DeKalb, IL – The research of NIU Chemistry Professor Tao Li continues to attract attention from national research funders.
NIU Chemistry Professor Tao Li
After earning research grants totaling more than $880,000 over the last two years, Professor Li this fall has received three new federal awards for his scientific studies, this time totaling $1.85 million. All of the new projects will incorporate student researchers.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Li will be a member of a new center at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory that is making a major research push toward the decarbonization of steelmaking. As a center researcher, NIU’s Li will receive $850,000 in DOE funding for a four-year study on the solvation behavior of iron electrolytes. He’ll hire one postdoctoral student and one Ph.D. student to assist with the study.
Li also has a five concurrent National Science Foundation research projects underway at NIU, including two that are newly funded this fall.
Undergraduate student Rena Gonzalez is a member of Professor Li’s research group.
Li is leading a research team working to create an optimum electrolyte solution for advanced rechargeable batteries. The team includes researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Under its Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program, NSF is awarding $1.9 million for work on the battery project over four years, with $760,000 going to NIU.
“Rechargeable batteries have become one of the most popular energy storage devices for electric vehicles, electronics and grid energy storage,” Li says. “But developing novel electrolytes for the next generation of rechargeable batteries requires more understanding of transport properties, microstructures, and the impact of microstructure on transport property.”
NSF recently announced a $72.5 million investment in its DMREF program, with research teams working to create novel materials to address grand societal challenges and develop the scientific and engineering workforce of tomorrow. DMREF is NSF’s primary response to the federal Materials Genome Initiative. Its mission is to discover, develop and deploy new materials twice as fast and at a fraction of the cost of traditional research methods.
Li’s project is one of 37 projects to be funded through the program, and he is the only researcher from a Carnegie Classified R2 research university to lead one of the teams. The others are being led by large R1 research institutions.
Professor Li working in his lab with Ph.D. student Xingyi Lyu.
“This was a very competitive grant program, and I’m excited about the research and about the opportunities it will provide to NIU students,” Li said, adding that the research will be conducted at NIU and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory.
Li will employ a postdoc and a Ph.D. student to work on the project, as well as undergraduate interns who will be part of NIU’s summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. The students will learn skills related to the characterization of materials and machine learning.
On another research topic, NSF will provide Li with $240,000 to help investigate the creation of next generation microchips or semiconductors for electronic devices. Li serves as a principal investigator on the multiyear project, being led by the University of Cincinnati. It is supported by the NSF Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program through a public-private partnership.
The outcome of this project is expected to be information on how to manufacture a highly efficient spintronic device. Spintronics technology is an emerging field that uses the spin of an electron along with its charge to reduce power consumption and to increase memory and processing capabilities.
Li said one NIU graduate student will be involved in the project, but the researchers additionally will work to create a blueprint for the launch of a micro-credential in technology communication. The team will also conduct outreach to undergraduate and K-12 audiences to raise awareness of jobs in the semiconductor industry.
Li was recognized last year with an Emerging Researcher Award from the American Chemical Society and selected to be in the class of 2022 Illinois Science & Technology Coalition Researchers to Know in the field of energy technology.
About NIU
Northern Illinois University is a student-centered, nationally recognized public research university, with expertise that benefits its region and spans the globe in a wide variety of fields, including the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, education, health and law. Through its main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, and education centers for students and working professionals in Chicago, Naperville, Oregon and Rockford, NIU offers more than 100 areas of study while serving a diverse and international student body.
