September 2018
Name: Samantha Anne Lindgren
Department: Agricultural and Biological Engineering
School: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Project: The Role of Namibian Youth in the Advancement of Sustainable Energy
Research Advisor: Dr. J. Bruce Elliott-Litchfield
Globally, 3.1 billion people burn solid fuels for their household energy needs. The resulting indoor air pollution causes illnesses that lead to four million premature deaths each year, disproportionately impacting women and children. Household emissions are responsible for 25% of atmospheric black carbon, a key climate-forcing agent. Throughout low and middle-income countries, improved cookstoves and solar cookers are promoted as an efficient energy solution, yet widespread adoption remains elusive. This research will broaden our understanding of youth’s role in advancing sustainable household energy. Through household interviews, children’s attitudes about energy and their effect on household behaviors will be examined. Changes in these attitudes will be measured after children spend time at a camp focused on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.This research will be conducted in households in the Hardap region of Namibia, where nearly all rural households rely on biomass for their energy needs, and at the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust, a camp that delivers sustainability programming, including the preparation of all meals using solar and improved cookstoves. This research seeks to contribute a new perspective to the UN’s goal of increasing access to energy, extending our understanding of youth as agents of sustainable energy change.
Name: Darien MorrowPhotovoltaic solar cells turn sunlight into useable electricity. Heterojunctions within solar cells facilitate charge separation in order to generate current. Understanding and optimizing the efficiency of charge separation at the quantum mechanical level defines the future of the solar energy landscape and its impact on society.
Heterostructures of layered 2D materials facilitate ultrafast charge transfer and separation. Theoreticians have studied the mechanism of ultrafast transfer in 2D materials. Their studies predict ultrafast transfer occurs by electrons collectively sloshing back-and-forth between different layers and eventually separating from their original position. The collective/coherent nature can be more efficient than the usual stochastic/incoherent separation accomplished in regular charge separation.
My thesis work focusses on 1) developing the ultrafast probes necessary to map out ultrafast charge transfer at the quantum mechanical level, and 2) using these new probes to define synthetic strategies for maximizing the efficiency of charge separation. In order to probe heterostructures with quantum mechanical detail, I use ultrafast lasers of many different colors. The lasers excite many different quantum states which all beat against each other. The beating pattern and its dependence on the lasers’ colors and relative arrival times allow us to map out the coupling between different quantum states.
Name: Yiren ZhongLithium-sulfur batteries use lithium as the anode and low-cost sulfur as the cathode. With the chemical conversion reaction of 16Li + S8 ↔ 8Li2S, Li-S batteries can provide a theoretical specific energy (2600 Wh/kg) 5 times higher than that of current Li ion batteries. The cost effectiveness together with the high energy makes Li-S batteries an important option for future electric transportation and stationary energy storage. However, the projected high capacity has not been realized at the battery level and the performance is largely constrained by the short cycle life, which is mainly the result of polysulfide dissolution on S cathode and dendrite formation on lithium anode. The goal of this project is to develop high capacity Li-S batteries with stable cycling performance based on improved lithium and sufur chemistry. Briefly, protective materials (polysulfide traps) and additives (lithium protector) will be added to electrode and electrolyte to prevent polysulfide dissolution and increase the lithium cycling efficiency. With the joint efforts on both ends, the high capacity Li-S batteries employing stoichiometric Li and sulfur amount will thus be achieved.
If you would like to find out more about our Link Foundation Energy Fellows and projects that have been funded in the field of Energy by the Link Foundation, please visit the Link Energy Fellowship webpage at http://www.linkenergy.org/fellows/.