As the world-wide demand for energy is expected to continue to increase at a rapid rate, it is critical that improved technologies for sustainably producing, converting, and storing energy are developed. Materials are key roadblocks to improved performance in a number of important energy technologies including energy storage in batteries and supercapacitors, and energy conversion through solar cells, fuel cells, and thermoelectric devices. The University of Texas at Austin is an internationally recognized leader in the development of clean energy materials.
Associated Graduate Program Faculty
Guihua Yu
Nanostructure-enabled energy storage and conversion devices: next-generation lithium batteries, electrochemical supercapacitors, thermoelectric devices, microbial fuel cells.
Li Shi
Theory-guided synthesis and characterization of electronic, thermal, and quantum materials, including bulk crystals, low-dimensional materials, and nanocomposites for (i) heterogeneous integration of next-generation chip architectures, (ii) decarbonization of heat and fuel, thermal energy storage, thermoelectric conversion, and (iii) emerging quantum devices and hardware.
Venkat Subramanian
Model-based Battery Management System (BMS) and design of current and next-generation batteries, electrochemical engineering, nonlinear model predictive control, real-time simulation, efficient simulation of phase-field, and multiscale models, differential-algebraic equations.
Donglei Emma Fan
Investigation of innovative mechanisms and schemes to fabricate scalable 3D porous structures made of metal, insulator, semiconductor, and 2D materials for energy devices, self-powered systems, and robotics.
Yuanyue Liu
Materials theory and simulations related with electronics, optoelectronics, energy conversion and energy storage (e.g. transistors, solar cells, batteries/ supercapacitors, electro/photoelectro-catalysis), with particular interest in emerging materials such as 2D materials and topological materials.
Arumugam Manthiram
Development of low-cost, efficient materials for rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, and supercapacitors; novel chemical synthesis and processing approaches; nanomaterials and nanocomposites; fundamental understanding of structure-property-performance relationships of materials.
Discovery of next-generation energy storage materials for metal batteries (MBs), all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) and solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). Transmission electron microscopy and FIB analysis of electrochemically-driven solid-solid and liquid-solid phase transformations.
Ananth Dodabalapur
Synthesis and characterization of organic photovoltaic materials; structure-property relationships in organic photovoltaic materials.
Keith Johnston
Mesoporous nanocomposites for catalysis and energy storage; supercapacitors; batteries and fuel cells; CO2-enhanced oil recovery and sequestration using novel surfactants and nanoparticles.
Brian Korgel
Self-assembly, fabrication and characterization of nanostructures for applications in photovoltaics.
Wei Li
Materials processing and manufacturing, particularly multifunctional nanomaterials, biomaterials, and biomedical micro devices; biomedical micro devices for 3D cell culture and drug delivery, polymer nano foams and nanocomposites for multifunctional applications, nanoporous materials for energy storage, and manufacturing processes for alternative transportation energy.
Nanshu Lu
Mechanics of thin films on compliant substrates, mechanics of flexible electronics with extreme deformability and compliance, mechanics at bio-electronics interfaces, development of novel bio-integrated soft electronics for cardiac, neural and epidermal applications.
C. Buddie Mullins
Growth and characterization of films with applications in photoelectrocatalysis for the production of fuels from sunlight; discovery and characterization of electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Yaguo Wang
Ultrafast optical spectroscopy to detect and control phonon/electron dynamics in thermoelectrics, photovoltaics and interfacial systems for applications in waste-heat recovery, solar cells and batteries; thermal-physical property characterization in nano-devices.
Edward Yu
Photovoltaics.
