Dr. Emily Pentzer, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, has been named a recipient of the 2021 Rising Star Award by the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Women Chemists Committee (WCC). Pentzer received this honor for her significant contributions to the field of polymer and materials science, for training and educating students and postdocs, and for service to the scientific community.
Pentzer’s research focuses on applying fundamental organic chemistry reactions to architect new structures for diverse energy related applications. Her group has pioneered the use of 2D particles as surfactants for nonaqueous emulsions and used this platform to encapsulate “active” liquids, such as ionic liquids and perfluorinated gases.
One of Pentzer’s current projects aims to utilize 3D printed phase change materials to include built-in heat storage for temperature regulation of existing and new infrastructures.
The products have applications in carbon dioxide uptake, solvent purification, imaging and energy storage. Her other areas of research include polymer-based optical data storage in a quaternary code, development of new polymer chemistries and 3D printing of multifunctional materials for pressure and gas sensing or thermal energy management. Her cross-disciplinary research is enhanced by collaborators across science and engineering.
“Members of my lab come from many different scientific backgrounds, which makes it fun for us to think about different ways we can approach research problems,” said Pentzer. “We are always inspired by a specific application, we then architect new structures with enhanced performance.”
The WCC Rising Star Awards occur annually and recognize up to 10 exceptional women chemists from all disciplines of chemistry. The awards were established in 2011 to help support careers in science, and is open to female ACS members working in all sectors of chemistry and chemical engineering. Applicants can be self-nominated or nominated by another individual. Recipients are required to submit an abstract outlining their research and eligibility for the award and will present a 10-minute talk highlighting their work.
An award symposium will tentatively be held on April 7, 2021 where recipients will present their talk at the annual ACS meeting.
“I was beyond excited to hear that I was selected as an ACS WCC Rising Star, and that I’ll join the impressive list of previous awardees,” said Pentzer. “I’m grateful to my current and former group members for choosing to work with me and for creating a foundation from which to grow our research successes.”