Research

Faculty across the ETN are advancing research to address the global energy transition through new technologies and systems that promote energy system stability. Their cross-disciplinary work combines scientific discovery with real-world applications, aiming to deliver scalable, high-impact solutions for energy security and reliability and long-term energy abundance.

Researchers are pioneering new materials for energy production and storage using first principles computational discovery and design, as well as advanced characterization tools. Efforts in electrolyte research are enabling next generation lithium metal, lithium-ion, and dualion batteries with higher energy density and longer lifespans. Other projects are pushing the boundaries of materials discovery and synthesis for catalysis and gas separations and device design, leading to dynamic materials for light and heat management, as well as functional polymers for batteries and thermoelectrics.

Energy Storage

Shirley Meng is the founding faculty director of the Energy Technologies Initiative (ETI) and serves as the chief scientist of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) at Argonne National Laboratory. Her group’s work pioneers discovering and designing better materials for energy storage by a unique combination of first-principles computation-guided materials discovery and design, and advanced characterization with electron, neutron, and photon sources.
Chibueze Amanchukwu’s research group focuses on enabling long duration electrical (batteries) and chemical energy storage for a sustainable energy future. His team is particularly interested in modifying electrolyte and ion solvation behavior to control electrochemical processes occurring in batteries and electrocatalytic transformations such as carbon dioxide capture and conversion.
Po-Chun Hsu’s research focuses on innovative dynamic materials for light and heat management. By utilizing fundamental principles of materials science and photonic engineering, his group aims to boost the thermoregulation performance and functionality for applications such as wearable technology, net-zero energy buildings, carbon capture, and beyond.
Shrayesh Patel’s research group focuses on functional polymers for energy conversion and storage applications, with a current focus on batteries and thermoelectrics. The group has a strong expertise in the characterization of polymers that allows them to understand charge transport, electrochemical and morphological properties.

Sustainable Materials

Laura Gagliardi directs the Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center (CD4DC), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the United States Department of Energy. The Gagliardi Group develops novel computational methods and applies them to study phenomena related to sustainable energies, with a special focus on catalysis, photochemistry, quantum materials, and porous materials for gas separations.
John Anderson's research group focuses on inorganic transition metal chemistry with many applications in organic chemistry, spectroscopy, materials chemistry, and biology. Their research includes discovery and elucidation of high-valent metal complexes for bond activation and group transfer, metal-ligand cooperation for oxidation and electroreductive catalysis, and coordination polymers with sulfur-based ligands for catalysis.
Junhong Chen's research interest lies in molecular engineering of nanomaterials and nanodevices, particularly hybrid nanomaterials with rich interfaces and nanodevices for sustainable energy and environment.
Chong Liu's research group focuses on design and synthesis of materials as well as development of electrochemical and optical tools to address the challenges in water-energy nexus. Areas include resource extraction from water systems, liquid and gas phase separations, and catalysis.
Jiwoong Park's research group explores the science and technology of nanomaterials. Their multidisciplinary work focuses on atomically thin circuitry and the electrical, optical, and optoelectronic properties of low- dimensional nanostructures to enable the development of next-generation devices including highly efficient solar cells and detectors.
Dmitri Talapin's research is centered around the chemistry, physics, and materials science of inorganic nanostructures. His group assembles nanoscale building blocks into functional materials, and new ligands in addition to studying the superstructure and electronic behaviors of nanocrystals in order to develop novel materials for applications in optoelectronics, energy storage, and catalysis.
Bozhi Tian’s research leverages diverse material synthesis and device design principles, uncovers numerous signal transduction mechanisms at bioelectronic and biophotonic interfaces, and pushes boundaries in organelle-level biointerfaces.
Sihong Wang’s research focuses on the development of biomimetic polymer electronics and bio-energy harvesting for interfacing with the human body and other biological systems as wearable and implantable devices.
Anna Wuttig’s research group focuses on the synthesis of products across the chemical value chain using electrochemical methods. They focus on interfacial self-assembly and electrode material design for studying the impact of interfaces on small and complex molecular activation. Their research helps guide the design of new catalysts with greater selectivity and durability for the efficient use of underutilized, yet abundant resources and feedstocks.
Jie Xu's research focuses on polymer processing, and characterization through the use of self-driving laboratories enable autonomous materials discovery. Her group studies electronic, sustainable, degradable, and recyclable polymers.