CERC Summer 2021 Newsletter

CLEAN ENERGY NEWS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA / SUMMER 2021 A YEAR OF PERSEVERING

Researchers persist amid pandemic

ZOOMING HER DISSERTATION: CERC Director Dr. Yogi

Goswami, top left, smiles as Dr. Venkat Bhethanabotla, top right, releases a balloon animation in the background at the end of the successful Zoom dissertation defense of CERC researcher Kelly Osterman, bottom right.

READY TO GET TO WORK: These masked CERC

researchers are, from left, Amaury Betancourt, Krishnendu Maity, Mohammed Alhussain and Dave Young.

By CAROL BLAIR CERC Publications Editor

Despite facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, CERC researchers persevered in their pursuit of energy solutions. Strategies included building their own equipment, micro-managing lab time and collaborating via Zoom.

Maintaining momentum was particularly urgent for CERC students finishing up their degrees.

For Ph.D. candidate Amaury Betancourt, who has been researching plasmonics for enhancing photocatalysis, the key was getting in the lab as early and as much as possible before it closed down. (See details in pro-

See PERSIST Page 3

Professor’s invention donated in COVID fight

Clean Energy Research Center Director Dr. Yogi Goswami’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19 have been honored with a USF Rapid Response Grant and BioFlorida’s COVID-19 Innovation Award.

Dr. Goswami, who invented Photo-electrochemical oxidation (PECO) technology, which destroys viruses and bioaerosols in the air, was awarded an internal COVID research See INVENT Page 4

INSIDE: Learn more about the graduates’ work

KELLY OSTERMAN

Seeking flexible energy storage, Page 2

MOHAMMED ALHUSSAIN

Developing self-cleaning solar panels, Page 2

AMAURY BETANCOURT

Using plasmonics to help photocatalysts, Page 3

2021 CERC GRADUATES MOHAMMED ALHUSSAIN

KELLY OSTERMAN

NAME: Mohammed Khaleel Alhussain AGE: 28 BACKGROUND: I’m originally from Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. I was born and lived in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, before moving to Tampa, Fla., in 2017.­­ EDUCATION: I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in May 2015. I am graduating with a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from USF in May 2021.

KEY RESEARCH INTEREST: Clean energy WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS AREA? Energy is an important part of our life, but currently, the main source of energy is fossil fuels. Energy generated from fossil fuels produces greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes the air. These emissions cause a long-term effect on our health and the environment. Our responsibility is to find alternative clean energy sources that can replace the use of fossil fuels to reduce the health and environmental impact.

WHAT RESEARCH ARE YOU CONDUCTING AT CERC?: My thesis is fo-

NAME: Kelly Osterman AGE: 29 BACKGROUND: I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, but my parents moved to the Tampa Bay area when I was a baby and I’ve lived here ever since.

EDUCATION: A French immersion program at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, over the summer of 2009. Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from USF in December 2012. And now my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from USF in May 2021 KEY RESEARCH INTEREST: Nuclear/renewable integration WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS AREA? In order to reach a zero-carbon energy system, we’re probably going to need a combination of renewables and nuclear.

But both of those technologies are inflexible: Renewables only work when their resource is available (during the day or when the wind is blowing) while nuclear struggles with adjusting its output to match demand.

Energy storage can overcome both of those issues and increase their flexibility by allowing solar to produce power at night and nuclear to adjust its output.

WHAT RESEARCH ARE YOU CONDUCTING AT CERC? My dissertation focused on a hybrid thermal energy storage system that combines sensible heat storage (rocks) with latent heat storage (chloride salts) to provide low-cost, high efficiency energy storage.

I built a MATLAB model and used it to explore the charging and discharging

cused on an important challenge in using photovoltaic solar panels to harness solar energy as a renewable energy source. One of the most challenging issues is maintaining the efficiency of the PV modules due to dust and grime deposition on the panel’s protective glass cover, especially in desert, polluted, or industrial areas. This dust deposition problem decreases the efficiency of the panels and increases the operations and maintenance costs due to the need for frequent cleaning. It also results in deterioration to the panel lifetime due to scrubbing and using cleaning detergents. The research is focused on the development of self-cleaning coatings to solve this issue.

WHAT’S NEXT AFTER GRADUATION? I’m looking for a new challenge and opportunity to grow and develop my skills.

ULTIMATE GOALS PROFESSIONALLY, IN ENGINEERING OR OTHERWISE: To make the most out of any opportunity.

