Dr. Gerardine G. Botte

Director of the Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory (EERL)

Professor Botte received her B.S. in chemical engineering from the Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela in 1994. After two years and a half as a process engineer with Petroquimica de Venezuela (filial of PDVSA), she returned to school, and she received her M.E. in 1998 and her Ph.D. in 2000, both in chemical engineering, from the University of South Carolina (under the direction of Dr. Ralph White). After a year and half with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Dr. Botte joined the faculty at Ohio University in 2002, where she is now an associate professor. In January 2003 she founded the Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory where she is the Director

Research Interests

Resume

Publications

Awardss

Courses Taught

Students and Post-Docs

 

 

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Botte and members of her research group are working on projects in the areas of electrochemical engineering, power sources and fuel cells, numerical methods, mathematical modeling, material science, and electro-catalysis. Their research consists in the application of chemical engineering principles to study fundamental problems associated with electrochemical technologies. They use experimental techniques combined with mathematical modeling to gain insight and understanding of electrochemical systems and to predict information required for their optimization and improvement. The work on numerical methods consists on the development of efficient subroutines to solve the equations that described the transport phenomena and thermodynamics that occur in electrochemical systems. Current research has to do with the understanding, the development, and the design of fuel cells, hydrogen generators, and advance battery systems

RESUME

Education
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Chemical Engineering, August 2000

M.E. in Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, May 1998.

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Carabobo (Venezuela), April 1994.

Professional Employment
Jul 2002-present: Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Ohio University (Athens, OH) and Director of the Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory at Ohio University. Academic, research, and service responsibilities.

Jan 2001-Jun 2002: Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, MN). Academic, research, and service duties. Academic: Taught different courses of the Chemical Engineering core curriculum (Chemical Engineering Analysis, Design of Engineering Experiments, Process Design, etc.).

Aug-Dec 2000: Post Doctoral Associate, University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC). Performed mathematical modeling of Lithium-Ion batteries. Use of multiple parameter estimation techniques to calculate kinetic parameters for the lithium intercalation reactions of anode and cathode materials, and to estimate solid diffusion coefficients and activity coefficients of these materials.

1998 to 2000: Internship, Celgard (Charlotte, NC). Performed thermal stability study of electrolytes, cathode and anode materials for secondary lithium batteries. Design of AA lithium ion batteries and other studies to develop new products for the company.

1994 to 1998: Process Engineer, Petroquimica de Venezuela (El Tablazo). Received permission for a two-year leave to perform Master of Engineering at University of South Carolina (June 1996-May 1998). Major activities performed before June 1996 include:

  • Determined the optimum operational point of the Drying System for Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) dispersion grade (August 1995). The new operational point obtained generated incomes to the company in the order of $ 1.8 million/year. The quality of the product after the change in the operational condition was the best ever-reported in 20 years of operation of the plant.

  • Developed the Quality Plan for the PVC suspension grade.

  • Developed operational procedures used for the ISO-9000 certification of the PVC suspension product.

  • Developed several programs to keep control of the conversion, mass balance and energy balance in the PVC and VCM (Vinyl Chloride Monomer) plants.

  • Performed inspection activities during annual shut down of the VCM/PVC plants.

Jan-Nov 1993: Internship, Petroquimica de Venezuela (Moron). Performed of B.S. Thesis titled: “Simulation of the Synthesis and Refrigeration Sections of the Ammonia Plant at PEQUIVEN-MORON.” The simulation was performed successfully with maximum deviations of 3% compared with real data. PRO/II (Simulation Sciences) was used. The worked received Honorific Mention from the Universidad de Carabobo as best thesis.

Aug 1992: Internship, Petroquimica de Venezuela (Moron). Characterization of the effluents from the pearling tower of the Urea Plant. Design of the Recovering System for these effluents. The characterization and the design performed allowed the recovery of 12 Ton/Day of Urea.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Gerardine G. Botte, “Batteries: Basic Principles, Technologies and Modeling”, Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry, Electrochemical Engineering, Digby D. Macdonald, editor (Submitted September, 2002).

Patents

Electro-catalyst for Oxidation of Ammonia in Alkaline Media and Its Application to Hydrogen production, Ammonia Fuel Cells, Ammonia Electrochemical Sensors, and Purification Process for Ammonia-contained Effluents, Gerardine G. Botte, Frederic Vitse, and Matt Cooper. October 10, 2003. [Provisional Patent]

Journals

  1. Gerardine G. Botte, “Modeling Volume Changes due to Lithium Intercalation in a Carbon Fiber,” Electrochim. Acta, 50, 5647-5658 (2005)
  2. Frederic Vitse, Matthew Cooper, and G. G. Botte, "On the Use of Ammonia Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production," J. Power Sources, 142, 18-26 (2005)
  3. Gerardine G. Botte and Timothy T. Bauer, “MRSST a New Method to Evaluate Thermal Stability of Electrolytes for Lithium Ion Batteries,” J. Power Sources, 119-121, 815-820 (2003).
  4. Gerardine G. Botte, Ralph E. White, and Zhengming Zhang, “Thermal Stability of LiPF6 EC:EMCElectrolyte for Lithium Ion Batteries,” J. Power Sources, 97-98, 570-575 (2001).
  5. Gerardine G. Botte, and Ralph E. White “Modeling Lithium Intercalation in a Porous Carbon Electrode,” J. Electrochem. Soc., 148, A54-A66 (2001).
  6. Gerardine G. Botte, James A. Ritter, and Ralph E. White “Comparison of the Finite Difference and Control Volume Formulation Methods for Solving Differential Equations,” Comp. Chem. Engng., 24, 2633-2654 (2000).
  7. Gerardine G. Botte, Venkat R. Subramanian, and Ralph E. White “Mathematical Modeling of Secondary Lithium Batteries,” Electrochim. Acta, 45, 2595-2609 (2000).
  8. Gerardine G. Botte, Bradley A. Johnson, and Ralph E. White “Influence of Some Design Variables on the Thermal Behavior of a Lithium-Ion Cell,” J. Electrochem. Soc., 146, 914-923 (1999).
  9. Gerardine G. Botte, Ruyu Zhang, and James A. Ritter “New Approximate Model for Nonlinear Adsorption and Concentration Dependent Surface Diffusion in a Single Particle,” Adsorption, 5, 373-380 (1999).
  10. Gerardine G. Botte, Ruyu Zhang, and James A. Ritter “On the Use of Different Parabolic Concentration Profiles for Non-linear Adsorption and Diffusion in a Single Particle,” Chem. Engng. Sci., 53, 4135-4146 (1998).

AWARDS

  1. Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Outstanding Research Paper award 2006
  2. Martin E. and Ann D. White Research Award , Ohio University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, 2006

 

COURSES TAUGHT
Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory
183 Stocker Center
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740.593.9670
botte@ohio.edu