FY21
Annual Report
www.energy.uconn.edu
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Dept. Head Message
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About The Center
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Center Goals
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Research Areas
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Industrial Partners
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Organization
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Resident Faculty
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Affiliated Faculty
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Facilities
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Instrumentation
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Articles
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Research Funding
5 Advanced Manufacturing in Energy Systems AMES Symposium Annual Event
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7 Thursday, January 7, 2021 Starts at 3:00 pm
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AMES students will present on their thesis projects
16 RESEARCH FUNDING
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MESSAGE FROM OUR DEPARTMENT HEAD
Ugur Pasaogullari, Director, C2E2 Professor of Mechanical Engineering “This past year has been different to say the least, however that did not stop the growth at the Center for Clean Energy Engineering. Academic year 2020-2021 has been a productive year for us, with more students trained, more research projects conducted with a larger faculty. C2E2 is a group of faculty, students, and researchers that work to make the world a better place by discovering new materials and designing devices and systems to enable more efficient and environmentally friendly energy conversion and storage technologies. We educate next generation of energy professionals through our research and educational programs, such as the interdisciplinary master of science degree in Advanced Manufacturing for Energy Systems. We are very proud of our collaborative culture at C2E2 and we believe the impact of our research only gets better with our internal and external collaborators.”
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ABOUT THE CENTER OUR MISSION The mission of UConn’s Center for Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2) is to become a leader in transforming science to systems; bridging the gap from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy and enabling the development of economical solutions for critical technical issues. On top of that, strive to provide guidance and leadership in solving global societal issues ranging from sustainable energy to the environment. The Center for Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2) is an interdisciplinary research center in the School of Engineering at the University of Connecticut focusing on all aspects of energy research and innovation. C2E2 currently has 23 core and 16 affiliate faculty, 2 research staff, and more than 81 graduate and 62 undergraduate students, and 6 post-doctoral scholars. C2E2 managed research of ~$5.95M in expenditures, $4.3M in new awards and submitted over $46.4M in proposals in FY21. The Center has dedicated facilities of ~35,000 sq.ft. in Depot and Storrs campuses and provides direct technical support for member faculty. The Center for Clean Energy Engineering further serves as a branch for development to deployment activities involving fundamental and applied research in clean and efficient energy systems, (from energy conversion and distributed generation technologies to utilization of fossil and non-fossil fuels to power distribution and management). Key to these activities is the utilization of foundational knowledge in the field of materials science, systems engineering, computational analysis, large scale demonstration and testing as well as training of 21st century scientists and engineers. With its expanded mission, C2E2 is in a leadership position to address and meet the emerging energy, water, and climate challenges at the national and global levels.
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GOALS We strive to provide facilities and the collaborative environment to conduct world-class research in energy and related fields. C2E2 was founded in 2002 as the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center (CGFCC), focusing primarily on fuel cells, due to Connecticut’s long history in fuel cell technology and its large industry base. The center was renamed in 2009 due to a widened scope in sustainable energy as a result of the Eminent Faculty Initiative in Sustainable Energy approved in 2007. Today, C2E2 faculty still work in our traditional areas of fuel cells and other electrochemical systems (e.g. batteries, electrolyzers) as well as in combustion, power electronics, materials for renewable energy, separations and filtration, atmospheric computations (weather and chemistry), and clean fuels. C2E2 also supports faculty in other fields such as composites and composites manufacturing and environmental resources. We continue to be the central umbrella housing and supporting the majority of the energy related activities in the School of Engineering. C2E2 has expanded in the last few years with new faculty to the university (Biyikli (ECE), Matheou (ME), Jankovic (MSE), Carbone (ME), Bliznakov (C2E2, CBE) and existing faculty who started working with C2E2 (Lu, Sung, Zhao, (ME), Wagstrom, Willis (CBE). The Center has also has expanded its facilities by acquiring space in the new Engineering and Science Building (ESB). We enable sustained growth of externally funded research in areas related to energy at the University of Connecticut by providing a collaborative research environment and maintaining shared facilities that support high quality research output. Our research outcomes are primarily measured in terms of scholarly contributions and extramural funding of research. Later sections of this report will show that C2E2 has shown consistent growth in both measurable outcomes.
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RESEARCH AREAS Advanced Energy Materials, Processes & Systems
Improving the efficiency and durability, while reducing the cost of, high and low temperature fuel cells and other power conversion.
