539th Brookhaven Lecture on Wednesday, 6/18: Salt for the Earth
June 16, 2025
Get ready for a tale of two fluids, both made entirely of charged ions.
Ionic liquids have many uses in industry and advanced technologies such as batteries, supercapacitors, and microsatellite propulsion. Molten salts have important roles in emerging energy technologies, including some nuclear reactors and concentrated solar power systems.
In many applications, these fluids are exposed to intense radiation and other extreme conditions. Researchers are working to better understand what happens in those harsh environments to develop systems that are more durable and reliable.
All are invited to join James Wishart of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory when he presents the 539th Brookhaven Lecture on Wednesday, June 18. His talk, titled "Salt for the Earth: A 24-Year Adventure in Radiation and Physical Chemistry," will be held at 4 p.m. EDT. Attendees can join in two ways:
- In person at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (map) in the conference room on the second floor.
- Virtually on Zoom. Note: Additional details to connect are available here.
During his talk, Wishart will introduce ionic liquids, molten salts, and the properties that make them useful. He will then describe how capabilities at Brookhaven Lab have helped researchers learn how, in extreme conditions, these fluids behave similarly despite their compositions being so different.
CFN, where Wishart's talk will be held, is a DOE Office of Science user facility at Brookhaven Lab.
About the speaker
Wishart is a distinguished chemist at Brookhaven Lab. He is director of the Molten Salts in Extreme Environments Energy Frontier Research Center and leader of the Electron- and Photo-Induced Processes group in Brookhaven's Chemistry Division.
Wishart has organized conferences and served as guest- and co-editor of scientific journals and books. Among a number of awards and recognitions, the Polish Radiation Research Society presented him with its Maria Sklodowska-Curie Medal. DOE's Office of Science recognized him as an outstanding mentor to students.
After his time as a postdoc at Rutgers University, Wishart joined Brookhaven Lab as a staff scientist in 1987.
Wishart earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at Stanford University and bachelor's degree in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About the Brookhaven Lecture Series
The Brookhaven Lecture Series began in 1960.
In the foreword to the first lectures, Brookhaven physicist Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber wrote, "The Brookhaven Lectures, held by and for the Brookhaven staff, are meant to provide an intellectual meeting ground for all scientists of the Laboratory. In this role they serve a double purpose: they are to acquaint the listeners with new developments and ideas not only in their own field, but also in other important fields of science, and to give them a heightened awareness of the aims and potentialities of Brookhaven National Laboratory."
That tradition continues today.
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.
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