Lehigh University

Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies

Energy and Environmental Research Initiative

2011 | 2009

2011 ERCG AWARDS

 

2009 ERSG AWARDS

PI Name	Department	Proposal Title
Caram, S. H.	Chemical Engineering	Mechanism of Reversible CO2 Capture by Solid Chemisorbents
Chan, H.M.	Materials Science and Engineering	Tailored Sol-Gel Coatings for Improved Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steel Alloys used in Supercritical Coal-Fired Generators
Gilchrist, J.	Chemical Engineering	Investigation of Surface Chemistry and Morphology for Development of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Harmer, M.P.	Materials Science and Engineering	Lehigh University Battery Initiative
Hatalis, M.	Electrical and Computer Engineering	Crystalline Silicon Thin Films for Solar Cells
Hwang, J.	Electrical and Computer Engineering	MEMS Generator for Harvesting Energy from the Environment without Fuel
Neti, S.	Mechanical Engineering	Cost Effective Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Dish for Thermal and Electrical Power Generation
Sahagian, D.	Earth and Enviromental Science	Energy Reduction Strategies for Home and Business
Tansu, N.	Electrical and Computer Engineering	High Efficiency (>50%) InGaN/GaN Nanostructures Solar Cells

 

1. Mechanism of Reversible CO2 Capture by Solid Chemisorbents (PI: Caram, Chemical Engineering; CoPIs: Israel Wachs, Shivaji Sircar, Chemical Engineering)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is considered to be one of the main causes of global warming, climate change and ocean acidification. Nearly 30% of CO2 emissions are contributed by commercial energy production by utilities, and there is great interest in exploring ways to mitigate carbon emissions to the atmosphere through various carbon capture and sequestration strategies. The urgent seriousness of CO2 capture is reflected by the cancellation of numerous coal-based power plants in the past few years because of their inability to guarantee this capture. As a major coal producer and consumer and CO2 emitting state, Pennsylvania has been a national leader in CO2 capture technologies. Existing technologies are wet, cumbersome amine processes, but we envision new, dry technologies based on solid sorbents that will be more economical and efficient than those currently used. This proposal describes preliminary experiments designed to demonstrate for the first time that we can relate local molecular level events on sorbents with global adsorption/desorption kinetics of CO2. Following these experiments, a larger program will develop fundamental understanding that will guide the molecular design of advanced sorbents that will be more efficient and have a longer lifetime, and eventually lead to new practical technology. These experiments are made possible by a new collaborative effort between a strong team of researchers in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry pooling resources and equipment and combining expertise in applied CO2 sorption kinetic modeling with fundamental surface science and in situ spectroscopic characterization.

 

2. Tailored Sol-gel Coatings for Improved Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steel Alloys used in Supercritical Coal-Fired Generators (PI: Chan, MSE; CoPI: John DuPont, MSE)

In order to achieve higher efficiencies, the new so-called supercritical steam power plants need to operate at higher temperatures and under more corrosive conditions. This places greater demands on the austenitic stainless steel alloys currently used in the construction of electric generating plants. It is proposed to engineer an oxide coating which will improve the oxidation and corrosion resistance of this broad class of alloy. The purpose of the coating will be to provide protection in the critical early stages of operation, as well as to promote the subsequent formation of the thermally grown oxide phase. Specific additive elements will be incorporated in the alumina coating to both achieve conversion of the coating at reduced temperature, and to slow subsequent growth of the native oxide during generator operation. The current study will focus on the commercial alloy 304 (nominally Fe-18wt%Cr-8wt%Ni), and a model alloy of the same composition processed in-house. Specimens of the alloy will be dip coated in sol-gel precursor solutions; the coatings will subsequently be converted to crystalline aluminum oxide by drying and calcining. The coated samples will then be subjected to corrosion testing under simulated sulfidizing combustion gases. The morphology and make-up of phases in both the ascoated and corrosion tested samples will be studied using SEM and TEM. The effectiveness of the coating will be evaluated as a function of coating composition to determine the optimal additive content. It is believed that the results from this study will be applicable to a broad range of high temperature alloys that are critical for newer generation power plants.

