Project Grant 2137157

This three-year, $290,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports collaborative research between the University of Texas at Austin and universities in Ireland to develop an integrated experimental and simulation approach for achieving an atomic-level understanding of solid-liquid interfaces in electrochemical energy systems. Funded through the NSF Engineering Directorate's 47.041 CFDA program, this award's key products include establishing an experiment-theory platform using molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations paired with atomic-resolution microscopy experiments. This platform will provide predictive models of electrode-electrolyte interfaces to further energy storage in carbon-based supercapacitors and solvent-mediated catalytic kinetics on single-atom catalysts. Outcomes aim to foster renewable energy technology design by determining three-dimensional interfacial structures down to the atomic scale while training students in collaborative international research methods.