To learn and develop new skills. Then contribute and help others.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? The self-satisfaction of achieving my goals.

behavior of such a system at conditions suitable for the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle, a new power cycle under development that promises to increase power generation efficiency from ~ 40% now to ~ 50–55% in the future.

ULTIMATE GOALS PROFESSIONALLY: That’s a good question that I don’t really have an answer for.

Right now I just want to do something that’s helpful to the world, particularly in helping to create a sustainable energy system, but we’ll see where life takes me.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? I’ve always been good at math, science, programming, and teaching (in a small-group scenario, anyway). I want to use those skills to make life better for people in one way or another.

UPDATE: In July, Kelly began working as a Technology Solutions Technician at Epic.

2021 CERC GRADUATES AMAURY BETANCOURT

PERSIST From Page 1

NAME: Amaury Pedro Betan- days off in a row, and he let me take this time off, so I court, III, P.E. could finish the final stretch of AGE: 35 my experiments. I was able to BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION: Originally from complete my last experiments just before our lab was temMiami, Amaury earned his Bachelor’s in Chemical Engi- porarily closed. Throughout neering from the University of the pandemic, I worked from Florida in 2008, his Master’s home, which gave me more in Environmental Engineering flexibility during my breaks to chip away at my dissertation. from Florida International I also over time completed University in 2011, and his Doctorate in Chemical Engi- other analyses as needed, neering from the University of but the most important experiments were done prior to South Florida in 2021. closures.

KEY RESEARCH INTEREST: Photocatalysis and light-sensitive materials WHAT RESEARCH ARE YOU CONDUCTING AT CERC: Improving photocatalytic materials for breaking down pollutants in indoor/outdoor air DESCRIBE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT COMPLETING YOUR DOCTORATE: Great relief. It has been Dr. Yogi Goswami, left, and almost nine years since I Amaury Betancourt at Amaury’s started, with a lot of obsta- graduation. cles along the way. And a HAVE YOUR GOALS/ lot of gratitude -- I couldn’t PLANS CHANGED SINCE have done it without help YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW from my professors, especially Dr. Goswami, my family WITH CERC SPOTLIGHT IN 2019? My main goal has (sister, bro-in-law, parents, changed since then. My goal and nieces), and my friends is to find a job back in Miami (in particular Dave Young, Mohammed AlHussain, Diego to be near my parents and Guillen, Shuangming Li, Rob- family. My career goal is still ert Tufts, and Dr. Jay Bieber). similar: I want to start an environmental or clean energy WERE THERE ANY FINDbusiness of my own.

INGS THAT SURPRISED WHAT ARE SOME OF YOU? Yes, early on in my YOUR BEST MEMORIES research (2016-2018) I tried out numerous techniques for FROM CERC? I made a lot of friends at CERC. Early on, improving photocatalysts, Phil and Medhi were big influnone of which seemed to ences on me and were very work. It was with the help of helpful. All my best memories Dr. Kuhn and Dr. Venkat, in are working late night with conjunction with the continued help of Dr. Goswami, that Dave, Diego, Danny (he was here for just a semester or I stumbled upon plasmonics for enhancing photocatalysis. two), and Mo. Or coming in for a quick experiment during WHAT KIND OF IMPACT my lunch break and chatting HAS THE PANDEMIC with Tim. Or coming in after HAD ON COMPLETING YOUR RESEARCH? WHAT work and learning from the expertise of Avtar or KrishCHALLENGES AROSE, nendu.

AND HOW DID YOU MEET WHAT WAS THE IMPACT THEM? In late February OF YOUR YEARS WORK(2020), I started worrying ING AT CERC? I think it about potential closure of USF labs, as we kept hearing made me more resilient to failures and strengthened of more and more cases in my ability to continue on a the U.S.A. I worked with my project despite uncertain boss at my job (at the DEP) outcomes. and asked him for several

file at left). Kelly Osterman, who just graduated with her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, said the pandemic had a mixed impact on her research on thermal energy storage. “I was constantly worried about catching COVID myself, or worse, catching it and unknowingly spreading it to my immunocompromised (former) roommate or to my mother, who works in nursing homes. Also, the sudden shift to working from home proved difficult because of how easy it is to get distracted by my cat or roommate, and due to having less contact with my fellow researchers to bounce ideas off of.”

