Charlotte Williams facts for kids

Charlotte Williams OBE FRS is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford. She studies how to make new catalysts. Catalysts are special substances that speed up chemical reactions. Her work involves organometallic chemistry and polymer materials. Polymers are large molecules made of many repeating units, like plastics.

Early Life and Education

Charlotte Williams studied chemistry at Imperial College London. She earned her first degree there. She then completed her PhD, which is a higher research degree. Her PhD advisors were Vernon C. Gibson and Nick Long.

Research and Career

After her PhD, Williams joined the University of Cambridge. She worked as a researcher with Andrew Bruce Holmes and Richard Friend. There, she focused on making electroactive polymers. These are polymers that can conduct electricity. Later, she moved to the University of Minnesota. She worked with Marc Hillymer and William Tollman on using zinc as a catalyst.

In 2003, Williams became a lecturer at Imperial College London. She moved up the ranks, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2007. In 2009, she became a Reader, and in 2012, a Professor. At Imperial, she created special biodegradable polymers. These polymers were made from sugar, which comes from plants. She also invented several things that were protected by patents.

In 2016, she joined Trinity College, Oxford. Her research there focuses on using metal compounds as catalysts. These catalysts help make polymers. She found catalysts that can use carbon dioxide as a raw material for plastics. This led her to start a company called Econic Technologies. This company has received a lot of money to develop these new technologies.

She also found catalysts that can make polymers from renewable sources. She developed "switchable catalysts." These catalysts can combine different building blocks to make block copolymers. She also works with Milo Shaffer at Imperial College London. They use tiny particles called nanoparticles in polymer materials. She is also part of the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

Charlotte Williams often appears in the media. She has been on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time. She also speaks at museums and festivals. In 2015, she won an award from the WISE Campaign. This award was for her eco-plastics company.

Honours and Awards

• 2021 Royal Society Fellow: This means she was chosen as a top scientist.
• 2018 Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker Otto Roelen Medal
• 2017 UK Catalysis Hub Sir John Meurig Thomas Catalysis Medal
• 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry Corday-Morgan Prize
• 2015 WISE Campaign Research Award
• 2011 Bio-Environmental Polymer Society Outstanding Young Scientist Award
• 2009 Royal Society of Chemistry Energy, Environment and Sustainability Early Career Award
• 2005 Royal Society of Chemistry Meldola Medal and Prize
• 2001 Royal Society of Chemistry Laurie Verangno Award

Williams was also given the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was in the 2020 Birthday Honours. It was for her important work in chemistry.

See also

In Spanish: Charlotte Williams para niños