we discuss batteries, fuel cells, electrodeposition, and the process of corrosion.

Undergraduate

CHME 2308 Conservation Principles

Conservation Principles
CHME 2308, Northeastern University

What does it mean to be a chemical engineer? This is the class where we begin to address that. It has to do with relating systems of algebraic equations to situations found in the real world. Once established, this coupling between the world and mathematics allows us to analyze processes, using two important concepts: conservation of mass and conservation of energy. What is a process? Lots of things qualify as “processes,” and that is another major topic we address.

Recent Posts

TEM of hydrated and dehydrated birnessite

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I had a reason to look at Matt Kim’s PhD dissertation, which was about synthesis of layered MnO2 birnessite compounds for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. We published his work in this paper, but at the end of his dissertation I saw this image that didn’t make it into the paper. On the left you see a regular birnessite with a 7 angstrom interlayer, and on the right you see a dehydrated version, which is smaller because it is dehydrated and the interlayer H2O is gone.

I was looking at this and I was amazed because on the left I can see the H2O molecules between the layers. On the right you see black space only. Kind of a work of art. Matt, I’m sorry I left this out of the paper. Cutting the 60 figures down into a manuscript wasn’t the most orderly process, and I really should have left this one in. 🙂

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