3. Investigation of Surface Chemistry and Morphology for Development of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (PIs: James Gilchrist, Mark Snyder, Chemical Engineering)

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a relatively new technology that generates electricity from solar energy via photoactive, electron-donating dyes adsorbed on porous conductive substrates submerged in an electrolyte solution. While such devices stand to provide a low-cost replacement for current semiconductor-based technologies, their viability has been plagued by limited efficiencies. The current paradigm for DSSCs uses randomly aggregated titania particles for dye supports, with the intention of maximizing surface area for dye adsorption. Yet, little progress has been made for reproducibly controlling surface chemistry, pore topology, and bulk morphology of the dye substrates, to which DSSC efficiency is believed to be sensitive. The proposed work is to determine if and how surface properties (e.g., local surface chemistry, surface curvature) influence dye adsorption and electron transfer. Dye adsorption and electron transport on surfaces of various chemistries and local curvature will be directly investigated. Our expertise allows deposition of nano-, meso, and hierarchically porous structures that we believe can enhance electron transport while maintaining a large surface area. The results of this research will be 1) elucidation of dye-surface interactions, 2) fabrication of DSSCs using our established nanoparticle and coating technologies, and 3) evaluation of DSSC performance as a function of processing parameters and surface properties. This project will leverage PI expertise in nanoscale science, enabling fabrication of LED microlens arrays and synthesis of titania and other metal oxide nanoparticles, to enhance DSSC efficiency and to, more generally, support a fruitful collaboration that brings a new technology to campus.

4. Lehigh University Battery Initiative (PI: Harmer, MSE; CoPIs: Flowers, Chemistry,Landskron, Chemistry, Jean Toulouse, Physics)

The current political and economical landscape calls for urgent measures aiming at the production of cheaper, cleaner, renewable energies. To this effect, the Government has created a number of funding scenarios under the “Recovery Act” to encourage the scientific community to pursue research in energy-related topics. This is the case of the Energy Research Seed Grants (ERSG), financed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania per request of the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority and managed internally by the Lehigh University Energy and Environmental Research Initiative. The Lehigh University Battery Initiative is an exploratory effort encompassing a newly-formed multidisciplinary team involving multiple departments as well as commercial partners, NEI and E3BV, with a strong thrust in lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries work on the principle of lithium ions being inserted or extracted from metallic oxide-conductive plates or cathodes. The rate at which lithium ions are inserted and extracted from the surface of the cathode dictates the electric power that can be generated from a battery. The scientific community has identified the slower rate of insertion and extraction of lithium as a major handicap in the technology that is hindering much-needed developments such as battery-powered vehicles. A novel understanding of atomic surface mechanisms recently developed at Lehigh University, in combination with existing expertise across the University and the leadership provided by NEI and E3BV, will offer insight into the insertion and extraction mechanisms to ultimately optimize the process and yield high-power batteries.

5. Crystalline Silicon Thin Films for Solar Cells (PI: Hatalis, ECE)

The goal of this project is to explore a new preparation method for high quality, crystalline silicon thin films for solar cell applications. The proposed technology will make it possible to produce solar cells using significantly less silicon than conventional methods and thus contribute to significant cost reduction. In the proposed process, silicon comes from a gas that thermally decomposes in a Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) reactor. The novelty of the proposed work lies in a new crystallization phase that was previously identified in our laboratory at Lehigh that results in high quality (111) oriented polycrystalline silicon having large grains with few structural defects. The high quality crystalline silicon is expected to result in significant improvement of the solar cell efficiency. The new crystalline phase was previously identified to be at ~25% of the total crystalline phase with the balance of the material to be consisted of the commonly observed (110) oriented grains that contain a lot of structural defects. This project will seek to identify the origins of the new high quality crystalline phase and to seek methods to optimize the film structural quality. Thin film solar cells will be fabricated in order to demonstrate the advantages of the new material in solar cell performance. This project will aid in adding an experimental component to a new course on solar energy that the PI has introduced in spring 2009. The research findings of this project will be used in the preparation of proposals for NSF and DOE.

6. MEMS Generator for Harvesting Energy from the Environment without Fuel (PIs: Hwang, ECE; Herman Nied, MEM; Richard Vinci, MSE)

A novel electrostatic power generator is proposed for scavenging background vibration energy without fuel. The generator will be based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) with microwatt-to-milliwatt capacity to sustain electronic devices such as iPOD and autonomous wireless sensors currently powered by disposable batteries that are toxic to the environment. For more demanding devices such as cell phones, a built-in MEMS generator will eliminate the need of external chargers, which are often left on 24/7. Similarly, many electronic appliances such as televisions do not completely shut off and such standby power can consume up to 10% of electricity in typical households. The long-term goal is to enable every integrated-circuit chip to scavenge enough power to at least sustain its standby operation. To this end, the MEMS-based electrostatic generator is ideally suited for integration on an integrated-circuit chip, because both can be fabricated by the same process. For the same reason, the MEMS generator is also expected to be low cost and to last almost indefinitely. The proposed project will catalyze a new research direction for an existing team that has been focused on radio-frequency MEMS for defense applications. The team includes a large Pennsylvania company and a small out-of-state startup for technology transfer and commercialization. The team has a track record with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is very concerned with the burden on each soldier to carry many pounds of batteries. The team will have an excellent chance to secure external funding from this and other agencies.

