Bill Easter has made a career of turning waste and recycled domestic resources to performance materials that are green, sustainable, and cost competitive. The Semplastics, X-BATT and X-Mat founder was recently rewarded for that work by the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society as their 2022 Outstanding Entrepreneur.
The Outstanding Entrepreneur Award recognizes contributions of chemist, chemical engineers, consultants, or businesses that expand the chemical enterprise in the private sector and create opportunities for chemists and chemical engineers in Central Florida. “It is a true honor to be recognized by the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society,” Easter said. “The award is a reflection of the amazing team I am a part of and the revolutionary work we have accomplished and continue to work on to make a lasting impact on the society.”
The Orlando Section awards program covers seven counties in the Central Florida area and recognizes individuals and companies that enhance the American Chemical Society’s mission of advancing the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. Easter was nominated for his company’s efforts to improve the future of society by bringing solutions to performance materials, carbon capture and the recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries.
This is the latest in a series of honors and wins for Easter and his companies in 2022. Most recently X-BATT won the Voltage Award from the Battery Innovation Center. Earlier this year the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) awarded Semplastics a $1 Million contract to produce polymer derived ceramic composite anodes using coal as a carbon source for lithium-ion batteries.
The company has discovered that adding a carbon source, such as coal, to the PDC material offers stability and normalizes charge/discharge behavior, improving cycling life and decreasing nominal voltage. In addition, X-MAT a subsidiary company of Semplastics X-MAT® was awarded a follow-on contract from the NETL to continue the research and development of its high-strength, lightweight building materials made using domestic coal waste. Easter was honored at an event on Saturday, December 3.