Strategic Seed Grant Program Announces New Round of Research in Energy Innovation

The Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin announces 12 research projects selected for funding through its 2024 Strategic Energy Seed Grant Program, covering a broad range of key research areas, from battery production and carbon capture to clean hydrogen, produced water treatment, and industrial decarbonization. The program is made possible with funding by corporate partners Bidra, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and SLB.

“The program aims to leverage UT’s extensive education and research capacity in energy to accelerate innovation and benefit society as rapidly as possible,” says Brian Korgel, director of The Energy Institute and Rashid Engineering Regents Chair Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. “The challenges are huge—global energy needs continue to grow, and securing energy supply, while alleviating energy poverty globally and dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, remains a priority. Because our industry partners can scale new technologies quickly, our collaboration helps ensure that UT’s research has an impact where it's most needed, unlocking new business opportunities for our region and beyond, and ultimately, helping to build a more resilient economy.”

Twelve teams—from The Cockrell School of Engineering, College of Natural Sciences, and Jackson School of Geosciences—were selected from 61 proposals. Funding supports graduate students and post-doctoral fellows engaging in collaborative energy research in strategic areas of interest. The results of these projects will help attract additional federal funding from initiatives focused on emerging energy technologies.

The following research projects were selected for funding in the 2024 Strategic Energy Seed Grant program:

Battery Production & Critical Minerals

• Discovery of modified phosphate solid electrolytes for all-solid-state sodium batteries, David Mitlin, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Donald Siegel, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
• Scalable tissue-inspired lithium extraction electrochemical membranes, Manish Kumar, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Venkat Ganesan, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Harekrushna Behera, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering

Carbon Capture & Storage

• De-risking carbon capture with amine solvents using high resolution mass spectrometer methods, Fred Closmann, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Pawel Misztal, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Ian Riddington, Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences     
• Increase carbon sequestration and storage by accumulation of plant root biomass and microbiomes, Z. Jeffrey Chen, Department of Molecular Biosciences, College of Natural Sciences; Thomas E. Juenger, Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Sciences
• Lab-to-field scale time-lapse seismic monitoring for carbon storage, Shuvajit Bhattacharya, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences; Hailun Ni, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences; Nicola Tisato, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences

Clean Hydrogen

• Distributed and electrified green ammonia production using plasma-catalysis, Charles B. Mullins, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences; Thomas Underwood, Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Cockrell School of Engineering; Michael Webber, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
• Enhancing the durability of electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction through strong metal-support interactions, Delia Milliron, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Joaquin Resasco, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
• Innovating green hydrogen production: synthesizing high entropy alloys via bubble printing for enhanced electrocatalytic performance, Yuebing Zheng, Texas Materials Institute and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Simon M. Humphrey, Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences         

Industrial Decarbonization

• From solar panels to sustainable concrete: development of solar waste glass pozzolan (SWAGPozz), Raissa Ferron, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Christopher Rausch, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering  
• Mitigating voltage sag disturbances for electrified industrial process loads, Surya Santoso, Chandra Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Brian Johnson, Chandra Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering

Produced Water Treatment & Reuse

• Evaluation of a novel integrated ceramic membrane/hollow fiber membrane contactor process for produced water reuse, Lynn Katz, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Frank Seibert, Center for Energy and Environmental Resources, Cockrell School of Engineering
• Technical and techno-economic analysis of produced water treatment for green and blue hydrogen production in Texas, from Vaibhav Bahadur, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering; Michael Lewis, Center for Electromechanics, Cockrell School of Engineering; Michael Webber, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering