After a national search, Laura Taylor has been appointed director of the Energy Policy and Innovation Center (EPICenter) within the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), effective Nov. 1. 

“We are very excited to build on the existing strength of EPICenter, moving it toward recognition as a top ten energy think tank and a major recruiting draw for new faculty in the IAC and across the university,” said Christine Conwell, interim executive director of SEI. “We hope Laura’s leadership will help launch a new era for EPICenter and strengthen its support of the outstanding faculty and students conducting rigorous energy policy research across campus.”

"I’m thrilled to join EPICenter and the SEI leadership team,” said Taylor. “Thanks to our home within the No. 1 public university in the country for energy research, EPICenter is uniquely positioned to lead applied energy policy research and engagement in the Southeast, helping to drive Georgia and our region forward as a national leader in innovation and policy for a sustainable energy future.”

During Taylor’s time as chair, the School of Economics doubled its faculty with 19 new faculty members, and the number of students pursuing a major in economics increased by more than 50%. Economics also expanded its teaching and research in several areas including health, energy, environment, globalization, theory, and data analytics. The School’s bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. programs achieved federal STEM designation in 2019, reflecting the curriculum’s tech-centered approach to liberal arts education and emphasis on using mathematical and statistical models. The School’s undergraduate economics program ranked No. 1 among public universities in Georgia and No. 21 among public universities nationally in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

“It’s been an amazing six years working with the exceptional students, faculty and staff in the School of Economics. I look forward to continuing to contribute to the School in new ways while leading EPICenter,” added Taylor. 

Haizheng Li, professor and the School’s current associate chair, will serve as interim chair of the School of Economics beginning Nov. 1. Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts expects to launch an international search for the new chair of the School of Economics in academic year 2025-2026, after the College’s new dean is appointed.

“The School of Economics has thrived and grown under Dr. Taylor’s outstanding leadership,” said Richard Utz, interim dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “The School is very fortunate to have benefited from her guidance. I am confident Dr. Li will keep that momentum going and will help the school effectively navigate the leadership transition.”

Taylor has 30 years of experience in research, outreach, and policy engagement in the Southeast. Her work uses economic tools to improve environmental and energy systems management and policy. She also has research and policy experience focused on the intersection of energy systems and human health, water resource management, and land use. She has held numerous advisory board positions and is an elected fellow and past president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. 

Taylor’s research has received funding from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Interior, and the National Science Foundation. 

About EPICenter

The mission of the Energy, Policy, and Innovation Center is to conduct rigorous studies and deliver high impact insights that address critical regional, national, and global energy issues from a Southeastern U.S. perspective. EPICenter is pioneering a holistic approach that calls upon multidisciplinary expertise to engage the public on the issues that emerge as the energy transformation unfolds. The center operates within Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute.

Whether it’s developing new products, reducing costs, or increasing accessibility, innovations in manufacturing stand to improve the lives of companies and consumers alike. Georgia Tech recently took another step toward ensuring those innovations make it from lab to market with the launch of a Modular Pilot Scale Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Facility. 

“As researchers develop new materials, one of the key aspects we’re missing is how to make them at scale. This is a major oversight because if we can’t make them at scale, we can’t transition from basic research to commercialization,” said Tequila Harris, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “With this new facility, we can prove our discoveries beyond lab-scale studies — and can go from materials innovation to product development at scale.”

Led by Harris, the new facility is the result of a partnership between the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI), the Strategic Energy Institute, and the Woodruff School. As a pilot facility, it will serve as a testbed for scaling up manufacturing research open for Georgia Tech researchers as well as academic, government, and industry partners around the world.

“The larger vision I see at Georgia Tech involves innovation in manufacturing for large-scale industries,” said Georgia Tech’s Interim Executive Vice President for Research Tim Lieuwen at the facility’s unveiling event on Sept. 19. “It’s crucial that we’re innovating in basic science and technology, but we also need to be innovating in large-scale manufacturing.”

Roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing transforms flexible rolls of substrate materials, such as paper, metal foils, and plastics, into more complex, transportable rolls upon coating the surface with one or more fluids, such as inks, suspensions, and solutions, which are subsequently dried or cured on the base substrate. Its high yield and efficiency make R2R an ideal method for the sustainable, large-scale production of components for solar cells, batteries, flexible electronics, and separations — all industries that have expanded in Georgia in recent years.

“As a state institution, we’re ultimately here to serve our state,” said Lieuwen, who is also Regents’ Professor and David S. Lewis Jr. Chair in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. “We’re seeing Georgia emerge as the national leader in terms of recruiting corporate investments in this space and in industries that will be served by this facility.”

Roll-to-Roll Innovations

The R2R process is similar to the production of newspapers, where a large roll of blank paper goes through a series of rollers printing text and photos. “The roll-to-roll aspect is the process of using a specialized tool to force fluid onto a moving surface,” says Harris. It’s one of the fastest-growing methods for producing thin film materials — photovoltaics used in solar cells, transistors in flexible electronics, and micro-batteries, for example — at a large scale. 

Harris’s group works to develop novel manufacturing tools, with a particular focus on understanding and improving the dynamics of thin film manufacturing to increase efficiency and minimize waste. Her group is particularly interested in slot die coating, an R2R technique where a liquid material is precisely deposited onto a substrate through a narrow slot. With the new pilot facility, researchers like Harris will be able to take their work to the next level.

“Slot die coating on a roll-to-roll can handle the broadest viscosity range of most coating methods. Therefore, you can process a lot of different materials very quickly and easily,” says Harris. “It’s one of the fastest-growing technologies in the U.S. — and currently, this is the most advanced modular pilot scale facility at an academic university in the United States.”

“Georgia Tech is way ahead of the curve in terms of our facilities,” says GTMI Executive Director and Regents’ Professor Thomas Kurfess. “This will grow our capability in the battery area, membranes, flexible electronics, and more to allow us to support the development of new technologies.”

“As technologies around cleantech continue to advance at an unprecedented pace, pilot manufacturing facilities provide a critical bridge between innovative benchtop research and commercial-scale production and manufacturing,” says Christine Conwell, interim executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute. “We are excited about the opportunities this R2R facility will provide to the Georgia Tech energy community and our industry partners.”

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) invites applications and nominations for the Executive Director (ED) position in the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS). BBISS, one of Georgia Tech’s Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs), brings together researchers from across Georgia Tech, including academic and research units, to support world-class sustainability-focused research, student engagement, and industry, government, and nonprofit collaboration toward achieving systemic change.

The BBISS ED will be a dynamic, collaborative, and entrepreneurial leader who will unite a broad range of stakeholders around a vision to elevate and grow sustainability at Georgia Tech. As a systems thinker and inclusive relationship builder, the ED will expand and enhance BBISS collaborations and partnerships within and beyond Georgia Tech to broaden its sustainability footprint in local, regional, national, and international arenas.

The ED will catalyze the formation of interdisciplinary teams to support high-impact programming and grants in areas such as climate science, solutions, and policy; ecosystem and environmental health; sustainable cities and infrastructure; sustainable resource and material use; just and equitable sustainable development; and the economics and business of sustainability.

View the job description

Applications, Inquiries, and Nominations

To apply for the Executive Director position in the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, candidates are requested to submit the following:

• A curriculum vitae
• A letter of interest (not to exceed four pages) that summarizes your qualifications and includes a brief statement of your vision for BBISS
• Contact information for five references (to be contacted with candidate’s permission at a later date)

Candidates are requested to send their application materials (in Word or PDF) to the AGB Search Portal at this link by November 19, 2024, for best consideration.

Nominations and expressions of interest for this opportunity are encouraged. Please direct them to BBISSGATech@agbsearch.com or to the AGB search consultants listed below.

Monica Burton, Principal
monica.burton@agbsearch.com
C: 917.825.2961

Nancy Targett, Ph.D., Executive Search Consultant
nancy.targett@agbsearch.com
C: 302.233.5202

On Friday, May 10th, four Georgia Tech researchers, supported through the Energy, Policy, and Innovation Center’s (EPIcenter) seed grant program presented their research findings to an engaged audience of fellow researchers and students. 

The research team consisted of Georgia Tech faculty from across three colleges who presented their interdisciplinary research findings at the intersection of human health and energy systems. 

The event began with a welcome address by Laura Taylor, the interim director of EPIcenter followed by EPIcenter’s director of Research Studies, Rich Simmons, who provided an overview of the vision behind the seed grant program. The seed grants were a culmination of a June 2020 workshop that invited researchers to proactively identify and mitigate new energy-health intersections and challenges by developing the knowledge to respond effectively to the interrelated challenges of public health and our current, and future energy infrastructure. The symposium included presentations from:

• Pengfei Liu, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, on climate-induced air quality deterioration and its health risks in the Southeastern United States.
• Dan Molzahn, assistant professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Xin Xie, professor in Civil Engineering on assessing the impacts of electric vehicle adoption and charging on air pollution and health
• Shuichi Takayama, professor in Biomedical Engineering  on improving toxicology models that measure the impact of particulate matter on lung functioning to enhance energy and environmental policy-making
• Laura Taylor, on linking transit-related air pollution to health outcomes using the causal inference framework.

Scheller Business Insights is a dynamic video series that highlights the innovative thought leadership of the esteemed faculty at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. At Scheller, we are committed to exploring ideas that educate and inform others about the profound impact of business on our lives and the world.

In this episode, Beril Toktay, Regents' Professor and faculty director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, defines net zero and discusses some ways to alleviate climate change by reducing carbon emissions to the point of net zero emissions.

Globally, most major polluters, such as China, the U.S., India, and the EU, are among over 140 nations with net-zero goals, which encompasses roughly 88 percent of global emissions. Meeting the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C climate threshold requires 45 percent emissions cut by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050 (United Nations Climate Action).

Toktay describes ways this can be accomplished in different business sectors. For example, in the energy sectors, this means moving from fossil fuels to renewable technologies, and in the transportation sector, moving to electrification and innovative battery technologies as well as developing the infrastructure to support these initiatives. These efforts help move businesses towards achieving net zero as well as providing cleaner air and water, and better health outcomes to the global population.

Listen as Toktay discusses what net zero means, the importance of getting to net zero, and how businesses can help reduce carbon emissions.

After completing a 10-week, on-campus fellowship, the members of this year’s Summer Energy Faculty Fellows Program gathered to present their research and discuss their future plans for continuing their research at their home campus. 

The fellowship program, sponsored by the Strategic Energy Institute, is designed to connect faculty and students from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions with energy research faculty at Georgia Tech and give them an immersive learning experience tailored to their specific interests. The fellows were competitively selected from a nationwide pool of applicants, and this year, the cohort expanded to include 10 participants. Each of the Fellows brought a student and was hosted by a Georgia Tech energy researcher.

The 2024 Faculty Fellows and their students included: 

• Kristen Brown and Dom Forza also of the University of Texas at San Antonio (Host: Joe Bozeman III).
• Guenevere Qian Chen with Marco Garza of the University of Texas at San Antonio (Host: Saman Zonouz).
• Beibei Jiang with Tara Joshi of Kennesaw State University (Host: Hailong Chen). 
• Milanika S. Turner with Janiyah White of Clark Atlanta University (Host: Joe Bozeman III).

In addition, the cohort also included a collaborator, Zufen Wang from Tennessee State University, with Veronica Kamel (Host: Comas Haynes).

Below is a Q&A about their experiences at Georgia Tech.

Kristen Brown, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management

How was your overall experience at Georgia Tech?
I had a wonderful time. The team was welcoming, and the facilities were incredibly nice. Atlanta was an enjoyable city to spend time in with tons of great restaurants, and most of the summer wasn't as hot and humid as I had feared.

What would you like to share about your collaborations with Professor Joe Bozeman, Mila Turner, and the team during the past 10 weeks?
It was great to throw around research ideas with the faculty and I enjoyed chatting with the students at Georgia Tech. The students we brought enjoyed Georgia Tech and achieved so much in a short time. The professors who worked together had similar interests and goals for research, which made discussions engaging, and project selection easy. 

What are your key takeaways from this program and any work products that you’d like to elaborate on?
The biggest takeaways aren't necessarily surprising — if you focus on something, you can get a lot done in a short amount of time, but you need to start moving quickly and have lots of progress checks. 