Combustion Science and Technology
Creating novel techniques for chemical conversion of fuels, improving the quality of emissions and increasing the efficiency of existing methods of conversion.
Energy Storage and Power Management
The storage and conversion of energy obtained from fossil fuels, biofuels, fuel cells, solar, wind, and hydroelectric sources for distributed generation applications through the development of enabling technologies for the “smart grid.”
Fuels and Fuel Processing
Improving hydrogen production, catalysis, and heat integration for fuel reformation; improving waste heat recovery and reducing CO2 emissions in coal refineries; thermo-chemical and hybrid cycles; gasification and extracting energy from sources of organic material such as coal, petroleum, biofuel.
Renewable Energy and Resources
Developing innovative technologies behind solar photo catalysis, wind, and electrochemical conversion; hydroelectric and water filtration.
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PARTNERS
CT Industrial & Academic Partners:
Research Laboratory Partners:
National and International Industrial and Academic Partners:
Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney, FuelCell Energy, Skyre, Northeast Utilities, Energize Connecticut CT, Sustainable Innovations, Proton Energy Systems, Alstom Power, Habco Inc., nzymSys, PCI Energy Services LLC., DSTAR,Sonalysts Inc., Yardney WaterManagement Systems, Mystic Innovations Group, Yale University, many more.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Savannah River, National Research Council Canada, Research Center Juelich– Germany, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research Taiwan, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research India, and others.
Cadenza, Giner, Praxair, Northrop Grumman, Siemens, LG Fuel Cells, Fraunhofer, Alstom Power, Conoco Phillips, ENI, Cabot, Corning, Nissan Automotive, Toyota, Eldor, GE, Cummins, Harvard, MIT, Technion, WR Grace, UMass Amherst, WPI, Boston Univ., Univ. of Pittsburgh, Univ. of Wyoming, UC Irvine, Univ. of South Carolina, Ohio State Univ., Dalian, POSTECH, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, and many more.
Federal Agency Partners:
United State Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Army, Office of Naval Research (ONR), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Air Force, and others.
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ORGANIZATION Innovation in research and engineering is achieved through the integration of a broad foundation of experts from the engineering disciplines and the sciences. Leveraging this intellectual knowledge positions the center to impact the development and commercialization of clean and efficient energy systems. Employing the technical expertise and capabilities of the faculty, in collaboration with our external partners, enables the C2E2 to pursue research, development, and engineering across a broad platform of technology thrust areas that comprise advancing energy systems.
Ugur Pasaogullari C2E2 Director & Professor
Terry Barber-Tournaud Ed. Program Manager
Ioulia (Julia) Valla
Stoyan Blizkanov
Sheila Ciccone
Peter Menard
Amy Smith
Gary Barnes
Donna-Marie Tenneyson
Mark Biron
Associate Director (Strategic)
Administrative Support
Grants Specialist
Financial Assistant
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Associate Director (Research)
Labaratory Manager Center for Clean Energy
Labaratory Technician
Labaratory Technician
RESIDENT FACULTY C2E2 core faculty is defined as faculty with research space at C2E2 managed facilities and faculty whose research is mainly administered by C2E2.
Alex Agrios
Ali Bazzi
Necmi Biyikli
Stoyan Blizkanov
Assistant Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
Associate Director Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Francesco Carbone
Jasna Jankovic
Sally Kang
Tianfeng Lu
Associate Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering
Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering
Radenka Maric
Interium President & Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Associate Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
Assistant Professor Materials Science & Engineering
George Matheou
Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering
Jeffrey McCutcheon
Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Professor Mechanical Engineering
Mayur Ostwal
Assistant Research Professor Center for Clean Energy Engineering
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RESIDENT FACULTY CONTINUED C2E2 core faculty is defined as faculty with research space at C2E2 managed facilities and faculty whose research is mainly administered by C2E2.
Sung-Yeul Park
Ugur Pasaogullari
Alexei Poludnenko
Leslie Shor
Prabhakar Singh
Chih-Jen (Jackie) Sung
Ioulia (Julia) Valla
Kristina Wagstrom
Professor Mechanical Engineering
Associate Director & Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Brian Willis
Xinyu Zhao
Associate Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
Professor Materials Science & Engineering
C2E2 Director & Professor Mechanical Engineering
Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
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Associate Professor Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering
Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education
Assistant Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
AFFILIATED FACULTY C2E2 affiliate faculty is defined as faculty who has occasional collaboration with C2E2 core faculty as a co-PI in C2E2-affiliated grants, or who has occasional research grants administered at C2E2.
