CoE News

LSU Engineering Leads Effort to Find Clean Energy

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu recently stated "As global energy demand grows over this century, there is an urgent need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting this challenge will require significant scientific advances."

In response to this need, LSU will be home to one of 46 new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers, or EFRCs, which will pursue advanced scientific research on energy. Of these 46, five, including LSU's, will focus on research into catalysts for energy applications. Others will examine processes such as solid state lighting and nuclear power. The centers are being established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science at universities, national laboratories and nonprofit organizations across the nation. "These centers will mobilize the enormous talents and skills of our nation's scientific workforce in pursuit of the breakthroughs that are essential to make alternative and renewable energy truly viable as large-scale replacements for fossil fuels," stated Chu.

LSU's EFRC is called "Center for Atomic-Level Catalyst Design", and is headed by Dr. James J. Spivey. It will be housed in LSU's Cain Department of Chemical Engineering and will rely heavily on LSU's own synchrotron radiation facility, the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, or CAMD, for synthesis and characterization of novel nanostructured catalysts. LSU's Center will examine new ways to use advanced computational tools to accurately model catalytic reactions, and thereby provide the basis for the new design of catalysts.

"Catalysts are critical to the development of advanced energy processes," explained Spivey. "Our research focuses on the development and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts. Because these catalysts are used in the production of virtually all organic chemicals and fuels, as well as in many environmental applications, the study of these materials is an essential element in meeting the challenges in producing clean, affordable energy." LSU's EFRC will also have a strong impact on the chemical industry, as studies show that 20 percent of the world's GNP is based on heterogeneous catalysts, amounting to approximately $5 trillion per year. Additionally 25 percent of the world's industrial output, not just chemical, depends on platinum group catalysts, with more than 90 percent of the chemical industry's output depending on heterogeneous catalysts.

The goal of the project is to develop the computational and synthesis/characterization tools needed to prepare next-generation of catalysts that are essential to our efficient energy future. Spivey stated, "When successful, scientists will be able to carry out a reaction computationally, identify an exact catalyst, synthesize it precisely, and fully characterize it. We hope this Center helps LSU become more visible to the scientific community as a leader in energy research."

Demonstrating the intellectual capital and economic impact of an idea, Spivey stated "This project brings together 21 investigators from nine institutions, and the new Center gives LSU students and faculty the opportunity to interact with researchers from other disciplines and institutions. Our goal is to advance the emerging field of computational catalysis with experimental and spectroscopic methods, like those available at LSU's CAMD synchrotron facility, to develop new materials that can help provide clean energy." Spivey also points out that researchers involved with this project will come from around the world to collaborate with LSU researchers and utilize CAMD for research applications. "Simply put, I don't believe we would have received this funding without having a resource like CAMD in our backyard," he said.

CAMD's Nanomaterials Lab, directed by Dr. Challa Kumar, will be used to synthesize novel nanomaterials to be tested as catalysts for energy applications. Kumar and other Center researchers will use the X-ray capabilities of CAMD (X-ray-absorption spectroscopes and X-ray diffraction) to characterize the atomic-level composition and structure of new materials "The beauty of nanotechnology is that it is not a discipline in itself. We interact with people of chemical engineering, biology, physics, etc. and design our nanotechnology materials to offer solutions to a number of different problems," explained Kumar. "The world of science is changing and one can not stay in a single discipline. Existing problems cannot be solved individually - we must work collaboratively - and our new Center provides the perfect opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration."

Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic Development Brooks Keel says "This is a resounding endorsement of the type of world class research being performed at LSU. The fact that LSU has cutting edge research facilities like CAMD and the Center for Computation and Technology, and outstanding research faculty like Professor Spivey and his colleagues, makes us competitive with some of the country's leading research universities and laboratories," It is also a clear statement that our students are receiving first-rate education and training opportunities from nationally recognized experts in fields of science and engineering of global importance."

Other LSU professors who are part of the LSU team include:

• Kerry Dooley, BASF Professor of Chemical Engineering
• John Flake, Associate and Cain Professor of Chemical Engineering;
• Gregory Griffin, George H. Nusloch II Professor of Chemical Engineering;
• Richard Kurtz, professor of physics;
• Ward Plummer, professor
• Phillip Sprunger, associate professor of physics and astronomy.

The DOE plans to fund LSU's EFRC at a level of $12.5 million, payable over five years. The Board of Regents is also supporting the EFRC with approximately $940,000 in additional funds. "The leadership shown by Jerry Spivey and the generous support of the Department of Energy and the Board of Regents just underscore the quality of research our university generates every single day," said LSU Chancellor Michael Martin. "Our researchers depend on external resources to supplement and advance their individual projects, but the university depends on state funding to sustain the faculty on a day-to-day basis. The payoffs for Louisiana are enormous."

The LSU EFRC will also bring together the expertise of scientists and engineers from other institutions, including:

• James G. Goodwin Jr., professor and chair of the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University
• David Bruce, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Clemson University
• D. Wayne Goodman, Robert A. Welch Chair and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M
• Susan B. Sinnott, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida
• S. R. Phillpot, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida
• A. Asthagiri, Dow Chemical Company Foundation Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida
• Tabbetha Dobbins, assistant professor of physics at Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University
• Ulrike Diebold, professor of physics at Tulane University
• David Sholl, The Michael E. Tennenbaum Family Chair & GRA Eminent Scholar for Energy Sustainability at Georgia Tech
• Ye Xu, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Krijn de Jong, chemistry professor, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
• J. H. Bitter, chemistry lecturer at Utrecht University
• P.E. de Jongh, assistant professor of chemistry at Utrecht University

The 46 EFRCs, to be funded at $2-5 million per year each for a planned initial five-year period, were selected in response to a solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in 2008, and based on a rigorous merit review process utilizing outside panels composed of scientific experts.

EFRC researchers at other centers throughout the United States will take advantage of new capabilities in nanotechnology, high-intensity light sources, neutron scattering sources, supercomputing and other advanced instrumentation, much of it developed with DOE Office of Science support over the past decade, in an effort to lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, biofuels, transportation, energy efficiency, electricity storage and transmission, clean coal and carbon capture and sequestration and nuclear energy.

Of the 46 EFRCs selected, 31 are led by universities, 12 by DOE National Laboratories, two by nonprofit organizations and one by a corporate research laboratory.

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Article by Mimi LaValle, LSU College of Engineering, 225-578-5706, mlavall@lsu.edu