However, Kelly added, in some ways the pandemic helped her finish. “Because my research was entirely based on computer modeling, I benefited from the ability to use my home computer to run my simulations. I even ended up buying a new, much more powerful rig to speed my work up even further. Whereas my lab computer was able to run 1 simulation in about 45 minutes, my new one is able to run between 4 and 8 copies of the code simultaneously.

Since my dissertation ended up using data from about 100 simulations, this saved a ton of time.”

Master’s student Mohammed Alhussain said that at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester, two months before the pandemic started, his research plan was ready and he had started training on equipment at the Nanotechnology center.“But when the pandemic started, they stopped the training and closed all the labs,” Mohammed said. “I wasn’t allowed to be on campus. ... My plan was to complete my degree before the end of my scholarship by Summer 2020. I knew at this point, it wouldn’t be possible.

I was about to give up on my research because I wasn’t able to continue working, and I have to pay for the tuition and rent. After discussing my situation with my family, they supported me financially. I also got a teaching assistant job in the chemical engineer-

ing department. I spent my time during the lockdown doing more research about the topic and changing my plans to be able to finish as soon as they reopen.” In the middle of summer 2020, when the restrictions eased, he was able to get back to work.

But Mohammed still did not have access to all the equipment he needed. Then inspiration struck: He decided to build some of it. “Our lab manager Tim Mead helped me to build a dip-coater and contact angle goniometer.”

As the fall 2020 semester began, he regained access to the nanotechnology center and resumed training, so he was able to complete his work on self-cleaning solar panels and graduate with his chemical engineering master’s after the Spring 2021 semester.

Sam Wijewardane, a visiting research scholar from Sri Lanka who arrived at USF in November 2020, said “The situation here was better than what I had expected. Other members of my research group had already started their lab work and in-person meetings at that time, and they helped me a lot to adapt to the environment smoothly.”

“However,” Sam added, “other than the labs the situation in other areas of the campus and apartment was not that comfortable. Especially, I had a hard time finding the food I required and sometimes felt lonely, seeing all the unoccupied places. This in turn may have affected the research activities indirectly.’’

Diego Guillen, a chemical engineering Ph.D. candidate, also mentioned the isolation: He was working from home on computational simulations but with reduced productivity because “my resources at home are not that good.” Diego added: “Talking with lab mates and sharing ideas about solving issues help overcome shortcomings faster and develop new research ideas.

“Working from home was challenging because it was a different dynamic, and it was hard to focus on what I have to do. I tried to stick to a schedule and go for walks at night to reduce the stress of being home alone.’’

Other researchers included in the collaboration are, from left: Courtesy Professor Dr. Prasanta Biswas, PhD student Sushant Nagare, and Dr. Arash Takshi, Associate Professor, all of USF; and undergraduate research assistant Daniil Ivannikov and Dr. Scott Wallen of Lab Research, both of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland.

CERC researchers join 3-university collaboration Researchers from USF’s Clean Energy Research Center are part of a collaboration involving three universities and two countries joining to study how to improve window materials that can increase building energy efficiency.

Fifteen researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia, the University of South Florida, and Florida Polytechnic University have been collaborating on how to make Thermochromic (TC) coatings and electrochromic (EC) windows more cost effective yet still able to withstand photo degradation since they are continuously exposed to sunlight.

Polymer-based TC materials and EC windows suffer greatly under UV irradiation. These TC materials and EC active layers can also degrade when exposed to other narrow frequency bands (visible, infrared) in the solar spectrum.

The main purpose of this inter-university collaborative

University of New South Wales collaborators working on the project are, from left: Dr. Shamila Haddad, Dr. Mat Santamouris, Samira Garshasbi and Jie Feng.

Included in this photo of the Thermochromic/Electrochromic research group are, back row from left: USF researchers Abdullatif Hakami, Keon Sahebkar, Dr. Ashwini Krishnegowda, Sharan Indrakar, and Joseph Ghisu; and front row, from left, Dr. Ajeet Kaushik of Florida Polytechnic University, Dr. Lee Stefanakos of USF, and Dr. Sesha Srinivasan of Florida Polytechnic. The three professors, as well as Hakami, Krishnegowda and Indrakar, are among those who participated in the collaboration with University of New South Wales researchers.

effort is to identify these frequency bands, by carrying out experimental research and theoretical modeling, and come up with ways to prevent such degradation.

The USF Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) has also accepted an invitation to join another

international collaborative project, “Nanontechnology-based thermochromic materials for adaptive building envelopes,” led

by Professor M. Santamouris of the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Research institutions collaborating in that

project include the Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, National University of Singapore-NUS, Politechnico Di Torino (Italy), California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and Graz University of Technology (Austria).