What would you like to tell your fellow faculty about this program, and will you encourage them to pursue this opportunity?
I would recommend the program to any faculty considering applying. It is an excellent way to make connections and spur new ideas. It also forces you to act on research ideas, rather than having a great discussion and then lacking progress as other projects take priority. 

Guenevere (Qian) Chen, Associate Professor, Cloud Technology Endowed Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering

How was your overall experience at Georgia Tech?
My experience at Georgia Tech was truly exceptional! The research environment, the amazing people (host and leaders), and the abundant opportunities made it an incredibly rewarding time.

What would you like to share about your collaborations with Professor Saman Zonouz and the student team during the 10 weeks you were in Atlanta?
It was an exceptional experience. Professor Zonouz is one of the most renowned and successful SCADA/PLC researchers both nationally and internationally. I had the privilege of joining their group meetings, and I was thoroughly impressed by the students' motivation, talent, and productivity. The lab consistently produces high-quality publications and fosters a collaborative and welcoming environment. Zonouz’s leadership and mentorship are outstanding, guiding a team of creative, hard-working, and remarkable students. It was an inspiring and enriching experience to work with such an amazing team.

What are your key takeaways from this program and any work products that you’d like to elaborate on?
My key takeaways from this program include the importance of collaboration, innovation, and the impact of strong mentorship. Working alongside such a talented team has reinforced the value of diverse perspectives and the power of collective effort in driving research forward. The hands-on experience with SCADA and 3D printer security has deepened my technical expertise and broadened my understanding of the challenges and opportunities in this field.

In terms of work products, my student Marco Garza, an incoming sophomore, co-authored a paper with Zonouz’s team, which has been submitted to NDSS-25. Furthermore, Zonouz and I are working on proposals for future collaborative projects.

What would you like to tell your fellow faculty at UTSA about this program and will you encourage them to pursue this opportunity?
I highly recommend this program. Midtown Atlanta is a beautiful place with its own unique charm, and the afternoon rains offer a refreshing break — perfect if you're looking to escape the Texas heat. Beyond the pleasant weather, Georgia Tech provides an outstanding research environment where you can engage in cutting-edge work and collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the field. If you're seeking a personally and professionally rewarding experience, this opportunity at Georgia Tech is one you shouldn’t miss!

Beibei Jiang, Assistant Professor of Innovative Materials, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

How was your overall experience at Georgia Tech?
Fantastic. I am impressed by the leadership roles of the program team. They have hosted lots of events, including regular faculty meetings, weekly professional training opportunities for undergraduate students, end-of-program presentation opportunities, and more. These activities demonstrated the program team’s engagement in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

What would you like to share about your collaborations with Professor Hailong Chen and the student team during the 10 weeks you were in Atlanta?
The collaboration with Chen’s team was eye-opening and inspiring. We learned a lot of positive lessons through working with his team. One specific lesson is the research team’s management skills, which involve managing research projects and team members, including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students. We also learned a lot of practical experimental skills related to battery fabrication and battery testing. We want to establish a long-term collaboration with Chen’s team in the future.

What are your key takeaways from this program and any work products that you’d like to elaborate on?
The key takeaways from the program can be summarized into three aspects: 

• We can propose multiple research ideas based on the interdisciplinary techniques between our team and our collaborators’ team at Georgia Tech
• Considering the close geographic distance between KSU and Georgia Tech, many research opportunities at Georgia Tech can be leveraged by KSU students, including research internships at GTRI and graduate programs at Georgia Tech. 
• KSU and Georgia Tech can team up on a lot of educational proposals for workforce development by combining the benefits of the two universities.

Is there any other personal information or experience or any feedback that you’d like to share?
As a Georgia Tech alumnus, I am very proud to see the achievements that Georgia Tech has made in the energy field.

What would you like to tell your fellow faculty at KSU about this program and will you encourage them to pursue this opportunity?
Definitely! I am excited to share all the positive feedback about this collaboration experience with my fellow faculty at KSU. I will tell them about the support and professional development opportunities we received from the SEI team and the program. I will also share my experience working with my collaborator at Georgia Tech, including how the project proceeded efficiently through frequent discussions with their team. Finally, I would like to share the wonderful training opportunities and professional development opportunities for our undergraduate students.

