An organic chemistry with a strong background in materials science, Anna’s graduate work involved synthesizing conjugated polymers for application in field-effect transistors and light-emitting devices. She has studied the structure-morphology relationship of conjugated block copolymers and its effect on electronic/semiconductor properties. She was trained in class 100 and class 10 clean room environments on various processing techniques, and fabricated field effect transistors using photolithography involving a lift-off process. She was also trained in organic photovoltaic device fabrication and analysis

Her current work involves the synthesis of polymers that exhibit simultaneous ionic and electronic conductivity. She then uses these polymers as the binder-electrolyte material in lithium battery electrodes. Using just one material to perform all the support functions (lithium ion conduction, electronic conduction and binder) in the electrode leads to a simpler composite system, and being solution-processable, allows for easier battery assembly. The hope is that decreasing the amount of inactive materials in the electrodes could also lead to a significant improvement in the amount of energy stored in a lithium battery.

Awards

• LBNL Spot Safety Award 2013 (featured in LBNL EH&S website) for safety awareness
• Mellon College of Science Fellowship, 2004-2006
• National ranking (2nd), Chemist Licensure Examinations (Philippines), 2002
• Leticia Shahani Undergraduate Chemistry Research Award, 2002
• Philippine Geothermal Inc. Science Scholarship (National), 2000-2002