August 8, 2010
By Robin Donovan

Most engineers focus on the world at a macro level; graduate students in the field begin to work at a microscale. Dr. Gerardine Botte, whose research takes engineering to the nanoscale, brings a passion for practical applications and a desire to help engineers work more efficiently.

Botte joined NQPI this year after her involvement with the group as a grant proposal collaborator. In 2008, she joined Drs. Saw-Wai Hla, Ralph Whaley and David Ingram in writing a Department of Energy proposal that would harness an unusual collaboration between engineering and physics at the nanoscale.

The resulting $30 million project drew positive reviews, but was not funded due to budget restrictions. The true outcome, Botte noted, was setting up an infrastructure for future grants collaborations. “When NSF [the National Science Foundation] has an opening for one of the subtopics, because we had so many subtopics, I just say, ‘OK, Saw, David, we have a subtopic that matches. Do you want to go for it?’” The ease of this partnership is notable; physics and engineering are on opposite ends of Ohio University’s campus.

Ultimately, Botte and her collaborators planned to extract hydrogen needed for fuel cells from wastewater through electrolysis. For example, urine could be a cheap source of ammonia, itself an excellent hydrogen carrier.

Botte is currently focusing on modeling the deposition of platinum over surfaces using electrodeposition. By predicting the way this expensive element would be deposited on a surface, less of the material would be used in the trial-and-error stages of engineering.

“Platinum is a catalyst for many processes, so that would be a significant contribution to many different fields—batteries, fuel cells, even jewelry,” Botte said. Today’s engineers have parameters, but do not know the exact quantity of materials needed. By examining the process on a nanoscale, she hopes to lower the cost of using platinum as a catalyst during an upcoming sabbatical.