With an annual research budget related to energy of over $6 million, devoted specifically to materials for energy research, our department is involved with all aspects of energy research related to materials science and engineering, including the following topics:

Energy harvesting and conversion
    Materials for nuclear applications
        High ductility and toughness
    High-temperature ceramics and metals
        High-temperature aluminum alloys
    Fuel cells
        Three-dimensional reconstruction of anode
        Oxide Anodes 
        Interconnect materials
        Direct hydrocarbon SOFCs
        Optimized electrode microstructure      
    Photovoltaic materials
        Atomic force photovoltaic microscopy
        Dye sensitized solar cells
    Thermoelectric materials

Energy storage
    Hydrogen storage
        Novel hydrogen storage
    Ultracapacitors
    Batteries

Energy efficiency (mostly transportation)
    High-temperature ceramics and metals
        Nanoscale visualization of early g/g'-phase separation
        Effects of a Ta addition on the temporal evolution of a model Ni-Al-Cr superalloy
    Light-weight metals, polymers and composites 
        Carbon nanotube transparent conductors
        Nanoscale precipitates in aluminum
        High-strength nanocrystalline alloys
    Catalysis
    Tribology
    Low-power electronic devices
    Solid state lighting