We are pleased to announce that our colleague, Xiaodong Liang, has been awarded the ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-COG) for his project: Revolutionizing Molecular Thermodynamics by Water and Electrolytes (REMOTE). This significant achievement underscores the contributions of our center and university to advancing research on molecular thermodynamics.
Thermodynamic models and theories play a pivotal role in optimizing process design, operation, and product design, as well as minimizing environmental impact and ensuring safety assessment in a wide range of disciplines. Despite significant advancements over the past decades, thermodynamic models and theories continue to face numerous challenges, particularly when dealing with water and electrolytes.
Water, on one hand, exhibits exceptional behaviors that deviate significantly from typical liquid behavior. These deviations, commonly referred to as ‘water anomalies’, include the unusual density maximum at 4°C, which vanishes at high pressures and shifts to lower temperatures with the addition of electrolytes. These anomalous properties have wide-ranging implications for various fields of human interest and have been the subject of intense scientific investigation for centuries. On the other hand, electrolyte systems are crucial in diverse applications such as energy storage, solution mining, desalination, carbon capture and sequestration, acid gas removal, ocean acidification, lithium refining, heavy metal pollution, and more. This diverse range of systems poses one of the most formidable engineering challenges for thermodynamic models and theories.
REMOTE aims to transform the formidable challenges posed by water and electrolytes in molecular thermodynamics into unique opportunities to break new ground in the construction of novel and physically sound molecular thermodynamic models and theories that are a major advancement over the state of the art, thereby deepening our fundamental understanding of the underlying physics and paving the way for a paradigm shift in molecular thermodynamics.
This ERC award highlights the significance of Xiaodong’s research and its potential impact on the field. We extend our sincere congratulations to Xiaodong on this significant achievement. This recognition underscores our commitment to pioneering research and advancing knowledge in molecular thermodynamics.