Milanika Turner, Associate Professor, Sociology and Criminal Justice

How was your overall experience at Georgia Tech?
I had such a positive experience! This was my first time visiting the campus, and I was impressed. I want to return when it’s buzzing with the energy of the academic year. I regret not visiting the Library this summer. Plus the facilities at CODA were modern, smart, and aesthetically pleasing. Everyone from Georgia Tech that I’ve met has been helpful, professional, and excited about our institutions working together.

What would you like to share about your collaborations with Professor Joe Bozeman, Professor Kristen Brown, and the student team during the past 10 weeks?
This was the smoothest interdisciplinary collaboration I’ve ever engaged in, because we all started from the common point of centering equity and justice in our work. We all had a lot of fun thinking together and ideated numerous possible projects.

What are your key takeaways from this program and any work products that you’d like to elaborate on?
A key takeaway is that there is still so much work to be done in the pursuit of energy equity, environmental justice, and equitable climate solutions. We have a lot more good work to do together.

Is there any other personal information or experience or any feedback that you’d like to share?
My program highlight was witnessing the undergraduate students learn and grow into budding researchers. They truly made me proud.

What would you like to tell your fellow faculty at Clark Atlanta about this program and will you encourage them to pursue this opportunity?
I’d tell my fellow faculty that we should get to know our neighbors! Tech is only two miles from CAU so we could easily get together. Plus we’re already working in some of the same local communities. It would be silly for us not to engage more deeply across universities. It’s beneficial for all of us — especially our students — to work together.

Zufen Wang, Assistant Professor, Civil and Architectural Engineering

How was your overall experience at Georgia Tech?
The overall experience was both inspiring and enriching! It was fantastic to connect with numerous outstanding researchers and learn about their remarkable initiatives and intriguing projects.

What would you like to share about your collaborations with Professor Comas Haynes and the student team during the 10 weeks you were in Atlanta?
Professor Haynes has been incredibly supportive throughout our collaboration. He helped connect me with the researchers for current projects and potential collaborations in the future. Additionally, my student conducted research within Comas' team, and I was impressed by the quality of the student's presentation. The most exciting thing is the IAC program that Comas introduced to me. Together with him and my student, we formed a team with a “train the trainer” approach to learn the IAC process!

What are your key takeaways from this program and any work products that you’d like to elaborate on?
Expand research horizons and valuable connections for interdisciplinary collaborations.

Is there any other personal information or experience or any feedback that you’d like to share?
The team at Georgia Tech is exceptionally welcoming and supportive. They generously share their research and project experiences. Their insights have been incredibly valuable to me, especially as I’m in the early stages of my career.

What would you like to tell your fellow faculty at TSU about this program and will you encourage them to pursue this opportunity?
I will highly encourage them to pursue this opportunity. The program goes beyond just the summer experience. It is a crucial foundation for building strong, long-term collaborations.

Dom Dorsa, Undergraduate Student

Working this summer at Georgia Tech greatly informed my decision to attend the institution for graduate school. My work with Bozeman, Turner, and Brown brought me out of my comfort zone and introduced me to areas of my field (namely GIS) that I was otherwise unfamiliar with. Additionally, I was able to make contacts with SEI and with other researchers such as Matthew Realff, with whom I hope to work someday. My biggest takeaway from this program is that research is a team effort. No one researcher uncovers the world. At best, they identify pieces of a larger puzzle. I hope to come back to Georgia Tech, whether for this program or another, and I am eternally grateful to SEI and to the SURE program for having me.

When the City of Atlanta adopted the Clean Energy Atlanta resolution in 2019, setting an ambitious goal to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035, few could have predicted the rapid progress the city would make toward becoming a national leader in clean tech innovation. By 2023, the Atlanta clean energy community had coalesced into a powerhouse of innovation, driving the city closer to its clean energy goals.

In January 2024, the launch of the Atlanta CleanTech Connect social marked a pivotal moment in this journey. Co-sponsored by the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) and Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), this event has quickly become a must-attend gathering for Atlanta’s clean energy leaders. Drawing participants from the startup and VC ecosystem, industry, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, the social serves as a hub for those eager to learn about and contribute to Atlanta’s clean energy future. 