Emmanouil Anagnostou
Mehdi Anwar
Director Eversource Energy Ctr.
Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
Hadi Bozorgmanesh
Yupeng Chen
Wilson Chiu
Professor Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Jeongho Kim
Yu Lei
Anson Ma
Syam Nukavarapu
Michael Accorsi
Senior Associate Dean Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Practice School of Engineering
Associate Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering
Krishna Pattipati
Associate Professor Biomedical Engineering
Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Distinguished Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering
George Bollas
Director UTC-Institute for Advanced Systems
Yongku Cho
Associate Professor Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Ranjan Srivastava
Dept. Head & Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Steven Suib
Director Institute of Materials Science
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SHARED FACILITIES Three locations make up the research facilities for C2E2:
Engineering Science Building
C2E2
LONGLEY
There are three locations which make up the research facilities for C2E2. Longley building and the C2E2 building and the 5th floor of the new Engineering Science Building (NESB). C2E2, consisting of Longley space and the main C2E2 building located on UConn's Depot campus, has 16,000 sq.ft. of facility space that house 11 resident researchers and over 55+ students who share facility resources and equipment. These facilities consist of the Longley building and the C2E2 building on the Depot campus and the 5th floor of the new Engineering Science Building (ESB) on the main Storrs campus. C2E2 serves as a portal for energy research and education at the University of Connecticut. In its facilities, C2E2 maintains a large array of shared equipment that support research interests in renewable sources of energy and improving existing energy production methods for fossil fuels through power conversion systems. These research areas range from electrochemical devices, energy materials, power electronics, fuels and combustion, and water and the environment. The technical staff at C2E2 provide support to both students and faculty and the facilities, and are responsible for maintaining equipment, assisting with test setups, and ensuring proper safety measures are followed.
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INSTRUMENTATION Selected pieces of equipment available at the Center are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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Bruker D5005 X-ray Diffractometer FEI Quanta 250 FEG field emission scanning electron microscope Retsch PM 400 Planetary Ball Mill Automated 30 cm2 capacity Reactive Spray Deposition (RSDT System) 3 Solartron/Analyzers Systemic automation screen printer Arbin 50 W Fuel Cell Test Stand for PEM fuel cells Diablo D3163A, 5000A Real-time gas analyzer Lynntech Industries Model FCTS MTK Liquid Fuel Cell Test Stand 4 Teledyne/Scribner Associates Model 890 Fuel Cell Test Stands Avtron Freedom portable 105 kW load bank with Data Collection Capability Advanced Measurements, Inc. 6 cell 50 W solid oxide fuel cell test stand Solartron Model Chas 08, modulab 8 slot chassis, Model FRA ModuLab Varian Inc. Micro GC Netzsch STA 449 F3 Jupiter Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer Micromeritics ASAP 2020 Automatic Chemisorption Analyzer BET Ecochemie PGSTAT302N Autolab potentiostat, equipped with the BA bipotentiostat and frequency response analyzer modules. 8 High temperature furnaces of tube type Pine Instrument Analytical Rotator 4 Pine Instrument Rotating Ring Disk Electrodes – Pt, Au and glassy carbon interchangeable disks, each with Pt ring. Nicolet iS10 FT-IR Spectrometer with both transmission and ATR capability Purelab Ultra deionized water system Labconoco single user glove box MBraun single user glove box Vacuum Oven Convection Oven 1700 Degree furnaces Custom built physical vapor deposition reactor
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CENTER HIGHLIGHTS AMES SYMPOSIUM- DOE SUPPORTED In January of this year, students from the Advanced Manufacturing in Energy Systems Masters program (AMES) presented their research work to representatives from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (DOE-AMO) as well as industrial partners who attended the AMES Symposium. The symposium was a culmination of the AMES students’ hard work and research during their time in the program. This was a special event to commemorate each student’s accomplishments in their field of energy research. Subject matter largely surrounded fuel cell technologies with sub-topics such as biomimicry and catalytic layering. This program sponsored by a grant received from the DOEAMO is designed to train a new generation of advanced manufacturing engineers to fill workforce needs across industry, national laboratories, and universities. Advanced Manufacturing in Energy Systems AMES Symposium Annual Event Thursday, January 7, 2021 Starts at 3:00 pm
AMES students will present on their thesis projects
Sponsored By Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office
The guests from the Department of Energy were impressed by the student’s presentations with one DOE guest stating the symposium was “wonderful” and they “appreciate the opportunity to hear from the students and their amazing work”. Another guest stated as being “thoroughly impressed and enjoyed seeing what the students are doing”. The event was a true testament to the cutting-edge research that is being conducted at UConn’s Center for Clean Energy in the AMES Masters program. It was a rewarding experience for DOE and our industry partners to see how students’ research work is advancing new technologies and developing new ideas that impact the energy and manufacturing sectors.
