An ode to electrochemistry

Catalyst with Shayle Kann · Mar 13, 2025 · 35m

Batteries were electrochemistry’s breakout hit. For years it was a field that kept a low profile, outshined by flashier cousins like biotech and computer science. That is until lithium-ion batteries became big business, showing that studying the relationship between chemicals and energy could unlock technical pathways that other disciplines could not. Now the field is making breakthroughs in critical areas like cement, metallurgy, and new battery chemistries.

So what else can electrochemistry do? Which problems is it especially good at solving?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Dr. Yet-Ming…