Past socials have been well-received, selling out weeks in advance. Attendees have requested a monthly rather than quarterly social. The event format encourages in-depth discussion about clean energy topics and cleantech startup avenues and fosters valuable networking opportunities among professionals united by a common goal: achieving a 100% clean energy future enabled by starting and rapidly growing successful cleantech companies in Atlanta.

“Atlanta CleanTech Connect is a direct result of SEI’s strategic priority to facilitate conversations that result in trusted relationships between innovators, proven entrepreneurs, potential customers, and cleantech investors, all of whom are critical to speed Atlanta startups’ time-to-market. The ultimate goal is for Atlanta to be recognized globally as a top cleantech startup hub, which we can only achieve by rapidly building and scaling more exceptional cleantech companies here at home,” said Richard Gruber, SEI’s senior fellow. Along with Cynthia Curry, senior director of Cleantech Ecosystem Expansion with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Gruber plays an integral role in creating the social — from choosing the topics to assembling the moderators and panels that have made the event a great success. 

The topics covered at these socials have been both timely and important. Discussions have ranged from "Financing Cleantech Hardtech Startups" and "Decarbonization of the Built Environment" to “Innovations in Sustainable Aviation,” offering insights that are crucial for the advancement of clean technologies. These events, held quarterly, will continue into 2025, and the next gathering is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Atlanta is rapidly evolving into a national leader in electric vehicles, next-generation batteries, sustainable fuels, and advanced solar technologies. Since 2018, companies have invested over $11.5 billion in these sectors across Georgia, with the greater Atlanta region at the epicenter of this activity. By facilitating opportunities for the region’s cleantech experts to connect, network, and share knowledge, the Atlanta CleanTech Connect socials are helping to forge the relationships that will support the continued growth of Atlanta’s cleantech startups.

Miguel Granier, managing director of the new Cox Cleantech Accelerator, explained the importance of these gatherings. “Before the ATL CleanTech Connect events, there wasn’t a regular platform where I could connect with other leaders and supporters of cleantech innovation in Atlanta. Cleantech spans multiple industries, so many of us don’t cross paths regularly. We need events like these to bring us together, building relationships that strengthen the entire ecosystem.”

Atlanta CleanTech Connect stands out among the city’s clean technology initiatives for its emphasis on relationship-building as a tool for supporting and expanding the cleantech ecosystem. Other major initiatives, such as the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub and the Cox Cleantech Accelerator, have focused on helping individual businesses overcome barriers to success. Together, these complementary approaches have cultivated a robust clean energy ecosystem in Atlanta, making it an attractive destination for clean energy startups and capital investment firms.

Written by: Sharon Murphy, Research Associate at the Strategic Energy Institute

A multi-institutional research team led by Georgia Tech’s Hailong Chen has developed a new, low-cost cathode that could radically improve lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) — potentially transforming the electric vehicle (EV) market and large-scale energy storage systems. 

“For a long time, people have been looking for a lower-cost, more sustainable alternative to existing cathode materials. I think we’ve got one,” said Chen, an associate professor with appointments in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

The revolutionary material, iron chloride (FeCl3), costs a mere 1-2% of typical cathode materials and can store the same amount of electricity. Cathode materials affect capacity, energy, and efficiency, playing a major role in a battery’s performance, lifespan, and affordability.

“Our cathode can be a game-changer,” said Chen, whose team describes its work in Nature Sustainability. “It would greatly improve the EV market — and the whole lithium-ion battery market.”

First commercialized by Sony in the early 1990s, LIBs sparked an explosion in personal electronics, like smartphones and tablets. The technology eventually advanced to fuel electric vehicles, providing a reliable, rechargeable, high-density energy source. But unlike personal electronics, large-scale energy users like EVs are especially sensitive to the cost of LIBs. 

Batteries are currently responsible for about 50% of an EV’s total cost, which makes these clean-energy cars more expensive than their internal combustion, greenhouse-gas-spewing cousins. The Chen team’s invention could change that.

