This chemistry prof is rewiring battery tech:
Chemistry professor Bimlesh Lochab currently became the primary Indian woman researcher to be nonappointive as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the impressive UK-dependent professional association that investigate to advance the chemical sciences. Bimlesh Lochab presently operating within the innovative field of preparing lithium-dependent batteries high green and dependable.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIB), that are what power electric vehicles and movable electronic merchandise these days, have two main problems. They'll capturing fire due to short-circuits, more charging, and electrolyte breakage. And they use harmful cobalt oxide compound.
Bimlesh Lochab’s groups, in working with Sagar Mitra, professor in the department of energy science and engineering at IIT Bombay, have improved lithium-sulphur, Li-S batteries which address this two issues. Supporting the principles of green chemistry, Li-S uses sulphur an industrial waste as an substitute to cobalt oxide, adding with cashew nutshell liquid and clove oil not dangerous and environmentally friendly bio-renewable feedstock as cathodic material a cathode is the metallic electrode through which current flows.
![]() |
Li-S batteries |
Lochab, who is professor of chemistry at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR said that - Our batteries are with more energy ability. They cannot captures fire thanks to the agro-depends cathodic material. And if they do, they tend to self-mitigate the fire. These batteries can be supported in Electric vehicles, Tech gadgets, Drones and other electronic devices.
Their study was proclaimed in August 2020, and was revealed in Netherlands-based publisher Elsevier’s scientific journal Energy Storage Materials. Lochab’s engaged with batteries began right from her college days in Delhi. She said that- I used to break the cell battery to find out what was the black electrode inside, try to correlate and ask questions. Lochab went on to try and do a BSc in chemistry in Delhi University, associatd with nursing MSc and MTech in IIT Delhi, so a DPhil in
organic chemistry in Oxford.
The chemicals she using with during her study abroad were costly. Back in India, she began to look for low costly alternatives.
Bimlesh Lochab says that - Elemental sulphur, for example, is a minimum-price petroleum industry waste. India is a main producer of cashew nuts, but the nutshell, that is a high source of cardenol that is used in the chemical industry in resins, coatings, etc is gradually thrown away. Because of it included phenolic compounds, even animals don’t eat it.
Lochab says that- It is happening in different Laboratories in India. But transporting these plans from the Laboratory to pilot scale, and then to the actual world needed more co-operation between Industry and Academia, and adequate funding by the government and others. A lot remainder to be over on this front.