Projects

Project 1: Advancing waste-to-energy technologies with continuous membrane extractions of hydrothermal food waste oils (Advisor: Andrew Teixeira, Chemical Engineering)
A multitude of renewable technologies have emerged in recent years that break down waste streams (food, recycled paper, plastics, algae, etc.) to form carbon rich ‘bio-oils.’ However, these are distributed, modular technologies, and they need to be separated for localized upgrading. This project will test the ability of a new membrane technology to extract those valuable oils from waste streams coming off our reactors.

Project 2: Photophysics of solar energy materials (Advisor: Lyubov Titova, Ultrafast Optical and Terahertz Spectroscopy Lab, Physics)
Students will study photoconductivity and optical properties of novel solar energy materials using time-resolved THz spectroscopy (TRTS) and photoluminescence (PL) specteroscopy. Samples for this work will be fabricated by the Rao and Grimm groups. Students will become familiar with operation of an ultrafast laser source, PL spectroscopy and TRTS, a recent and powerful addition to the materials science toolbox. It is an all-optical, contact-free pump-probe technique that provides information about parameters crucial to solar energy conversion: density, mobility and lifetime of photoexcited electrons and holes.

Project 3: Reactor Engineering of Hydrothermal Carbonization and Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Food Waste to Biofuel (Advisors: Michael Timko and Geoff Thomsett, Chemical Engineering)

Hydrochar is a carbon-rich material produced by subjecting renewable feeds, including biomass and agricultural wastes, to the process of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), a thermal treatment that takes place in the presence of liquid water. Hydrochar has shown promise for many applications, including clean combustion, gas storage, catalysis, and water purification.  A major bottleneck is that the reaction network to produce hydrochar is not known, which hampers design of the HTC reactor for optimized product yields and characteristics. Students will study the HTC reaction network using a new technique being developed in Timko group, and will collaborate with students from Deskins group who will provide simulation support of reactant species and char structures.

Food waste is a significant problem in the US with over 15 million dry tons produced every year. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising technology for processing wastes with high water content to bio-oil, a renewable fuel, and bio-solid char for soil amendment or filtration. Catalysts can improve bio-oil yields and reduce the organic waste. This project will use catalysts to improve hydrothermal liquefaction. Students will learn catalyst synthesis laboratory techniques, the use of instrumentation to characterize materials and practical reaction/process engineering.

Project 4: More Efficient Photocalysts (Advisor: N. Aaron Deskins, Chemical Engineering)
The sun is an abundant, green source of energy that is largely wasted. Better ways are need to utilize sunlight. Photocatalysis is a clean way to harness the sun’s energy to drive chemical reactions. Light excites electrons in a semiconductor catalyst, and these photo-excited electrons can reduce molecules on the surface of the catalyst. Production of solar fuels or degregation of pollutant molecules are possible through photocatalysis. Efficient absorption of light and production of photo-excited electrons is necessary for photocatalysis to be economical and viable. This project will use modeling methods to simulate photo-excited electrons to better understand their character, and predict how different photocatalysts may behave. Success of the project will enable more sustainable photocatalysis.

Project 5. Materials for Photocatalysis. (Advisor: Pratap Rao, Materials Science and Engineering)
Photocatalysis is a process by which a material absorbs sunlight and uses the energy to drive a chemical reaction. Students will learn techniques to synthesize materials and evaluate them for photocatalytic processes including decontamination and purification of water.

Project 6: Balancing clean energy with environmental impacts (Advisor: Marja Bakermans, Biology and Biotechnology; Environmental and Sustainability studies)

All energy sources still have environmental impacts, even renewable energies. For example, solar fields can remove critical and diminishing habitat for grassland plant and animal species. This REU project will examine impacts of either clean energy transmission (e.g., utility towers and grids) or biomass crops on a declining migratory bird species. Two project ideas include: 1) examine movements of individuals in relation to utility infrastructure and 2) quantify types and amount of biomass sources in the landscape that are used or avoided during migration stopovers. In either option, the student will conduct local fieldwork, work with ArcGIS (or related program), and conduct primary literature research. Prior fieldwork with birds or ArcGIS experience is helpful.  (Image: www.clearwaycommunitysolar.com/)

Project 7. Metabolic Engineering of a Biodiesel Cell Factory in Saltwater (Advisor: Eric Young, Chemical Engineering)

Non-model organisms with advantageous metabolism and physiology are needed to realize biofuel cell factories, recently highlighted in a National Academies report on the Industrialization of Biology. New technologies like nanopore sequencing and new engineering tools like CRISPR-Cas9 can be combined with traditional genetic engineering to domesticate non-model organisms with biofuels potential. To this end, we are engineering a novel salt-tolerant yeast for fatty acid based biofuels production. Preliminary work in our research group has demonstrated that this yeast can be transformed with DNA and express green fluorescent protein, a key step for testing further engineering methods.

Project 8. Solution-phase-processed connecting layer and top absorbers for tandem-junction solar cells (Advisor: Ron Grimm, Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Solution phase techniques to functionalize silicon so as to produce a tandem-junction photovoltaics would greatly increase solar energy conversion efficiencies with only a modest increase in cost. We will explore sulfur-derivitized perylene molecule as connecting layers between silicon and chemical-bath-synthesized metal sulfides for tandem-junction solar cells. Students will become familiar with air-free Schlenk techniques for chemistry, surface-science characterization techniques including x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemistry.  They will use a think-test-refine approach to optimizing the solar devices.

Projects 9. Fiber optic sensor for food industry. (Advisor: Shawn Liu, Optomechanics Lab, Mechanical Engineering/Physics).

This project aims to develop a hair-sized, multiphysical sensor for continuous, in-line sensing in the drying processes for food industry and pulp & paper industry. The sensor will be fabricated on the tip of a single sub-mm-size optical fiber platform, with all power deliveries and signal readouts on the same fiber. This fiber sensor will be applied on industry pilot machines and testbeds to enable process control and improve the product quality, in addition to enhancing the energy efficiency.

Project 10. Non-Destructive evaluation of materials and products. (Advisor: Doug Petkie, Physics).

Several projects utilize the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum to study the characteristics of materials, samples, and projects. One project examines the pore structure of limestone and its ability to hold fluids, such as oil. Another project relates to mapping and monitoring the moisture content important in several manufacturing industries in which there are great costs associated with the energy it takes to dry products efficiently while maintaining high quality. This project includes the measurement and characterization of several different manufacturing products (paper, pulp, food, …) under different conditions as well as the development of a sensing/imaging platforms to improve the energy efficiencies for smart drying systems.