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Presidential Keynote Address at ACS National Meeting Presented by Angela M. Belcher

Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a section through an abalone mollusk shell.

The Presidential Keynote Address at the 237th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition was presented by Dr. Angela M. Belcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

• From nature and back again: Giving new life to materials for energy
  March 22, 2009, in Salt Lake City, Utah

Dr. Belcher's exceptional research in materials science is well represented in the CAS databases, with over 80 references to her journal articles and patents since 1994.  Much of her research stems from early studies of abalone mollusk shells and the important observation that such biological systems can direct the assembly of inorganic substances into nanostructures.¹

Dr. Belcher has since traded mollusk shells for microorganisms and has spent nearly a decade uncovering new ways to harness the unique capabilities of biological systems for the manufacture of technologically relevant nanomaterials.^2,3  In fact, a recent article from her research team describes how genetically engineered viruses can be used to assemble nanowires to improve electrode performance in lithium ion batteries:

• "Our results demonstrate that basic biological principles can be applied to the rational design and assembly of nanoscale battery components, exhibiting improved performance in properties such as specific capacity and rate capability."⁴

If you couldn't attend Dr. Belcher's Presidential Keynote Address, you can use SciFinder or STN to find detailed information about her research in the CAS databases.

Contributed by
Peter S. Carlton, Ph.D.
CAS Communications

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References

1. Belcher, A.M.; Wu, X.H.; Christensen, R.J.; Hansma, P.K.; Stucky, G.D.; Morse, D.E. Control of Crystal Phase Switching and Orientation by Soluble Mollusk-Shell Proteins. Nature 1996, 381, 56-58.
2. Whaley, S.R.; English, D.S.; Hu, E.L.; Barbara, P.F.; Belcher, A.M. Selection of Peptides with Semiconductor Binding Specificity for Directed Nanocrystal Assembly. Nature 2000, 405, 665-668.
3. Mao, C.; Solis, D.J.; Reiss, B.D.; Kottmann, S.T.; Sweeney, R.Y.; Hayhurst, A.; Georgiou, G.; Iverson, B.; Belcher, A.M. Virus-Based Toolkit for the Direct Synthesis of Magnetic and Semiconducting Nanowires. Science 2004, 303, 213-217.
4. Nam, K.T.; Kim, D.-W.; Yoo, P.J.; Chiang, C.-Y.; Meethong, N.; Hammond, P.T.; Chiang, Y.-M.; Belcher, A.M. Virus-Enabled Synthesis and Assembly of Nanowires for Lithium Ion Battery Electrodes. Science 2006, 312, 885-888.

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