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AMES SEMINAR – DR. RIPI SINGH
Presented on Purpose: The Path to a Cleaner Future C2E2 hosted Dr. Ripi Singh for a seminar on “Purpose” on a professional and personal level. The audience consisted of professors and students who are affiliated with the UConn Center for Clean Energy. The seminar reminded the audience of their purpose with questions like why did you decide to do this research? Why did you decide to work at C2E2? Dr. Singh illustrated sustainability in our lives on different segmented levels such as business, technology, society and planetary scale. Understanding the differences and how each step matters is such an integral part in taking the right step into a greener world. “There is no planet B”, as Dr. Singh zealously emphasized. Even though we have stepped into an era where there is a greater effort to focus on sustainability, Dr. Singh reminded everyone that we cannot improve until our purpose is clear and genuine.
GUEST SPEAKER DR. REZA JAVAHERDASHTI C2E2 hosted Dr. Reza Javaherdashti who presented an enriching seminar titled, “Management of Corrosion and Microbial Adhesion on Solar Panels” for UConn’s Center for Clean Energy Engineering. Dr. Javaherdashti has more than 20 years of industrial and academic experience, and he has spent more than 5,000 hours teaching others about corrosion management and microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). Dr. Javaherdashti’s seminar served as a training course to introduce the audience about corrosion and microbial adhesion on solar panels. He explained how corrosion and microbial adhesion build up over time, and how this negatively effects the efficiency of solar panels. Bacterial settlements is a serious issue and can cause up to an 11% decrease in efficiency in just 18 months. Furthermore, the annual costs of corrosion impacts all industries more than the annual costs of natural disasters, and estimated cost of losses due to soiling is $4 billion by 2022. Thankfully, researchers such as Dr. Javaherdashti have been working to find solutions, such as anti-soiling coatings for the solar panels. There are several different kinds of coatings, and they can increase energy efficiency and help mitigate the effects of corrosion and microbial adhesion.
Presented on Corrosion and Microbial Adhesion on Solar Panels
C2E2 FACULTY HONORED Several C2E2 faculty have been recognized over the past fiscal year for their accomplishments as renowned scholars and researchers. Drs. Jeffrey McCutcheon and Tianfeng Lu were inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) during the virtual 46th Annual CASE Meeting held on May 27, 2021. Dr. Radenka Maric delivered the keynote address at the meeting on behalf of UConn. Election to CASE is on the basis of scientific and engineering distinction achieved through significant contributions in theory or applications, as demonstrated by original published books and papers, patents, the pioneering of new and developing fields and innovative products, outstanding leadership of nationally recognized technical teams, and external professional awards in recognition of scientific and engineering excellence. Dr. Radenka Maric was honored in April 2021 with the prestigious faculty title of the Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor by the Office of the Provost. Candidates must excel in all three areas of research, teaching, and public engagement. Tianfeng Lu was recognized as one of the 2021 Class of Fellows for The Combustion Institute. The Combustion Institute is an educational non-profit, international, scientific and engineering society whose purpose is to promote research in combustion science.
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UCONN RESEARCHERS RECEIVE PATENT FOR DIABETES SENSING BREATHALYZER
DR. JEFFREY McCUTCHEON ADVANCES TO SEMI-FINALS IN THE NATIONAL SOLAR DESALINATION CONTEST
C2E2 researcher and vice president for researcher, Radenka Maric, and former graduate student Rishabh Jain were recently issued a patent for a breath sensor able to detect chemical compounds that are markers for various chronic diseases. Dr. Maric’s sensor array looks specifically at four breath markers that indicate diabetes, pulmonary inflammation, liver and kidney malfunction, and blood cholesterol levels. This sensor design is novel in its potential to detect multiple diseases simultaneously.