Building a Better Battery

Compared to old-fashioned alkaline and lead-acid batteries, LIBs store more energy in a smaller package and power a device longer between charges. But LIBs contain expensive metals, including semiprecious elements like cobalt and nickel, and they have a high manufacturing cost. 

So far, only four types of cathodes have been successfully commercialized for LIBs. Chen’s would be the fifth, and it would represent a big step forward in battery technology: the development of an all-solid-state LIB.

Conventional LIBs use liquid electrolytes to transport lithium ions for storing and releasing energy. They have hard limits on how much energy can be stored, and they can leak and catch fire. But all-solid-state LIBs use solid electrolytes, dramatically boosting a battery’s efficiency and reliability and making it safer and capable of holding more energy. These batteries, still in the development and testing phase, would be a considerable improvement. 

As researchers and manufacturers across the planet race to make all-solid-state technology practical, Chen and his collaborators have developed an affordable and sustainable solution. With the FeCl3 cathode, a solid electrolyte, and a lithium metal anode, the cost of their whole battery system is 30-40% of current LIBs. 

“This could not only make EVs much cheaper than internal combustion cars, but it provides a new and promising form of large-scale energy storage, enhancing the resilience of the electrical grid,” Chen said. “In addition, our cathode would greatly improve the sustainability and supply chain stability of the EV market.”

Solid Start to New Discovery

Chen’s interest in FeCl3 as a cathode material originated with his lab’s research into solid electrolyte materials. Starting in 2019, his lab tried to make solid-state batteries using chloride-based solid electrolytes with traditional commercial oxide-based cathodes. It didn’t go well — the cathode and electrolyte materials didn’t get along. 

The researchers thought a chloride-based cathode could provide a better pairing with the chloride electrolyte to offer better battery performance.

“We found a candidate (FeCl3) worth trying, as its crystal structure is potentially suitable for storing and transporting ions, and fortunately, it functioned as we expected,” said Chen.

Currently, the most popularly used cathodes in EVs are oxides and require a gigantic amount of costly nickel and cobalt, heavy elements that can be toxic and pose an environmental challenge. In contrast, the Chen team’s cathode contains only iron (Fe) and chlorine (Cl)—abundant, affordable, widely used elements found in steel and table salt.

In their initial tests, FeCl3 was found to perform as well as or better than the other, much more expensive cathodes. For example, it has a higher operational voltage than the popularly used cathode LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate, or LFP), which is the electrical force a battery provides when connected to a device, similar to water pressure from a garden hose. 

This technology may be less than five years from commercial viability in EVs. For now, the team will continue investigating FeCl3 and related materials, according to Chen. The work was led by Chen and postdoc Zhantao Liu (the lead author of the study). Collaborators included researchers from Georgia Tech’s Woodruff School (Ting Zhu) and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (Yuanzhi Tang), as well as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Jue Liu) and the University of Houston (Shuo Chen).

“We want to make the materials as perfect as possible in the lab and understand the underlying functioning mechanisms,” Chen said. “But we are open to opportunities to scale up the technology and push it toward commercial applications.”

CITATION: Zhantao Liu, Jue Liu, Simin Zhao, Sangni Xun, Paul Byaruhanga, Shuo Chen, Yuanzhi Tang, Ting Zhu, Hailong Chen. “Low-cost iron trichloride cathode for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries.” Nature Sustainability.

FUNDING: National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 1706723 and 2108688)

This Summer, the Strategic Energy Institute and GTRI jointly created the Energy and National Security Initiative through an inaugural workshop on July 16.

The initiative included Phase 1 or Category A grants that allowed researchers up to $10,000 in seed funding to understand the viability of their research concepts. The multidisciplinary proposals that won the Category A grants include:

Phase 2 or Category B of the initiative includes up to $500,000 in seed funding to fund team research proposals, with funds likely to grow to $1.2 million in the coming years. Please note that teams must largely consist of those who participated in or expressed interest via the July workshop. 

Georgia Tech researchers and faculty are encouraged to submit the Notice of Intent for Phase 2 (Category B) submissions. While this is not a requirement of the proposal, it will provide the initiative with insights that will help with internal logistics. If you have any questions regarding the Category B Notice of Intent and the grant, please contact the Strategic Energy Institute at connect@energy.gatech.edu.