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Lynden Archer
Lynden Archer UCDavis.jpg
Education Stanford University (PhD, 1993; MS, 1990)
University of Southern California (BS, 1989)
Awards Member of the National Academy Engineering (2018)
Fellow of the American Physical Society (2007)
Scientific career
Fields Chemical engineering
Institutions Cornell University

Lynden A. Archer is a chemical engineer and a professor at Cornell University. He is also the Dean of Engineering there. He is recognized for his important work, becoming a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007. In 2018, he was elected into the National Academy of Engineering. Professor Archer's research focuses on special materials called polymers and hybrid materials. He uses these to create better ways to store energy, like in batteries.

Lynden Archer's Journey in Science

Early Life and School

Lynden Archer grew up in Guyana. When he was in high school, he dreamed of becoming a ceramics engineer. He earned a special scholarship to attend the University of Southern California in 1986. During his first semester, he decided to study polymers instead.

In 1989, Archer graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. He then went on to Stanford University. There, he earned his master's degree in 1990 and his PhD in chemical engineering in 1993. After finishing his studies, he worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1994.

Teaching and Leadership

Professor Archer joined the faculty at Cornell University in 2000. He is now a distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. From 2010 to 2016, he led Cornell's Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Before Cornell, he taught chemical engineering at Texas A&M University from 1994 to 1999.

Archer also directs the Cornell Energy Systems Institute. Since 2008, he has helped lead the KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability. He is also a co-director of Cornell's Center for Nanomaterials Engineering and Technology.

In 2020, Cornell announced that Archer would become the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. He is the second Black American to hold this important position.

Starting a Company

In 2011, Professor Archer and his wife, Shivaun Archer, started a technology company. It is called NOHMs Technologies Inc. The company uses his research on Nanoscale Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs). These are special materials licensed from Cornell University. NOHMs Technologies was recognized as one of C&EN’s 10 Start-Ups to Watch in 2015.

Recognitions and Awards

In 2016, Professor Archer was featured on the Here and Now radio program. Scientific American magazine also listed one of his inventions among their top 10 "World Changing Ideas" for 2016. This invention was an electrochemical cell that can capture carbon dioxide.

In 2018, Archer was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This was for his important work on new materials and better ways to store energy.

Lynden Archer's Research

Professor Archer's research focuses on how polymers and hybrid materials work. He studies how they can be used for energy storage and carbon capture. His work helps make batteries better and more efficient.

Improving Battery Electrolytes

Archer found that adding certain salts to liquid electrolytes in lithium batteries can help. These salts create a special coating on the battery's inside parts, called anodes. This coating stops tiny tree-like structures, called dendrites, from growing. Dendrites can make batteries perform poorly or even overheat.

His team discovered that adding tin to an electrolyte creates a thin layer that protects the anode. This layer stops dendrites from forming. A lithium battery with this tin layer lasted over 500 hours, much longer than batteries without it. This method also worked for cheaper sodium batteries, making them last over 1,700 hours.

Archer also found another way to stop dendrites. He added large polymers to the liquid electrolyte. This made the liquid thicker and prevented the flow patterns that help dendrites grow. He also explored turning the liquid electrolyte into a solid inside the battery. This can improve how well the electrolyte touches the battery parts.

Better Battery Membranes

Another way Archer stops dendrite growth is by using a special porous membrane. This membrane has tiny holes and stops dendrites from forming inside the lithium electrode. These membranes are made from special materials that are strong but still allow the liquid electrolyte to flow through. The tiny, winding paths in the membrane make it harder for ions to travel, which helps the battery last longer.

Archer also studied how to attach negatively charged particles (anions) to the membrane. This makes the battery more stable, especially when using reactive metals as electrodes. It helps prevent problems that can lead to dendrite growth and battery failure. This method can be used in lithium, sodium, or aluminum batteries.

New Anode Materials

Professor Archer has explored using different materials for battery anodes, like aluminum. He found a way to treat aluminum films to prevent a layer of aluminum oxide from forming. This oxide layer usually stops electricity from flowing. By coating the aluminum with a special liquid, existing oxide is removed, and new oxide is prevented.

His research also found a way to make a low-cost zinc-anode battery. By growing zinc on graphene, they created a very stable way to store energy.

Archer has also studied special electrochemical cells that can both capture carbon dioxide and produce electricity. These devices use an aluminum foil anode and a porous cathode. They can generate electricity while turning carbon dioxide into other useful materials.

Awards and Honors

  • 1995: 3M Company Non-Tenured Faculty Award
  • 1996: NSF CAREER Award
  • 2007: Fellow of the American Physical Society
  • 2012: Distinguished Mork Family Department Alumnus Award, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
  • 2013: National Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research, Award for Special Creativity
  • 2014: American Institute of Chemical Engineers Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Award
  • 2018: Member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • 2019: Highly Cited Researcher by Web of Science
  • 2020: Fellow of the Society of Rheology
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