In April 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $5 million in new funding for the next round of the Solar Desalination Prize, a competition designed to accelerate the development of systems that use solar-thermal energy to purify water with very high salt content. Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon was one of eight semifinalists that will advance to the third competition phase.
While similar breathalyzer technologies exist, they can only test for single diseases. Once developed, Dr. Maric’s product will have the potential to fill a significant hole in the large market of at-home disease testing and monitoring. The invention has already been validated in a laboratory environment. The sensor array relies on a manufacturing process developed by Maric called Reactive Spray Deposition Technology (RSDT). RSDT works with inexpensive chemical reagents in the open atmosphere, thus eliminating the need for expensive device components like a vacuum or reaction chamber. This is expected to make operating costs for this invention 10-times lower than vacuumbased methods. Dr. Maric is commercializing the technology with support from tech transfer experts in UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services group.
Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon Advances To The Third Competition Phase
Dr. McCutcheon’s team will integrate a newly developed ceramic membrane technology with a solar collector system to treat high-salinity or chemically complex brines. The ceramic membranes provide thermal and chemical stability that enable them to process challenging saline waters, operate at higher temperatures than existing polymeric membranes, and be more aggressively cleaned when fouled by scaling salts and organics. The team will be developing their pilot for deployment at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Water Treatment Plant in El Paso, Texas. We support and look forward to the next phase of this competition and wish Jeff and his team much success. Should Jeff and his team advance to the fourth and final phase of the competition, he will be awarded a cash prize of $750,000 and another $100,000 voucher. The final phase teams will then build their systems, demonstrate their operation, and validate key performance metrics. DOE will determine the winner, who will receive a $1 million cash prize at the end of the competition.
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS DR. SEUNGYEON (SALLY) KANG JOINS C2E2 Dr. SeungYeon (Sally) Kang recently joined UConn as a tenuretrack Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, as well as a faculty member at UConn’s Center for Clean Energy Engineering. Dr. Kang is an accomplished scholar and valuable member of C2E2’s team. She grew up in Seoul, South Korea and moved to the United States to attend Cornell University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 2008. She moved on to graduate with her PhD in Applied Physics at Harvard University in 2014. She worked at Samsung in South Korea for 3 years before deciding to return to academia and continue her postdoctoral research at Princeton University in 2017, after which she joined the University of Connecticut.
Dr. SeungYeon (Sally) Kang
Dr. Kang’s research is on two main topics: advanced laser materials processing and energy harvesting. For advanced laser materials processing, she is especially interested in utilizing ultrafast lasers to increase efficiency in laser micromachining processes and fabricating new types of 3D structures. Dr. Kang is also exploring a new phenomenon known as piezoelectrochemistry for energy harvesting, which when simply put, involves applying mechanical energy and getting an electrochemical response such as voltage out of it. Lithium-ion battery materials are known to undergo significant mechanical deformation during charging and discharging and therefore are good candidates for studying this effect. Her previous research in lithium-ion batteries at Samsung helped her to explore the effect further. “Understanding the coupling relationship between mechanical and electrochemical energy allows us to harvest otherwise wasted forms of mechanical energy via piezoelectrochemical materials,” says Dr. Kang. She feels that while these materials can be applied to microsensors as a source of small scale clean energy in a practical sense, in the future there could be ways to have these materials embedded in wearable devices and even possibly heavy machineries with repeating motions to harvest mechanical energy and store it more efficiently. This year, she is looking forward to setting up her lab, which will be challenging with COVID-19 and equipment being delayed. She is looking forward to establishing a good research program for students to join and be able to collaborate with their peers. For Dr. Kang, the best part of performing research is that she can work with students, see them develop new ideas, and mentor them as they work on their research.
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DR. NABA KARAN JOINS C2E2 Dr. Naba Karan has recently joined UConn as an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Clean Energy for Engineering (C2E2). Dr. Karan previously worked at Alpha Inc., a small company in Yonkers, New York until March 2021. There, he focused on developing the electrochemical structure of lithium batteries, reducing the degradation of batteries, and alleviating battery failure. Dr. Karan is excited to join C2E2’s research on fuel cells as well as expand his research on lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Karan’s previous experiences make him a good fit for C2E2’s research objectives. His main focus is on continuing his lithium battery research as well as bringing in more grants and resources. He will spend the first few months, however, learning as much as he can about fuel cells so that he can contribute and maintain a collaborative experience while at C2E2. Dr. Karan is not an engineer by training. In fact, he got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry and later a PhD in Material Science and Engineering. Being able to solve problems from a multitude of different angles and avenues as well as applying different principles to them highlights what made Dr. Karan interested in the field of engineering. The need to come up with a better design and allocation of energy transition is what drives his research. Dr. Karan believes that this is inevitable in the future, and his field of research has the potential to change our world and impact our future.
