The Energy & Sustainability Research Group (ESRG) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) conducts systems-based applied research that addresses critical local, national, and international energy, water, and health challenges. Multidisciplinary teams work together to provide water resource and environmental assessments as well as water and energy infrastructure assessments, building evaluations for energy efficiency, and energy and economic modeling.
Polymer and Ceramic Hybrid Electrolytes Enabling High-Performance All-Solid-State Batteries
Ceramic/polymer hybrid solid-state-electrolyes (SSEs) are investigated to address intrinsic limitations of ceramic SSEs such as poor mechanical properties and high electrode/electrolyte interface resistance.
Next Generation Building Materials
Based on their unique 1D structures, the product nanofibers are employed in a variety of applications including high-power Li-ion batteries, concrete building blocks, conductive paints, catalysts, antimicrobial systems.
Graphene Batteries
The electrodes based on functionalized carbon materials are considered to have a potential to overcome limitations of conventional Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors, exhibiting high capacity and fast charge capability at the same time.
Commercialization of High-performance Catalyst for Green Hydrogen Production
Water-splitting combined with renewable energy sources is considered as the most promising pathway to produce “clean (or green)” hydrogen with zero-emission. The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting the research and development of advanced technologies for production of clean hydrogen, with a goal of reducing production cost to $1 per kg by 2030.
Conductivity-enhanced Alloys with Nanocarbon Additives
There has been intensive demand of an enhanced conductive material in areas of the aerospace, electric vehicles, industrial and rail markets. Deploying an enhanced conductive material into these markets has the potential to support transformational technology for power distribution devices/systems that impact our daily lives.
Workload and Movement Patterns of Healthcare Providers in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU
ICU workload impacts patient care and outcomes, and may be modified by staff movement and perceived workload and stress. In collaboration with researchers at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University, we perform a comprehensive analysis of how workload and physical-cognitive burden on staff impacts patient care and outcomes.
Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet (G2RT)
Research to reinvent the toilet was launched by the Gates Foundation eight years ago and those efforts have made significant progress. The new initiative is nicknamed Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet (G2RT). The goal will now be to bring the dispersed efforts together to focus on demonstrating prototypes of a single user reinvented toilet (SURT) that the world’s poorest regions can afford.
Geosynthetic Piezoelectric Generator Systems
GTRI proposes to develop thin-film, cost-competitive piezoelectric materials to be integrated into a state-of-the-art geosynthetic roadway reinforcement fabric, creating a low maintenance, low cost product that can be quickly commercialized and deployed at scale by today’s roadway developers.
Department of Energy SunShot Initiative
The United States Department of Energy launched the SunShot initiative aimed at decreasing the cost of solar energy by 75%, to be achieved by reducing technology costs, grid integration costs, and accelerating solar deployment by 2020.
Project ENGAGES
Project ENGAGES is a high school science education program developed at Georgia Tech in partnership with Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy, B.E.S.T Academy and KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, three minority-serving public high schools in the City of Atlanta.