7. Cost Effective Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Dish for Thermal and Electrical Power Generation( PI: Sudhakar Neti, ME); CoPIs: Wojciech Misiolek, MSE, Boon S. Ooi, ECE)

CEWA Technologies, Inc. (CEWA-Tech), a Bethlehem start-up company, has developed a proprietary CSP point concentrator seven meter diameter parabolic dish that can provide approximately 32 kW of thermal power. The dish can provide heat and/or electricity at the location of a facility (such as industrial plant, distribution center, etc.) thus providing for a more efficient distributed use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology. The cost of fossil fuel energy use is projected to increase significantly due to anticipated higher demand and expected carbon taxation imposed by the Obama administration and Congress. The CSP dish technology developed by CEWA-Tech will be able to compete with other CSP technologies and coal/natural gas while providing a clean source of energy. The objective of this research and development project is to test and evaluate the specular reflectance and surface characteristics of this novel dish surface in order to prove its anticipated efficiency after simulated environmental exposure. The results of the specular reflectance testing and characterization experiments will show the feasibility of the dish surface technology and allow the development of a functional prototype to be constructed and commercialized.

 

8. Energy Reduction Strategies for Home and Business( PI: Sahagian, EES; CoPIs: Friedman, Gatewood, Holland, Wurth, EI)

As the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to alternative energies becomes increasingly pressing, the basic obstacle of the current inability of alternative sources to replace the rate of energy production from fossil fuels looms large. For climatic and other environmental reasons, there is a need to drastically reduce fossil fuel burning much sooner than the expected emergence of alternative energy sources to take its place. Consequently, it is essential to find a means to reduce energy consumption so that supply can meet demand during a transition which will involve a protracted period of technological innovation and infrastructural alteration. As such, the transition will not be possible unless energy consumption can be reduced to meet the expected near-future supply available from alternative sources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal, and nuclear (fission and fusion). Yet, there are many barriers including educational, sociological, political, regulatory, and economic that prevent reduction in home and business energy consumption. The goal of this Seed Grant is to identify these barriers, address several fundamental questions by taking simple first steps in public energy education, rental policy, and energy use choices, in order to set the stage for a more in-depth investigation with community partners in the business and green building industries. From the larger-scale project to emerge from the seed grant, it is expected that energy consumption can be reduced without adversely affecting lifestyle and economic health, so that alternative energy sources can sooner meet demand and thus enable the phase-out of fossil fuels.

9. High-Efficiency (>50%) InGaN / GaN Nanaostructures Solar Cells (PI: Tansu, ECE

; CoPI: . Coulter, ME)

High-efficiency solar photovoltaic cells have a broad impact in economy and human life, to provide efficient electrical energy generation solution. The research project addresses novel concept to achieve high-efficiency solar cells with efficiency above 50%, based on III-Nitride semiconductors. The novel device structures employs intermediate-band solar cells devices with InGaN-based quantum dots embedded in GaN matrix, forming multi-path absorption mechanisms in a single photovoltaic cells. To optimize the light collection efficiency of the solar cells, novel photonics nanostructures will be employed. The fabrication process of the photonic nanostructures will employ high-volume and scalable nano-manufacturing process, which will be applicable for low-cost solar cells applications. The understanding of carrier dynamics of quantum-dots intermediate solar cells is important in optimizing the efficiency of the device structures. The synthesis and fabrication of the proposed devices will be conducted in the facilities available in Smith Family Laboratories, as part of Center for Optical Technologies. The research progress from this program will lead to preliminary works for proposal submission to National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy programs. The seed proposed seed project will also benefited from matching grants from other federal funded programs by the PI and Co-PI. The research project will also involve close collaborations among faculty members and graduate students from multidisciplinary backgrounds of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, material science engineering, and applied physics.

 

 

 

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2009 Energy Research Seed Grants (ERSG) Awards