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DR. NECMI BIYIKLI AND THEIR WORK Dr. Necmi Biyikli is an Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut. Before joining UConn in 2017, he was an Assistant Professor at Bilkent University, Turkey. His areas of expertise focus on atomic layer deposition (ALD), semiconductor thin films, (opto) electronic devices, nanoscale energy materials, flexible and wearable electronics, smart/ tunable materials, environmental sensing, and selective materials processing. Dr. Biyikli’s PhD was on semi-conductor materials and devices. He specifically focused on the widegap III-nitride family, which have revolutionized the lighting technology with blue LEDs and high-frequency power chips for 5G communication systems. His postdoctoral research encompassed the epitaxial growth of nitride semiconductor materials at high temperatures, typically above 1000°C. In his own independent research lab, Dr. Biyikli focused on the low-temperature synthesis of the III-nitride compounds using the emerging atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. Besides dramatically lower growth temperatures, ALD provides thickness control at the atomic scale and features near-ideal uniformity even on very high-surface area highly complex 3-D nanostructures. Dr. Biyikli’s Atomic Layer Engineering (ALEng) Lab is one of the leading plasma-ALD research groups worldwide particularly in III-nitride ALD research. If the ultimate goal of device-quality film synthesis can be achieved at low temperatures via ALD, this might trigger a huge impact in future device technologies. Another area of research Dr. Biyikli focuses on is the synthesis of oxide and metal films. This research is very applicable in real life. Metal and oxide films are very important in microelectronic chip manufacturing. Transistors are being manufactured with amazingly smaller features – nowadays reaching below 5 nm critical feature size – which requires each film to be atomically precise. Consequently, ALD has become increasingly critical for such demanding device structures to be fabricated in high volumes. Companies like Intel and Samsung are therefore investing heavily in ALD technology. ALD has also started to find attraction from other industries, particularly in energy conversion and storage. Functional nanometer-sized precision ALD coatings provide very significant performance enhancement in Li-ion, Li-air, and solid state batteries, as well as the rising star of solar cell technology: perovskite solar cells. “ALD is already very well part of our lives as all handheld devices feature billions of transistors which depend on this precision coating technology. Moreover, we most probably will see EV batteries in our cars and roof-top solar cells in our houses with many ALD layers in the next 5-10 years. Our goal is to provide leading-edge research output to both basic and applied aspects of this atomic precision manufacturing technology of the future” says Dr. Biyikli.
Dr. Biyikli enjoys investigating processes that have not yet been explored or understood. He is one of the scholars at the forefront of this specific atomic-scale materials research field. He also likes to conduct active experiments with his students rather than staying in his office. He appreciates being in the lab, especially in the Engineering Science Building. Its open lab environment provides a nice opportunity to interact with other groups. He enjoys sharing his expertise with the students, meeting with other research group members and developing research collaborations with mutual benefit.
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RESEARCH PROJECTS UCONN-TECHNION COLLABORATION DEVELOP AFFORDABLE FUEL CELL CATALYSTS
Supported by Satell UConn-Technion Global Energy Project Engineering Department
UConn researchers and collaborators at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology developed a theoretical model that will expedite the development of affordable fuel cells, a key technology for sustainable energy. Radenka Maric, UConn’s vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship; Dario Dekel from Technion’s Chemical Engineering Department; S. Pamir Alpay, UConn’s associate dean for research and industrial partnerships; and Sanjubala Sahoo, a research scientist in Alpay’s group published their findings in ACS Catalysis in February 2021. The model analyzed the electronic structure and associated functional properties of a palladium-ceria catalyst for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), a critical process in clean energy conversion.
The model determines how various materials and material combinations will interact. This theoretical knowledge will aid in the identification of ideal candidates for developing a preciousmetal-free fuel cell catalyst. Currently, fuel cell catalysts rely on precious metals like platinum or palladium. These metals are expensive and not widely available. Companies like Toyota are already manufacturing fuel cell cars on a small scale, but the cost-ineffectiveness of fuel cells has hampered widespread application.
