Research Overview

SUSTAINABLE CLEAN ENERGY LABORATORY (SCEL) is under the leadership of Prof. Jianhua “Joshua” Tong in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson University. SCEL’s FOCUSES are the creation, synthesis, understanding, and engineering of ENERGY MATERIALS (e.g., mixed oxides, conductive glasses, and nanocomposites) and the design, fabrication, demonstration, and modeling of ENERGY DEVICES (e.g., membrane reactors, fuel cells, electrolysis cells, solid state photoelectrochemical cells, thermochemical reactors, oxide catalysts, electrochemical sensors, solid state batteries, solid state supercapacitors, ionic memristors, and ionic transistors). SCEL’s METHODOLOGIES include machine learning, additive manufacturing (3D printing), laser processing, reactive sintering, electrochemical synthesis, polymer-derived synthesis, additive-assisted synthesis. SCEL’s APPLICATIONS are solar fuels production, sustainable ammonia synthesis, natural gas to value-added chemicals, carbon dioxide capture/utilization, biomass conversion, electrochemical sensing, organic waste to energy, nuclear isotope separation, nuclear waste management, flexible ceramics, nanoionics, high-temperature memories, AI materials, and bio-electrochemical materials …

 

Research Interest

Perovskites

Nanoionics

Ionic Transistors

New Ionic Materials

Ammonia Synthesis

Hydrogen Production

Solar Fuel Production

3D Printing of Ceramics

All Solid State Batteries

Laser Sintering/Synthesis

Solid State Reactive Sintering

Catalytic Membrane Reactors

High-Temperature Memory Materials

Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization

Electrochemical/Electrocatalytic Sensors

Low-Temperature Ceramic Fuel Cells/Electrolysis Cells

Electrochemical Characterization, Catalysis, and Synthesis

 

Research Projects

Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Methanol in Electrocatalytic Membrane Reactors

Ammonia Synthesis in Methane Assisted Thermochemical Particle Reactors

High-Temperature Solid State Photoelectrochemical Membrane Reactors

Engineering, Understanding, and Application of Nanoionic Composites

Additive Manufacturing Ceramic-Based Energy Devices

Laser Reactive Sintering/Synthesis of Ceramics

Fundamentals of Catalytic Membrane Reaction

Microchannel Catalytic Membrane Reactors

Novel Triple Conducting Oxide Materials

Solar Thermochemical Fuel Production

Electrolytes for Slide State Batteries

Mayenite Based Anion Conductors

Micro Protonic Ceramic Devices