INVENT From page 1

grant by the university to develop his plasmonic-PECO integrated wearable device that can be integrated into a mask, respirator or ventilator for protection against COVID-19.

Dr. Goswami’s patented PECO technology is approved for use in operating rooms, emergency department waiting rooms and isolation units. The devices are being utilized throughout Tampa Bay clinics to help combat COVID-19.

BioFlorida’s COVID-19 Innovation Award recognizes a Florida company that has made significant advances in the fight against COVID-19. BioFlorida, an organization that connects a network of emerging and established life science companies, universities, research institutions, hospitals, and medical centers, recognized Dr. Goswami’s Molekule air purification device.

In 2020, Molekule’s Air Pro RX device was cleared by the FDA as a possible solution to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. It is now a medical grade air purifier with FDA 510(k) class II medical device clearance for the destruction of viruses and bacteria in healthcare settings.

“Testing was conducted with an RNA virus MS2 Bacteriophage, a proxy virus to SARSCoV-2, and proved that the air filtration device successfully removed more than 99.99% of virus particles from the air,” Dr. Goswami said.

“It’s not a cure for COVID-19, but it undeniably reduces the risk of infection from the airborne virus.”

More recently, Molekule also received FDA clearance for two of its smaller devices: the Molekule Air Mini and Air Mini+, for the destruction of viruses and bacteria. And despite the challenges of developing products during a global pandemic, the company released the Molekule Air Pro device for enterprise and individual use in September, during the height of wildfire season. The company is also donating more than $1.5-million in product to small businesses working to re-open with clean air.

“Yogi’s driving focus was to bring his technology to those who need it most,” said David Conrad, Director of Technology Transfer at the University of South Florida, during the BioFlorida conference when Dr. Goswami received the Innovation award. “Several years ago, when wildfires devastated northern California and smoke inhalation problems became endemic, he donated his invention to fire stations and schools. When extreme flooding devastated Houston and caused extensive air quality problems due to mold, he donated his invention to the city’s poorest neighborhoods. And when COVID-19 struck … he donated his invention to hospitals and medical centers across Florida in desperate need of ways to keep their health professionals and patients safe.

“In many cases, these donations were personally delivered by the inventor himself, members of his family, or staff from the company he founded,” said Dr. Conrad.

Information from USF College of Engineering Writer Ryan Wakefield, the Tampa Bay Times and Bizwomen was used in this report.

CERC SPOTLIGHT

CERC FACES

SAMANTHA WIJEWARDANE, VISITING RESEARCH SCHOLAR Please welcome visiting research scholar Samantha Wijewardane to CERC. By way of introduction, we asked him to share a little about himself: BACKGROUND: I am from Sri Lanka, and I completed my Ph.D. in engineering sciences in 2012 at USF under the supervision of Dr. Goswami.

Then I worked as a postdoc at the Department of Physics at USF before going back to Sri Lanka. I joined a private campus in Sri Lanka as a senior lecturer (assistant professor) and worked there for 7 years before coming here for my sabbatical.

EDUCATION: B.Sc Engineering - University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka (1996-2001) M.Eng - University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka (2003-2005) PhD - University of South Florida (2007-2012) KEY RESEARCH INTERESTS: Solar energy applications, near-field radiation, entropy of radiation, coherence properties of radiation, nano-photonics WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS AREA? I do research at the physics/engineering interface exploring how fundamental concepts could be developed to useful engineering applications. As an example, I study the thermodynamics of nano-photonics, to enhance our knowledge on the thermally induced photonic systems, so we could utilize these systems to enhance efficiencies of energy (thermal) applications.

The inter-disciplinary nature of these researches is very challenging, and there is a lot of knowledge to explore. That’s why I like this area.

WHAT RESEARCH ARE YOU CONDUCTING AT CERC?: At CERC I am conducting research related to plasmonic applications. The plasmonic effect of noble metals can be used for various applications. At CERC we are particularly interested in enhancing the photocatalytic activity using the plasmonic effect of metal nano-particles.

ULTIMATE GOALS PROFESSIONALLY: I like to serve the world by research and development, especially in the field of energy where there is always a compromise between the energy usage and environmental impact. So the cleaner the energy we could produce the lower the environmental effects.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? The challenging energy crisis -- we need to consume energy keeping our environment clean, and energy should not be a scarcity even for people living in developing countries.