UCONN TEAM DEVELOPS EMERGENCY VENTILATOR PROTOTYPE Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon is usually busy this time of year studying subjects like membrane separations and filtration. But the COVID-19 pandemic has changed his focus. Dr. McCutcheon led his team in developing an emergency ventilator prototype that could be easily producible by Connecticut manufacturers to help ease the anticipated shortage of the devices as the novel coronavirus continued to spread across the state. Dr. McCutcheon took a proven device and made some adjustments. The prototype uses parts are easy to manufacture. The devise is not complicated. The team devised a method to squeeze an Ambu bag in a very controlled way and can be made very quickly without a lot of cost or retooling.
Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon and his team develops an emergency ventilator prototype
“It’s an emergency, and we have to bring all our state resources to bear,” says McCutcheon. “The state flagship university is an incredible resource of talented students, professors, staff, and administrators with all kinds of skill sets. We get funding from the state, we support the state in its economic mission, and we should support the state in any crisis mission as well.”
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UCONN STEAM TREE PROJECT Meet the “STEAM Team,” a group of students and professors from various engineering departments, industrial design, biology and sociology. Their goal is to build a solar powered tree that is both functional and engaging. Jasna Jankovic, Assistant Professor of materials science and engineering, and a member of the Center for Clean Energy Engineering, applied for a STEAM grant (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) in November 2019 to get the initial idea off the ground. Dr. Jankovic partnered with Chris Sancomb, Assistant Professor of art and art history, and recruited several other faculty at UConn including Professor Cynthia Jones, Associate Professor Sung Yeul Park, and Assistant Professor Stacy Maddern to write the project proposal and assemble the rest of their team. In December 2019, the team was granted an initial $40,000 and later, an additional $8,000 to continue their work. They received the money from an internal STEAM grant from the School of Fine Arts.
A digital model of what the tree could look like once it is on campus.
The tree is intended to be over 12 feet tall and will have solar panels on its leaves that will directly power a battery within the tree. There will be power outlets for students to charge their phones and laptops, and there will also be lights underneath the tree’s leaves. Ideally, there will be modular seating around the tree to create an atmosphere of relaxation mixed with learning. The team also hopes to have a small solar-powered kiosk with an interactive technological tool to learn more about the tree. The tree will be portable so that it can be moved to different areas on campus, effectively creating a dynamic environment and giving members of the UConn community something to look forward to as we wait to see where the tree moves next.
The essence of the STEAM Tree is to bring people together across diverse disciplines and backgrounds, including students, professionals, general public and families, to learn and experience science and art in a holistic and natural way. The team hopes that the project will expand beyond just a few prototype trees to become a group of even larger trees—their end goal is to create an oasis on campus where people can have lectures or hang out with friends. This project is on track to be completed by late May or early June 2021. The tree’s debut location has not yet been decided but the team is still working with the University to find suitable locations for the tree to move between. It is estimated that the tree will be available for visits starting in September 2021, but there will likely be “test” visits held over the summer.
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RESEARCH FUNDING In the reporting period of FY17-FY21, C2E2 faculty have submitted 341 proposal with a total request of $136,993,282 from diverse sources, including federal, industry, state, and other. Of the proposals, there have been 108 awards over this 5 year period awarding $24,396,781.
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EXPENDITURES, GRANTS, & PROPOSALS This chart illustrates the expenditures for FY21 for the Center for Clean Energy Engineering. The majority of the research expenditures are attributed to research work associated with federal grants with the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and National Institute of Health.
This data represents grants awarded during FY21. This graph llustrates that 87% of the grants are with the federal agencies, 12% are with industrial partners, and the remaining 1% are with other organizations such as the American Chemical Society
This data represents proposals submitted during FY21. There were 95% of all proposals are with the federal agencies, 3% with the State of Connecticut, and the remaining 2% are with industrial partners such as Mott Corporation, LG Chem, Gradiant, Fraunhofer, Xunhe Sunshine Technology, Boehringer Ingheim Corporation, and Henkel to name a few.
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Center for Clean Energy Engineering University of Connecticut 44 Weaver Road, Unit 5233 Storrs, CT 06269-5233 Ugur Pasaogullari Director & Professor ugur.pasaogullari@uconn.edu
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Student Writers: Ben Donohue Olivia Ortegon Matthew Mancini Design: Matthew Mancini Terry Barber-Tournaud Sheila Ciccone
24 | UConn-Center for Clean Energy Engineering
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