Ideas worth spreading

The incredible chemistry powering your smartphone

2,336,973 views |

Cathy Mulzer |

TED@DuPont

• September 2019

Ever wondered how your smartphone works? Take a journey down to the atomic level with scientist Cathy Mulzer, who reveals how almost every component of our high-powered devices exists thanks to chemists -- and not the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs that come to most people's minds. As she puts it: "Chemistry is the hero of electronic communications."

Ever wondered how your smartphone works? Take a journey down to the atomic level with scientist Cathy Mulzer, who reveals how almost every component of our high-powered devices exists thanks to chemists -- and not the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs that come to most people's minds. As she puts it: "Chemistry is the hero of electronic communications."

About the speaker

Cathy Mulzer

See speaker profile

Cathy Mulzer works on the next generation of materials for all those electronic devices you love: your phone, your TV, your electric car.

Richard K. Ulrich, William D. Brown | Wiley-IEEE Press, 2006 | Book

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In this article, learn more about DuPont as a company that lives and breathes innovation. It is this mentality that will launch us into the future to tackle some of the interconnectivity challenges discussed in my TED Talk.

DeBlase, C.R., et al. | Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013 | Article

“β-ketoenamine-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks Capable of Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage”

Hao, Q., et al. | Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018 | Article

"Confined Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Framework Thin Films within Superspreading Water Layer"

Mulzer, C.R., et al. | Macromolecules, 2016 | Article

"Moving Beyond Boron: The Emergence of New Linkage Chemistries in Covalent Organic Frameworks"

Mulzer, C.R., et al. | ACS Central Science, 2016 | Article

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About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

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