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NC STATE UNIVERSITY College of Engineering Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
SuPER Lab

Research Program

SuPER Sustainable Processing and Energy Resilience Lab

Our world is transitioning from a hydrocarbon-based energy system toward one built on metals and materials. Our research aims to accelerate this transition by conducting cutting-edge applied and fundamental research.

Electrochemistry

Electrochemical reactors enable diverse applications by directly manipulating chemical bonds with electrons

Schematic of an electrochemical reactor (electrolyte, electrode, ion conductor, power supply) with three application categories — energy storage and conversion (batteries, electrolyzers, fuel cells), processing and manufacturing (electrowinning, electrolysis), environment and sustainability (electrodialysis, CO2 reduction) — and the tagline: electrons ↔ bonds (interface) → charge and mass transfer.

Our approach

Fundamental

How liquid solutions regulate chemical reactivity

Our research focuses on understanding how liquid solutions regulate chemical reaction reactivity, because of their critical role in electrochemical and thermochemical processes.

Practical

Physical understanding + data-driven AI/ML

We combine physical understanding with data-driven AI/ML methods to accelerate electrolyte material design for processing and energy storage applications.

Why electrolytes

Electrolytes control thermodynamics, kinetics, transport, and interfacial behavior

Schematic of electrode, interfacial region, and electrolyte. Annotations: electrolytes determine interface stability (passivation, corrosion), control reaction kinetics and selectivity (interfacial structure), govern mass and charge transport (viscosity, diffusivity, conductivity), and set reaction thermodynamics (chemical environments, potential, activity).

Electrolyte engineering provides a scalable design lever

Workflow showing how salt, solvent, diluent, and additive choices (e.g., LiFSI, DME, fluorinated ether) shape the chemical environment around the ion, which in turn sets thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport properties (E, ΔG, ΔH, ΔS, charge-transfer resistance, activation free energy, ionic conductivity, diffusivity). Highlights: large, underexplored design space; compatible with existing electrodes or hardware; scalable and manufacturable — electrolyte changes translate directly to industrial systems.

How we work

Methods

The functionality and properties of liquid solutions are governed by ion–ion and ion–molecule interactions. We use electrochemical, microscopic, and spectroscopic methods to characterize liquid environments (electrolytes) and how they interact with solid materials (electrodes) in processing and energy systems.

Who we work with

Collaborations

We collaborate extensively. We work with computational scientists for atomistic/molecular simulation, quantum-chemistry calculation, and ML modeling, and with theorists for microscopic modeling. For applied projects we team up with system engineers (system modeling, TEA/LCA), materials scientists, and chemists.