Donald Sadoway
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Donald Robert Sadoway (born 7 March 1950) is
professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...
of materials chemistry at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
. He is a noted expert on batteries and has done significant research on how to improve the performance and longevity of portable power sources. In parallel, he is an expert on the extraction of metals from their ores and the inventor of molten oxide electrolysis, which has the potential to produce crude steel without the use of carbon reductant thereby totally eliminating
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...
.


Background

Sadoway was born in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. He did both his undergraduate and graduate studies at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, receiving his PhD in 1977. There he focused his studies on
chemical metallurgy Chemical metallurgy is the science of obtaining metals from their concentrates, semi products, recycled bodies and solutions, and of considering reactions of metals with an approach of disciplines belonging to chemistry. As such, it involves reacti ...
. He also served on the National Executive of the Ukrainian Canadian Students' Union (SUSK) from 1972 to 1974. In 1977, he received a
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
postdoctoral fellowship from the National Research Council of Canada and came to MIT to conduct his postdoctoral research under Julian Szekely. Sadoway joined the MIT faculty in 1978. On 19 June 2013, Sadoway was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering by the University of Toronto in recognition of his contributions to sustainable energy and sustainable metal production as well as to higher education both in curriculum and in teaching style. In 2014, Sadoway received an honorary doctorate from NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.


Research

As a researcher, Sadoway has focused on environmental ways to extract metals from their
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...
s, as well as producing more efficient batteries. His research has often been driven by the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving quality and lowering costs. He is the co-inventor of a solid
polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...
electrolyte. This material, used in his "sLimcell" has the capability of allowing batteries to offer twice as much power per kilogram as is possible in current
lithium ion A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy d ...
batteries. In August 2006, a team that he led demonstrated the feasibility of extracting iron from its ore through molten oxide
electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses Direct current, direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of c ...
. When powered exclusively by
renewable electricity Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...
, this technique has the potential to eliminate the
carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate change. The ...
that are generated through traditional methods. In 2009, Sadoway disclosed the liquid metal battery comprising liquid layers of
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...
and
antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...
separated by a layer of molten salt that could be used for stationary energy storage. Research on this concept was being funded by
ARPA-E ARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy is an agency within the United States Department of Energy tasked with funding the research and development of advanced energy technologies. The goal of the agency is to improve U.S. economic ...
and the French energy company
Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...
Staff (2012
Ambri Origins
Ambri company web page, Retrieved 6 December 2012
Experimental data showed a 69% DC-to-DC storage efficiency with good storage capacity and relatively low leakage current (self discharge). In 2010, with funding from
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
and Total, Sadoway and two others, David Bradwell and Luis Ortiz, co-founded a company called the Liquid Metal Battery Corporation (later, Ambri) in order to scale up and commercialize the technology.


Teaching

For 16 years Sadoway taught 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry at MIT, one of the largest classes at MIT. Sadoway's animated teaching style was popular with students and freshman enrollment in the course steadily increased through 2010. In the fall of 2007, the number of students registering for 3.091 reached 570 students, over half the freshman class. The largest lecture hall available on campus seats 566 students. Sadoway much preferred teaching in one of the smaller lecture halls, seating only 450; as such, the institute had to take the unprecedented step of streaming digital video of the lecture into an overflow room to accommodate all the students interested in taking the course. In contrast, most classes at MIT are relatively small with approximately 60% of classes at MIT having fewer than 20 students. The popularity of this course has reached outside of the MIT campus as a result of the
MIT OpenCourseWare MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to publish all of the educational materials from its undergraduate- and graduate-level courses online, freely and openly available to anyone, anywh ...
initiative. This is seen in a comment by
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
who told the ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...
'' "Everybody should watch chemistry lectures -- they're far better than you think. Don Sadoway, MIT -- best chemistry lessons anywhere. Unbelievable". Sadoway's lectures often included the history of science, especially with respect to the Nobel Prize. Sadoway gave out "library assignments" in which he asked students to research Nobel Prize–winning papers. He began his lectures by playing music, which has some connection with the lecture's material. For example, for the lecture on hydrogen bonding he plays Handel's ''
Water Music The ''Water Music'' (German: ''Wassermusik'') is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three Suite (music), suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to George I of Great Britain, ...
''. For one of the lectures on polymers he plays Aretha Franklin's "
Chain of Fools A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. ...
". He ended his lectures with five minutes on the topic of "chemistry and the world around us". Examples include automotive exhaust catalytic converters (technology), forensic examination of paintings (chemistry in the fine arts), the mistreatment of
Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal ...
in the quest to discover the structure of DNA (intellectual dishonesty), the metallurgical failure that sank the ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (greed and incompetence), and the clarification of champagne (viticulture).


Media recognition

On 29 February 2012, Sadoway gave a
TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...
on his invention of the liquid metal battery for grid-scale storage. The talk is as much about the inventive process as it is about the technology. Sadoway was named one of ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012 for accomplishments in energy storage as well as his approach to mentoring students (hire the novice instead of the expert). On 22 October 2012, Sadoway appeared as a guest on ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...
'' to discuss his liquid metal battery technology and his view that electrochemistry is the key to world peace (batteries usher in the electric age reducing the dependence on petroleum dropping its price thereby destabilizing dictatorships). Sadoway appeared in " MIT Gangnam Style". (27 October 2012)


See also

* John F. Elliott – MIT has a chaired professorship named after Elliott. Since 1999, Sadoway has occupied that chair.


References


External links

*
Donald Sadoway resume

Introduction to Solid State Chemistry: Course description
from OCW.Mit.edu
Don Sadoway Playlist
Appearance on WMBR's

' (radio show) 2 October 2002.
"Innovation in Energy Storage: What I Learned in 3.091 was All I Needed to Know"
lecture by Donald R. Sadoway, 5 June 2010. * *
"The missing link to renewable energy" (TED2012)
(also ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadoway, Donald 1950 births Living people American materials scientists MIT School of Engineering faculty Canadian emigrants to the United States Scientists from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Fellows of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Canadian materials scientists Solid state chemists