Six Mac Eng professors have been awarded an International Initiatives Micro-Fund (IIMF) seed grant from the Vice Provost Office of International Affairs to help establish new international research partnerships.
The Fund will provide 20 investments of $5,000 each for first-time international research initiatives to nurture potential joint projects and longstanding international partnerships.
“The IIMF grants support new and existing international research collaborations between McMaster faculty and scholars across the world,” says Professor Bonny Ibhawoh, Vice-Provost, International Affairs.
“The awardees represent a wide range of innovative international research partnerships ongoing at McMaster. The goal of the grant awards is to strengthen and expand these global engagement initiatives at McMaster.”
“We are delighted to see these projects supported by the VP International Office,” says John Preston, Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Engineering.
“These investments will provide an excellent opportunity for faculty and students to strengthen their international partnerships while working collaboratively to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Meet the six professors who were awarded the fund, learn about their research and how the fund will be used to support their work:
Underground hydrogen storage for a net-zero future
Benzhong (Robin) Zhao – Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering
The “net-zero emissions roadmap” by the International Energy Agency (IEA2021) identifies hydrogen as a key pillar for decarbonizing the global energy system by mid-century. However, existing hydrogen storage solutions (e.g., tanks and salt caverns) do not provide nearly enough capacity for projected future needs.
Zhao is working to address the existing knowledge gaps in underground hydrogen storage through an international research collaboration with Professor Yashar Mehmani from Pennsylvania State University. Together they will take an integrated experimental and modelling approach to answer questions about how hydrogen behaves when stored in deep aquifers and depleted reservoirs underground.
The IIMF funding will allow Zhao to jumpstart the research program, fund a one-time scholarship to a PhD student and enable that student to collaborate with Prof. Mehmani and his group to develop modeling tools for underground hydrogen storage. A joint proposal is in the works to the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Particulate and Multiphase Processes program.
Improving rechargeable Zn-ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage
Joey Kish – Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Rechargeable Zn-ion batteries are an emerging alternative to the Li-ion batteries currently used for non-portable applications such as grid-scale energy storage; however self-corrosion of the negative Zn electrode does occur during cycling.
Kish is collaborating with Professor Kevin Ogle from Chimie ParisTech to determine the mechanism that drives this self-corrosion and how that mechanism is influenced by electrolyte composition. Kish will employ conventional electrochemical measurements coupled with site specific surface structure and composition analysis across multi-length scales using electron microscopy. Ogle will explore the effect of cycling (charge/discharge) on the anodic dissolution kinetics of Zn foil by measuring dynamic changes in the chemical composition of the electrolyte using atomic emission spectro-electrochemistry (AESEC).
The IIMF will support the technical research as well as a two-week visit to Cimie ParisTech by one of Kish’s PhD students to work with Prof. Ogle in making the initial measurements.
Facilitating International Partnerships for Organic-Inorganic Interfaces
Kathryn Grandfield – Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Microscopy of Biomaterials and Biointerfaces, Materials Science and Engineering
In a new collaboration with Dr. Tarakina of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Grandfield aims to advance the study of organic-inorganic interfaces through the development and application of correlative electron microscopy tools. Grandfield and Tarakina are current co-chairs of the 7th international conference on Microscopy and Characterization of Organic-Inorganic Interfaces (MCOII) which they will bring to McMaster University from June 27-28, 2023. This conference, previously held in Germany and the UK, combines life sciences and materials science microscopists to stimulate new interdisciplinary approaches for solving problems at organic-inorganic interfaces.
The IIMF fund will be used to offset conference organization costs to provide a platform for undergraduate to postgraduate researchers to present their work and interact with international leaders in the field. It will also enable Tarakina’s research team to visit McMaster to participate in experiments on electron tomography of bone-implant interfaces.
Aluminum as a carrier of Icelandic geothermal energy
Keena Trowell – Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
The long-term storage of clean power is a challenge in the transition to a low or zero-carbon energy system. Trowell is exploring the potential of aluminum as a promising energy carrier as it is energy dense and produces heat and hydrogen when reacted with water and the byproduct, aluminum oxide, is an existing recyclable commodity, making it a cost effective, sustainable and circular fuel.
Trowell is partnering with Verkis (Icelandic Engineering Firm with expertise in geothermal power) and Rio Tinto (world leader in aluminum production and inert anode technology) to develop and advance a national research initiative. Iceland boasts geothermal resources that have the potential to generate energy in excess of its domestic needs but has export challenges due to its remote location. The funds will be utilized for travel expenses to attend a seminar in Reykjavik that will explore technical and production capacity, economic challenges and opportunities and the government’s priorities and research funding options. The trip will also include site visits to Rio Tinto’s ISAL smelter in Hafnarfjörðurand and a geothermal project site.
Novel Cathodes for all-solid-state-batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles
Seshasai Srinivasan – Associate Professor, W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology
All Solid State Batteries (ASSBs) are considered a better alternative to conventional Lithium-ion batteries due to their better thermal stability, longer life cycle and higher energy density. Srinivasan is currently developing computational models (multiscale as well as reduced-order models) for ASSBs to explore novel cathode materials for ASSBs to identify novel chemistries for advanced ASSBs.
Through the IIMF, Dr. Srinivasan will partner with Dr. Vipin Kumar from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with the goal of developing an accurate reduced order model based on current experimental data at McMaster while initiating the fabrication of the novel cathode materials-based coin cells at IIT-Delhi. The team will also explore 3-D printing of ASSBs at McMaster to design ‘engineered’ microstructures that enhance the performance of the batteries.
The IIMF funding will enable travel to India to carry out the project.
Gasification of biomass for electricity generation and methanol production
Shakirudeen Salaudeen – Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Biomass is an abundant and renewable feedstock that has a significant role in the sustainable production of energy, chemicals and materials, however it requires continuous innovation to develop it as a low-cost, high-quality sustainable alternative to fossil fuel. Torrefaction, a thermal conversion method of biomass that produces a high-quality solid biofuel, is used as a pretreatment method to upgrade biomass properties close to the properties of coal.
Salaudeen’s research aims to investigate the effects of pressurized torrefaction on bagasse (sugarcane pulp) gasification to inform its use for electricity generation and methanol production. To do this, Salaudeen is partnering with Dr. Bilainu Oboirien from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa who will lend his expertise in biomass conversion through gasification, waste-to-energy techniques, technoeconomic analysis, modelling of low carbon processes, and life cycle assessment to the project.
The IIMF funding will enable Dr. Salaudeen to establish research activities with the partner and will be used to support research travel and research dissemination.
