The Polymers for Advanced Energy Sustainability Laboratory focuses on polymer-based lithium batteries, membrane separations, and water treatment. Solid, polymer batteries have the potential to improve the safety and performance of energy storage, especially for electric vehicles. Membrane-based separations can improve the efficiency of energy production and be applied to carbon dioxide capture. Water treatment can be made less energy intensive by using polymer membranes and other sustainable environmental approaches in engineered systems.

Capabilities include polymer synthesis and characterization, nanoparticle synthesis and self-assembly, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy, as well as identification of metals, nutrients, organic matter, and microbiological interactions in aquatic and soil environments.

Major instrumentation includes:

• Argon-filled glove boxes for battery assembly and polymer synthesis
• Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer for air-free and general FTIR experiments
• Temperature-controlled electrochemical instruments for battery cycling and impedance spectroscopy
• Malvern gel permeation chromatography (GPC) for polymer characterization
• Millrock freeze dryer for drying of custom polymers and generation of porous materials
• Dionex ICS-900 Ion Chromatography (IC) system
• Agilent 4100 MP-AES Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer
• Cary UV-Vis 60 Ultraviolet-visible Spectrophotometer
• High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system

Supervisors: Dr. Daniel Hallinan, dhallinan@eng.famu.fsu.edu and Dr. Gang Chen, gchen@eng.famu.fsu.edu.