Plasma, magnetism, and polyphosphates

Title: Plasma, magnetism, and polyphosphates

Speaker: Dr Haihui Joy Jiang; School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Australia

Abstract: Nature inspires us with how it utilizes energy: lightning strikes (plasma) cause nitrogen and water to combine to form ammonia and nitrates as fertilizers. Our team built an experimental setup to mimic lightning-induced electrochemistry, exploring the chemical origin of life as well as creating new reaction pathways via radical reactions at the air-liquid-solid interfaces. Earth’s magnetic field protects its surface from harmful solar winds based on the Lorentz effect. We utilize Lorentz forces to drive fluid dynamics, enhance mass transport, increase electrochemical production yields, and improve the performance of energy storage devices. In biology, cells use high-energy bonds between phosphate groups (e.g., in ATP) as their energy currency. In the lab, we develop zero-carbon polymers based on a phosphate backbone, as the next generation of fully circular functional materials. This talk will present plasma (air gap)-electrochemistry, magneto-electrochemistry, and polyphosphates as three innovations for a lower carbon future.

Biography: Joy completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Warr group) from the University of Sydney, developing nanomaterials and functional ionic solvents. She then did a postdoc in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Whitesides group) and Astrophysics (Sasselov group) at Harvard University, where she worked at the intersection of chemistry, materials science, and engineering, as well as exploring the chemical origin of life. Joy was awarded with the prestigious Sydney Horizon Fellowship and returned to USyd in 2024 as a lecturer and group leader in the School of Chemistry.