September 2019
Name: Saket Bhargava
Department: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
School: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Project: Process Intensification of CO2 Electroreduction
Research Advisor: Dr. Paul J.A. Kenis
Electrolysis of CO2 that otherwise would be released to the atmosphere can be used to produce (intermediates for) liquid fuels and/or carbon-based chemicals. Despite lots of progress to overcome mass transfer limitations due to low solubility of CO2 in aqueous electrolytes, electrolyzer performance presently is not sufficient for scale-up to an economically feasible industrial process. Further improvements in catalyst utilization (activity per unit mass), in energy efficiency, and in durability of the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) are needed for CO2 electrolysis to become techno-economically feasible at scale.
My research seeks to maximize CO2 electroreduction catalyst utilization through a combination of electrode/reactor engineering, process design, and process intensification approaches. For example, I am developing a flow electrolyzer that can operate at higher temperatures and pressures.From a fundamental perspective, operation at higher temperature and pressure improves overall catalyst activity and utilization, and tailors the selectivity of well-known CO2 electroreduction catalysts (e.g., Cu, Au, Ag) by enhancing reaction kinetics, decreasing overpotentials (leading to better energy efficiency), and influencing product selectivity (Faradaic efficiency).
Name: Shawn A. Gregory
Department: Materials Science and Engineering
School: Georgia Institute of Technology
Project: Thermoelectric Materials for Localized Cooling and Thermal Energy Harvesting
Research Advisors: Dr. Shannon Yee
Shawn is a materials science graduate student at Georgia Tech and studies conducting polymers for energy-related applications. His work spans from fundamental physics and chemistry to device design. Specifically, his research has three interrelated project focuses.
The first research focus is on understanding how charge and heat flow in semiconducting polymers as a function of polymer chemical structure, doping, and processing. By better understanding how charge and heat flow in polymers, we can choose better materials for thermoelectric devices and controllers.
The second research focus is on using these polymers for thermoelectric devices. Thermoelectric devices interconvert electrical and thermal energies. For example, if you apply a temperature gradient to a thermoelectric device (body heat, engine heat, building heat), then the device will generate harvestable electricity. In contrast, if you apply electricity to a thermoelectric device, then one side of the device will heat up and the other side will cool down; imagine if the polymers in your textiles could be localized heater and coolers.
The third research focus is on using thermoelectric polymers to control heat flow. A significant amount of energy is lost as waste heat. Rather than attempting to harvest this heat, we are designing thermoelectric polymers to actively control heat flow.
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/.