Premier Wynne talks to local students

This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity stories that feature Waterloo in the community.

Partnering with Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo hosted Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and members of our campus communities on Tuesday afternoon. Students had the unique opportunity to interact with Premier Wynne during a series of discussions and Q&A session.

The discussions highlighted the importance of existing community partnerships to ensure that services and supports are accessible on campus. Questions and comments from students focused on increased access to mental health services, the importance of national and international education experience, and improved access to food resources for low-income students.

The Premier’s visit to Waterloo was part of a weeklong tour focused on student engagement, the importance of establishing an educated workforce and creating opportunities for young people.   

Back to top

Where are you going to live this fall?

Waterloo may be deep in the frozen throes of winter, but Housing and Residences is already asking students to think about their living arrangements for Fall 2015.

Throughout January, Housing and Residences is hard at work preparing students to search for a place to live next fall. Programs in residences teach students about living off campus, explain strategies about searching for off-campus accommodations, and provide an overview of upper-year on-campus residence opportunities. By attending these programs, first-year students learn strategies about how to be successful as upper-year student – even if they decide to live off campus.

Since on-campus residence is guaranteed for incoming first-year students, the majority of upper-year students will be searching of a place off campus. It is important for students to remember that the Off-Campus Housing office manages a listing service, provides free lease reviews, and can help students deal with issues while living off campus.

Students can also attend the 3^rd Annual Housing Fair on Wednesday, January 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre Great Hall. At this housing fair, students will see and compare over 20 accommodation types, learn about Off-Campus Housing services, and see some on-campus options – including Waterloo Residences,  VeloCity and GreenHouse.  Students attending the Housing Fair are encouraged to swipe their WatCard at the event for their chance to win some great prizes.

Back to top

Charging ahead on next-gen car batteries

by Victoria Van Cappellen.

Lithium sulphur (Li-S) batteries can theoretically power an electric car three times further than current lithium-ion batteries for the same weight – at much lower cost.

Chemistry Professor Linda Nazar and her research team in the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo have announced a breakthrough in Li-S battery technology based on chemical process discovered 170 years ago.

This is a major step forward and brings the Li-S battery one step closer to reality,” said Nazar, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials and is a Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researcher.

Their discovery that nanosheets of manganese dioxide can maintain a rechargeable sulphur cathode helps to overcome a primary hurdle to building a Li-S battery. Their research appears in this week’s issue of Nature Communications. 

The fundamental mechanism at work is similar to the chemical process behind Wackenroder’s Solution discovered in 1845 during a golden age of German sulphur chemistry.

Nazar’s group is best known for their 2009 Nature Materials paper demonstrating the feasibility of a Li-S battery using nanomaterials. In theory, sulphur can provide a competitive cathode material to lithium cobalt oxide in current lithium-ion cells. Sulphur as a battery material is extremely abundant, relatively light, and very cheap.

Unfortunately, the sulphur cathode exhausts itself after only a few cycles because the sulphur dissolves into the electrolyte solution as it’s reduced by incoming electrons to form polysulphides.

Nazar’s group originally thought that porous carbons or graphenes could stabilize the polysulphides by physically trapping them. But in an unexpected twist, they found that the oxygenated surface of an ultrathin manganese dioxide nanosheet chemically recycles the sulphides in a two-step process involving a surface-bound intermediate, polythiosulfate.

The result is a high-performance cathode that can recharge more than 2000 cycles.

Postdoctoral research associate Xiao Liang, the lead author, and graduate students Connor Hart and Quan Pang also discovered that graphene oxide seems to work by a similar mechanism.  They are currently investigating other oxides to find the best sulphur retaining material.

BASF International Scientific Network for Electrochemistry and Batteries funded the research. The paper’s co-authors include Arnd Garsuch and Thomas Weiss of BASF.

Back to top

Thursday's notes

Winter Welcome Week continues with Clubs & Societies Days on Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre Great Hall. Representatives from some of the more than 150 student-run clubs as well as the faculty-based Student Societies will be participating in the two-day event.

Today's Winter Welcome Week highlights include the World of UWaterloo from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Student Life Centre, and the Rowdy Rodeo in the Student Life Centre's Great Hall, Lower Atrium and Bombshelter Pub from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Will there in fact be a mechanical bull to ride? Be sure to drop by the SLC and find out.

Back to top