Congratulations to CERC postdoctoral researcher Krishnendu Maity on his wedding.

CERC doctoral graduate (2019) Arun Kumar Narasimhan accepted a position as Research Lead at Bert Labs in Bangalore, India. He is focusing on building energy modeling and optimization.

2019 CERC doctoral graduate Ibrahim Azad has taken a position as Transistor/Device Development Engineer at Intel Corp. Corporation in Portland, Ore.

Dr. Jotshi retires Dr. Chand Jotshi, CERC’s chief research scientist who has worked with researchers at USF since 2010, retired with a virtual celebration. His expertise is in chemical engineering and clean energy. A specially designed cake, above, and a poster signed by student, staff, and faculty colleagues, below, were delivered to his office for the celebration.

Martina Levini, visiting doctoral researcher and postdoc, 2018-2020, has taken a post-doc position at Ohio State University. She will be focusing on net zero or negative CO2 emissions and geothermal energy.

BABY NEWS

Tanvir Alam (Ph.D., 2015), holds his son, Arhaan, above; at right is Rachana Vidhi (Ph.D., 2014) with Baby Kush.

Mais AlNajjar, a student in Dr. Goswami’s solar energy class, had a baby, above, in the middle of the semester.

CERC AFFILIATE FACULTY

CLEAN ENERGY IS GREEN ENERGY Florida has no substantial indigenous supply of fossil fuels but we do have solar and biomass resources. The Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) at the University of South Florida pursues research and development of new and environmentally clean energy systems. See our website for a complete listing of our research, patents and publications: cerc.eng.usf.edu

KEY RESEARCH PROJECTS • Environmentally clean energy systems • Solar thermal power • Photovoltaics • Concentrating solar power • Energy storage (phase change materials, thermal storage, batteries, supercapacitors) • Photocatalytic detoxification/disinfection technologies • Smart materials (Thermochromics and electrochromics) • New efficient thermodynamic cycles • Solar energy conversion via rectifying antennae • Biomass conversion/biofuels • Solar water desalination and distillation • Design of solar plants on reclaimed land

CERC DIRECTORS

Dr. Yogi Goswami is a Distinguished University

Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at USF, as well as Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Solar Energy journal. A member of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, he has more than 40 years of experience in education, research, entrepreneurship, leadership and policy development. Dr. Goswami is also co-founder and Chief Science & Technology Advisor of Molekule, Inc., a company that successfully commercialized his Photoelectrochemical Oxidation (PECO) technology for air purification at the molecular level.

Contact: goswami@usf.edu Dr. Elias K. Stefanakos is a USF professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center and focuses on research and development related to renewable energy sources and systems, such as concentrated solar power systems, Smart materials (thermochromics and electrochromics), photovoltaic energy, solar charging stations, and battery testing.

Contact: estefana@usf.edu

CERC STAFF

TIM MEAD, Lab Manager and Engineer Contact: timead@ usf.edu CAROL BLAIR, Publications Editor and Administrative Assistant Contact: carol11@usf.edu

Venkat Bhethanabotla, Ph.D., Professor, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Prasanta Kumar Biswas, Ph.D., Courtesy Professor, Electrical Engineering Jeffrey Cunningham, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Jamie Chilton, Ph.D., Instructor, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Tapas Das, Ph.D., Professor, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Sarina Ergas, Ph.D., Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Lingling Fan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Chris Ferekides, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering Andrew Hoff, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering Robert E. Hooker, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Business Babu Joseph, Ph.D., Professor, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Burton Krakow, Ph.D., Retired Research Associate John Kuhn, Ph.D., Professor, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Ashok Kumar, Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical Engineering Zhuo Lu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering Zhixin Miao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Don Morel, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering Wilfrido Moreno, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering Ajit Mujumdar, Ph.D., Instructor, Mechanical Engineering Mahshid Rahnamay Naeini, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering George Nolas, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Physics George Philippidis, Ph.D., Professor, Patel College for Global Sustainability Humberto Rodriguez Gutierrez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Physics Stanley Russell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Architecture Rudy Schlaf, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering Paul Schnitzler, Ph.D., Retired Instructor II, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Arthur Snider, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Electrical Engineering.

Sesha Srinivasan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Physics, Florida Polytechnic University Mark Stewart, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Geosciences Arash Takshi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Yasin Yilmaz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering Yu Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering