With National Science Foundation support, Norfolk State University will establish the Center for Renewable Energy and Advanced Materials. The Center consists of an interdisciplinary endeavor to help achieve an affordable, sustainable and clean supply of global energy. The Center will develop advanced materials and devices for renewable energy, such as solar, thermoelectric, battery and high-performance low-energy-consuming devices and sensors.
Center activities are comprised of three research thrusts (i) Renewable energy harvesting, (ii) Energy storage, and (iii) Low energy consumption and high performance electro-optic and sensor devices. Renewable energy harvesting efforts are devoted to the development and fundamental study of nanostructures based energy materials such as semiconductor nanocrystals, perovskite organic-inorganic lead iodide-based solar cells, organic-inorganic thermoelectric materials, magnetoelectric composites and their measurements of all physical properties, including transient and intensity decay of time-resolved spectroscopy, and simulation and modeling in order to understand the mechanism. These efforts will advance several major energy applications, in particular, solar cells, thermoelectric generators, and other optoelectronic applications.
Energy storage research efforts focus on the development and computational study of nanomaterials based Li-ion battery, supercapacitors, and bimetallic cellulose embedded energy storage device and high-performance energy storage devices. Research on the development of energy or power-efficient devices, will focus on biosensors, as well as optoelectronic and energy conversion devices based on artificial nanostructures.
The Center for Renewable Energy and Advanced Materials will develop educational materials for the high school, community college, science museum and university levels to advance understanding of sustainable energy technologies, practices and clean energy alternatives to shape the work force and talent pool of the future. Center activities will also enhance the quality of training for a large number of African Americans in this interdisciplinary area.
