(2n) Bridging Length Scales for Correlative and Data Science-Augmented Characterization of Energy Materials

The year 2021 marked the 45^th consecutive year with global temperatures rising above the 20^th century average, according to NOAA; meanwhile, the UN projects a 2 billion increase in the global population by 2050. Mitigating the impacts of a warming climate and a rising energy demand requires, in part, sustainable interconversion and storage of energy among its forms, e.g., electrical, chemical, and solar. Underpinning the transition toward a sustainable future is materials development for the active components of various energy technologies – for instance fuel and electrolysis cells, batteries, and photovoltaics – to overcome the currently unfavorable technoeconomics (e.g., platinum-based fuel cells) and limited operational lifetimes (e.g., perovskite solar cells). Examining materials to obtain structural and functional information, in a closed loop with synthesis and experimentally-informed computational screening of new candidate materials, has aided the recent step-jump in the ability to tailor structures across multiple length scales, for instance through self-assembly or additive manufacturing. In the face of evolving materials challenges, however, a reimagined paradigm is needed to accelerate the adaptive design of materials with targeted properties.

In this poster, I will discuss how a correlative and data science-augmented approach, integrating multifaceted experiments with computational science and covering over ten orders-of-magnitude, helps complete the picture in multiscale description of materials. The foundation of my group will be to illuminate the length scale-dependent mechanisms at play during operation and degradation of energy materials, by developing methods that enrich the loop between experiment and computation. We will leverage expertise in four areas: (i) kinetics and interfaces, (ii) transport and thermodynamics, (iii) three-dimensional electron and X-ray imaging, and (iv) materials informatics and data science. These areas build upon my prior work, which sought to (a) decipher the atomic-level and three-dimensional structure-property relationships of high-entropy and catalytic nanomaterials (manuscripts submitted); and (b) elucidate the kinetics of self-organization, classical and nonclassical crystallization, phase transformations, and electrocatalysis (Small 16, 1906146 (2020); Phys. Rev. Mater. 4, 063403 (2020); Sci. Rep. 9, 3381 (2019); J. Mater. Res. 34, 20 (2019); J. Catal. 345, 1 (2017)). These investigations entailed a combined experimental-computational approach utilizing atomic electron tomography experiments with real‑space structural reconstruction algorithms, machine learning-assisted in situ X-ray and electron characterization, and electrochemical measurements. Moving forward, and as the community pushes the field toward a predictive science, my group will probe the interfacial phenomena that play a determining role in the reactivity of solid-state materials for processes at the heart of sustainable energy technologies, by gaining an understanding that spans the atomic-level arrangement of the constituent nanostructures to the full device-level performance under both static and dynamic environments.

Teaching Interests:

The enthusiasm of my instructors and mentors, dating back to those at the only high school in my rural Illinois hometown, fueled my curiosity about the sciences and shaped my long-term objective to pursue a career aimed at making a positive impact in various energy technologies and train future students, scholars, and engineers. Besides tutoring and mentorship, I have been fortunate to gain teaching experience for four courses, two each during my undergraduate and graduate studies. At Illinois, I was an undergraduate teaching assistant for Principles of Chemical Engineering and worked very closely with Professor William Hammack, who has pioneered new and novel approaches to engineering education and outreach. These experiences laid a foundation for when I entered a new community as a graduate student at Michigan, where I further incorporated research-based teaching practices that I learned from education-focused workshops by the ‘Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering’. As a graduate student instructor for Separation Processes with Dr. Andrew Tadd, I sought to ensure a level playing field given the students’ varying backgrounds as well as their different learning styles by actively increasing the students’ engagement. I employed interactive methods, for instance asking the students what they would suggest as the next step of the solution to a discussion problem that we were solving in the class. I am indebted that, in their course evaluations, the students described my teaching as “enthusiastic, prepared, and accessible; an effective communicator with a bright personality that made learning a joy.” I am also thankful for receiving the department’s outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award for that academic year.

I learned that it is imperative to (i) have a clear language in exciting the students when highlighting the why behind the theory, and (ii) cement the students’ understanding from lectures and recitations through supervised, in-class problem solving. Collectively, these teaching experiences at large public institutions allowed me to interact with, and learn from, people of diverse backgrounds with different perspectives. I look forward to sharing my passion for core chemical engineering principles and the emerging neighboring fields through classroom teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I will be comfortable to teach and incorporate active learning in any core chemical engineering course, and I plan to develop two electives – inorganic nanomaterials for energy and materials informatics – that build upon the curriculum foundations. They will expose students to nucleation and growth, interfacial science, crystal structures, applied electrochemistry, and characterization techniques, as well as data science-augmented approaches to assist with the discovery of novel materials.