$1.5 million for energy research to two UGA chemistry professors

Energy-related research, thankfully, continues to filter into numerous basic-science disciplines. Because it is going to take everything we know and more to make a decisive turn toward renewable fuels:

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, two University of Georgia researchers will pursue innovative approaches to more efficient methods of energy transmission and storage that involve maneuvering microscopic particles. Tina Salguero and Gary Douberly, assistant professors of chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will each receive $750,000 for five years from the DOE’s Office of Science’s Early Career Research Program for potentially groundbreaking, energy-related projects.

“This is tremendous news which continues the very strong performance of the chemistry faculty in recent years,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “At a time when this country faces serious questions about the future of its energy supply, research focused on energy efficiency is a national priority. I am proud that Drs. Salguero and Douberly are being supported by the Department of Energy in their groundbreaking research.”

Salguero will focus on increasing the energy capacity for compact electrical devices while Douberly looks to new technologies to improve fuel efficiency.

Salguero will tackle obstacles to creating smaller, more powerful electronic devices with materials at the ultimate thinness limit. Salguero thinks the solution may be to replace commonly used electronic components with ceramic nanosheets—sheets just one atom thick—made of metal oxide materials. In some cases, she believes, the shape and surface area of the nanosheets can increase the amount of charge that can be stored (the energy density).

“Our efforts will develop the first synthetic methods for creating these types of nanosheets, and the characterization studies will show whether they retain their important dielectric properties,” said Salguero.

and from the same news release:

Salguero and Douberly are among a small group of researchers nationwide to receive funding through the DOE’s Early Career Research Program. Only 68 researchers—eight percent of all applicants who passed the pre-proposal phase—were accepted for funding this year. Of those, 14 work in chemistry departments or divisions.

“This is the first time since the inception of the program in 2010 that these prestigious and highly competitive awards have been given to faculty researchers in the state of Georgia, so we’re enormously proud of Tina and Gary,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “The fact that two awards were given to UGA chemistry faculty in the same year is an unambiguous indication of the strength and upward trajectory of the department.”

Instead of looking at our energy conundrum as one big problem, our most intuitive thinkers know to look at it as many small ones. Key breakthroughs in transmission and storage will unlock so many of the other parts of the puzzle - and yet these appear to be some of the most intractable problems and slowly-developing solutions. We're not going to solve all of our energy problems in a fell swoop - indeed the ensuing futility of thinking we must is one strategy for continuing along our present trajectory. But breaking down the issue into more manageable - and solvable - sized problems that scientists like Salgeuro and Douberly can unpack into their most basic component parts is the route to more possibilities and options, which is what our global energy problems actually need. We're indebted to them for pushing thier work in these directions.

And in closely related news, the department of chemistry continues to distingush itself, the Franklin College and UGA; what a great start to the summer.