Linda Nazar facts for kids

Linda Faye Nazar is a top scientist who works with materials to store energy. She is a professor of chemistry at the University of Waterloo in Canada. She helps create better batteries, especially for things like electric cars. Dr. Nazar showed how special materials can make lithium-sulfur batteries hold more power. She won the 2019 Chemical Institute of Canada Medal for her amazing work.

Early Life and Education

Linda Nazar loved chemistry from a young age. Her father was a scientist who also ran a jewelry business. She studied chemistry at the University of British Columbia, earning her first degree in 1978. A professor there inspired her to continue her studies.

Later, she went to the University of Toronto for her advanced degree. She completed her PhD in 1984, working with Professor Geoffrey Ozin. After her PhD, she did more research at the Exxon Research and Engineering Company. In the late 1980s, she joined the University of Waterloo. This is where she became very interested in how electricity and chemistry work together.

Research and Discoveries

Dr. Nazar works at the University of Waterloo in a field called materials chemistry. Her team designs new ways to store energy. They create special materials and tiny structures, called nanostructures, for batteries.

Making Better Batteries

Dr. Nazar's team focuses on improving lithium-sulfur batteries. They use special materials that are woven together. These materials help batteries store more energy. They also study how the shape of materials affects how well they store power. To do this, they use advanced tools like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction.

Dr. Nazar is known as a leading expert in advanced materials. She has been a Canada Research Chair since 2004. This award helps her continue her important research. In 2013, she received a large grant to study energy storage for cars.

Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries

Dr. Nazar is very interested in new types of batteries. These include sodium-ion, zinc ion, and magnesium-ion batteries. While lithium-ion batteries are common in electric cars, there are concerns about getting enough lithium.

Her early work helped create special carbon structures for battery parts. These structures made batteries work better and hold more charge. She showed that woven carbon materials could boost the power of lithium-sulfur batteries. She also found a way to create tiny carbon frameworks. These frameworks help control sulfur, making batteries store energy better and last longer.

Dr. Nazar believes that lithium-sulfur batteries could be cheaper. They could also help electric cars travel twice as far as current lithium-ion cars. Sulfur is easy to find and can replace more expensive materials in batteries.

However, sulfur can cause problems in batteries. It can dissolve and create unwanted chemicals called polysulfides. This can make batteries lose power quickly. Dr. Nazar's team found ways to fix this. They create tiny structures in the battery parts. They also use materials like manganese dioxide. This material helps stabilize the polysulfides. Batteries made with manganese dioxide can last for 2,000 charge cycles without losing much power.

She has also worked on lithium-oxygen batteries. These batteries are light and can store a lot of energy. Dr. Nazar found that if you change the liquid inside these batteries, they can last longer.

Leadership and Recognition

Dr. Nazar became a full professor at the University of Waterloo in 2016. She continues to hold a top research position there. Since 2014, she has been on the board of directors for a major international battery meeting. She also helps review articles for important science journals.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Nazar has received many awards for her contributions to science:

• 1978 Royal Society of Chemistry Undergraduate Award
• 2010 Canadian Society for Chemistry Rio Tinto Alcan Award for Electrochemistry
• 2011 International Battery Association Award
• 2011 Royal Society of Canada Fellowship
• 2012 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Distinguished Women in Chemistry
• 2013 Society of German Chemists August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann Lectureship
• 2014 Web of Science Most Highly Cited Researchers
• 2014 Thomson Reuters World's Most Influential Scientific Minds
• 2015 Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2017 University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award
• 2018 Thomson Reuters Most Highly Cited Researchers
• 2019 Chemical Institute of Canada Medal
• 2020 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
• 2022 E.W.R. Steacie Award
• 2024 The Royal Society Hughes Medal