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Tech professors awarded $1 million federal grant for research on clean energy technologies
Tech’s husband and wife duo of Jiahong Zhu (left) and Ying Zhang (right) pictured
in front of the VersaMelt gas atomizer used as part of their clean energy research.
It is the only equipment of its kind in the state of Tennessee.
Two professors at Tennessee Tech University are the latest recipients of a major grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy for their research on clean energy solutions.
Jiahong Zhu, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering, and Ying Zhang, Ph.D., professor
of mechanical engineering and director for the Center for Manufacturing Research,
were awarded $1 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
for their work repurposing coal and coal waste to develop low-cost advanced conductors
for clean energy technologies.
Zhu and Zhang’s research was one of only six projects nationwide selected for funding
under the Department of Energy initiative, and the only in Tennessee.
The project, titled “Spray Deposition of Coal-Derived Graphene-Copper Nanocomposites
for Advanced Conductors” aims to create better conductors for clean energy technologies
that are both affordable and efficient.
Working with partners at Tennessee State University, Copperweld, a middle Tennessee-based
manufacturer of copper bimetals, and Eastern Plating, an east Tennessee electroplating
company, Zhu and Zhang seek to develop new material made from coal-derived graphene
and copper that will have better properties than the copper wires and cables currently
used in clean energy applications. The new material will be made using a spray deposition
process, which is a versatile and cost-effective way to create materials.
“We’re trying to minimize the use of coal for power generation,” said Zhu, principal
investigator for the project. “Instead, we want to incorporate coal-derived carbon,
such as graphene, into new materials that offer better performance for emerging applications.
Converting coal into high-value products could also create job opportunities, which
is especially significant for those in distressed communities that have been impacted
by the recent energy transition.”
Zhu continued, “Our idea is to make conductors that go beyond the conventional copper
material by incorporating the graphene derived from coal. Graphene is much more conductive
than copper, so you can really make improvements over the copper conductors that are
in use today. This could improve the efficiency of everything from electric vehicles
and airplanes to the cable industry. With high conductivity, you can use less material.”
As Zhu and Zhang explain, coal is not considered an optimal energy source for the
environment but, while it remains in use, their goal is to take coal-derivatives and
apply them towards their most environmentally clean and useful purpose.
Zhu and Zhang will use the project to provide opportunities for students of color,
female, and veteran students – communities that are historically underrepresented
in STEM – to participate in their clean energy research. The research also has the
potential to help spur further economic development in rural areas of the state.
“Copper wire and cable is a very big business. We have Tennessee companies doing work
in this space who are in economically distressed counties. If you can make an impact
there, it will have a significant impact on the Tennessee economy,” adds Zhu.
To conduct their research, Zhu and Zhang will use a laboratory-scale gas atomizer
that was purchased through a grant from the Office of Naval Research. Tennessee Tech
was the first university in the country to procure this sophisticated equipment
and remains the only university in the state with this capability.
Zhu and Zhang’s partnership is not limited to their groundbreaking clean energy research
– the two are also a married couple. The longtime Tech faculty members both came to
the university in 2000.
This is Zhu and Zhang’s second major research collaboration. The duo also received
a Department of Energy grant during the previous administration for their research
on high-temperature coatings to protect steam turbine blades in coal-fired power plants.
