November 2024
Raj posted his pre-print (in collaboration with the Devaraj group at PNNL) “Understanding the mechanism for the low-temperature reduction of Fe2O3 to Fe in alkaline electrolytes” on the ChemRxiv.
Electrochemical ironmaking in the news: “Why should we electrify ironmaking?” – Steel Times International
June 2024
Postdoctoral scholar Evandi Rahman arrived in Eugene! Evandi will be working on scaling up components supporting the chlor-iron process. He brings expertise on chlorine and nitrogen electrocatalysis and has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.
Our work on decarbonized iron production was highlighted in TLT Magazine.
May 2024
We said goodbye to Ana Konovalova, who will be starting a new faculty position at DTU Energy this fall! Ana taught us much about mass transport limits in direct oxide reduction. We’re excited for future research coming out of the Konovalova Lab in Denmark.
The Kempler group arrived at the 245th ECS Meeting en masse! Paul presented on recent chlor-iron data, Nick gave a talk on proton transfer at the liquid-liquid interface, and Kira presented on corrosion kinetics of UPD monolayers.
April 2024
Paul was interviewed by Physics Magazine about the career-focused training program offered by the Oregon Center for Electrochemistry. Read the article here.
We’re collaborating with Form Energy on a potentially game-changing approach to ironmaking as part of the ARPA-E “Revolutionizing Ore to Steel Impacts Emissions (ROSIE)” program. Read about the full list of selected projects.
February 2024
Berkley and Ana’s paper on the chlor-iron process and it’s potential to reduce CO2 emissions related to ironmaking is featured in Joule!
News about the process appears in Science, C&EN, Around the O, and local KEZI 9.
Our proposal titled “Ore Electrolysis in Seawater for the Production of Iron Alloys for Steelmaking” was selected for funding by the DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office! We’re excited to collaborate with researchers at De Nora and Oregon State University as we attempt to scale up the chlor-iron process and make a dent in ironmaking emissions. Decarbonizing the industrial sector is a crucial step towards the nation’s climate goals and we’re grateful for the opportunity to contribute.
Our group is a subawardee on a NSF Phase I SBIR led by Laura Stoy and Rivalia Chemical! We’ll be investigating new pathways for extracting rare earth elements from fly ash waste.
December 2023
Our proposal with NETL (led by Martin Detrois and Stoichko Antonov) to investigate fully electrified pathways to producing electrical steels was selected for funding! This will support new UO graduate student collaborations with our closest DOE national laboratory.
June 2023
Paul, Berkley, and Shannon filed a patent on the chlor-iron process!
May 2023
Paul won a UO Sustainability Award for Research and Scholarship. The award is shared with Shannon Boettcher and is in recognition of research led by the Oregon Center for Electrochemistry.
Paul taught a class on using technoeconomic analysis to understand pathways for decarbonization with Joshua Skov. Read about it in Around the O!
January 2023
Anastasiia Konovalova and Shujin Hou arrive in Eugene! Both will collaborate across the Boettcher and Kempler groups: Ana will be researching direct oxide reduction as part of our DOE BES Award, Shujin will research advanced bipolar membranes and anion exchange membrane electrolyzers.
Paul is quoted in the Bend Source weekly, in an article discussing how Oregon’s climate goals will affect our future electricity grid.
November 2022
In collaboration with the Boettcher lab we received funding from Hgen to study advanced alkaline water electrolysis. Manasa will be researching improvements to electrodes and electrolytes used to produce green hydrogen!
September 2022
We received funding from the DOE BES Materials Chemistry program to study the mechanism of direct metal oxide to metal conversion reactions, with applications in electrowinning and energy storage.
This is a collaborative project with the Brozek Lab and Nancy Washton and David Bazak at PNNL.
July 2022
We’re joining the Center for Interfacial Ionics, an NSF CCI led by Shannon Boettcher and in collaboration with MIT, UC Irvine, Stanford, UMass Boston, Cal State LA, and Prairie View A&M. Nick will be studying new methods for quantifying the kinetics of elementary interfacial ion transfer reactions as part of this team.
May 2022
We were selected by the UO VPRI Innovation Fund to research a new method for ironmaking ““A chlor-iron process for decarbonized steel production”!
February 2022
Paul’s perspective on hydrogen for seasonal energy storage, written with John Slack and Andrew Baker (Nikola), is featured in PV magazine:
Hydrogen under $3/kg may ensure affordable seasonal energy storage in the US