Georgia Tech materials engineers have unraveled the mechanism that causes degradation of a promising new material for solar cells — and they’ve been able to stop it using a thin layer of molecules that repels water.

Their findings are the first step in solving one of the key limitations of metal halide perovskites, which are already as efficient as the best silicon-based solar cells at capturing light and converting it into electricity. They reported their work in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“Perovskites have the potential of not only transforming how we produce solar energy, but also how we make semiconductors for other types of applications like LEDs or phototransistors. We can think about them for applications in quantum information technology, such as light emission for quantum communication,” said Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena, assistant professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the study’s senior author. “These materials have impressive properties that are very promising.”

Get the full story on the College of Engineering website.

The Kendeda Building Advisory Board has awarded 12 micro research grants ($50 – $500) for sustainability-related, small-scale, short-term studies to be conducted by members of the Georgia Tech community. The request for proposals encouraged researchers to explore ways the Georgia Tech campus can continue to innovate, demonstrate, prove, and promote the adoption of best and next practices in regenerative design and operations. Researchers were also encouraged to use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for research design. All members of the Georgia Tech community were encouraged to apply. The program especially sought proposals from students and staff who had little or no prior research experience. Awardees will present their work at the 2024 Micro Research Grants Symposium, to be held in April 2024.

The program has four objectives:

1. To expand scientific thinking and the understanding of the research process among those not directly involved in scientific research.
2. To bolster the use of the campus as a living laboratory.
3. To give voice to people and communities outside of research that have culturally novel perspectives on problems and their possible solutions, and to create new pathways for partnering with them.
4. To seed novel ideas and nurture nascent investigators.

The awardees are:

• Nicole Allen and Elaina Render
  “An Investigation Into the Cultivability and Regenerative Potential of Various Vegetables and Herbs”
• Maryam Almaian and Patrick Kastner
  “Augmented Architecture: Integrating Numerical Simulations Into Regenerative Design”
• Patrick Barry, Jung-Ho Lewe, and Gray Simmons
  “Project: Low-Cost Current Transformer”
• Nola Charles, Jaila Kimbro, and Hannah Kate Cass
  “GT Be the Bridge”
• Donghyun Choi, Abhinav Shubham, and Manpreet Hora
  “Data Analytics on Science-Based Target Initiatives (SBTi)”
• Jake Churchill, Victoria Pozzi, Dimitri Kalinin, Zihang Zhang, and Rich Simmons
  “‘Cleaning’ Solar Energy at GT”
• Kenneth Grant and Jung-Ho Lewe
  “Adjustable Occupancy Sensor Mounting Solution”
• Jung-Ho Lewe, Evan Goldstein, and Gray Simmons
  “Low-Cost Building Occupancy Sensor”
• Marisa L. McMichael and Scott Duncan
  “Occupancy Comfort”
• Arnav Patidar, Ronak Agarwal, Sohan Malladi, and Shyamanth Kudum
  “BinVision — Recycle Smarter”
• Hruday Shah, Jung-Ho Lewe, Scott Duncan, and Gray Simmons
  “Monitoring Indoor Ventilation Efficacy Using Inexpensive, Accurate, and Modular Outdoor Air Quality Stations”
• Malte Weiland, Jeannette Yen, Tamsin Leavy, Alan Booker, Gary McNay, Lakshya Sharma, Julie Chen, and Perrin Brady
  “Horticulture and Permaculture Workshop”

The first cohort of the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS) Graduate Fellows published an article in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. The seven Ph.D. students reflected on their two years of working, studying, and training together as an interdisciplinary sustainability research team. In the article, they give their insights into how they benefited from this approach and what steps might be taken to improve graduate level, sustainability-related programs. Further, their paper offers researchers and educators a rare perspective into interdisciplinary research and education from the standpoint of students who are still pursuing their degrees and actively engaged in research for their chosen disciplines.

Citation: McSorley, M, Arkhurst, BK, Hall, M, Zha, Y, Spyrou, IM, Duchesneau, K, Ringania, U, Chang, M. 2023. For graduate students to become leaders in sustainability, we must transcend disciplinary boundaries. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 11(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00012

For more information about the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems Graduate Fellows program, please visit this webpage.

Georgia Tech researchers have spent years diving deep into climate solutions for Georgia. Now, the state Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division has tapped them to help develop the state’s first climate action plan. 

The plan will help the state compete for up to $500 million in federal funding for climate mitigation efforts under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under a contract with the agency, the Georgia Tech team will work with partners across Georgia to help the state develop its greenhouse gas inventory, develop a plan to address the most important immediate opportunities the state can take to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and potentially help develop policies and programs to reach those goals. 

“Georgia Tech and our academic, business, and community partners from across the state are uniquely suited to help Georgia identify implementation-ready solutions that can significantly reduce emissions and have beneficial impacts on Georgia communities,” said Marilyn A. Brown, Regents’ Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy.

“As part of our work with Drawdown Georgia, we already have been deeply involved in identifying climate pollution reduction strategies to drive economic and employment growth, improve air quality, deliver benefits to under-resourced residents, and protect the environment. That work gives us a great head start in providing the state the information it needs to develop Georgia’s first climate action plan,” Brown said.

Georgia Tech-Built Emissions Tracker Key Component

Drawdown Georgia is an initiative of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation to accelerate progress toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia. Brown led the interdisciplinary science and policy team that helped develop the plan’s recommendations. 

Central to the project is the climate emissions tracker developed at Georgia Tech as part of that project. The tool provides monthly insights into carbon emissions across Georgia’s 159 counties, providing more timely, accurate, and cost-effective data than the traditional tools used in other climate planning efforts. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the tracker and gave special permission for the state to use it, said William J. Drummond, associate professor in the School of City & Regional Planning and co-principal investigator on the project.

Many other states will instead have to use more traditional bottom-up inventories that take longer to create and are not as frequently updated, he said.

“The work we have done has been peer-reviewed and published, and so it has a level of authoritativeness that other states may not enjoy,” said Drummond, who led the tracker’s development. “We are uniquely positioned to identify actionable solutions for Georgia, help the state meet its incredibly tight timeline, and give Georgia a competitive advantage that other states just can’t match.” 

The Atlanta Regional Commission, which received separate funding to make a plan specific to metro Atlanta, also will use the tracker in its work. 

State Plan Due in March

The state’s priority plan is due in March, with the full plan due a year later. 

“The Georgia Environmental Protection Division is excited to work with Georgia Tech in the development of the state's first climate action plan and appreciates all the work that Georgia Tech and other Drawdown Georgia partners have done to lay the groundwork for this project,” said DeAnna Oser, assistant branch chief of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s Air Protection Branch.

The effort is focused on implementation-ready solutions. Brown said proposals could include projects that advance transportation electrification, energy-efficient housing, climate-smart agriculture, forest management, and urban tree canopies, among other opportunities.

She said it is exciting to see the years of work her team has put into climate mitigation practices and policies to help move Georgia closer to being climate-neutral. 

“We’ve always hoped that this work would have real policy impacts that will help improve our environment, economy, and society,” Brown said. “It’s exhilarating to see the state recognize and incorporate our work, and I look forward to seeing where it leads.”