Wayne State professor receives prestigious DOE early career grant

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science recently announced its selection of 50 scientists from across the nation to receive its Early Career Research Program award. Eranda Nikolla, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical engineering in Wayne State University's College of Engineering, was selected out of 620 submissions to receive a five-year, $750,000 award for her proposal, Nanostructured, targeted layered metal oxides as active and selective heterogeneous electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution.

Nikolla will pursue work that will lead to development of efficient catalysts for energy generation and storage. She aims to combine computational tools with nanoscience and catalysis to design nanostructured, nonprecious metal oxide electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution—a key reaction in electrochemical energy conversion systems, such as generation of H2 from water. The proposed work will have a significant impact on the development of efficient energy conversion systems.

'It is a great honor that our research was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy with a 2015 Early Career Research Award,' said Nikolla. 'The funded work will have a significant impact in the field by providing fundamental insights that can guide the design of nonprecious metal oxide systems for electrocatalysis.'

The DOE's Early Career Research Program, now in its sixth year, aims to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during their early career years, when many scientists do their most important work.

'Dr. Nikolla was awarded this prestigious grant from the Department of Energy for her transformative research ideas that may one day soon make a major impact on how energy is converted and stored,' said Gloria Heppner, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at Wayne State University. 'She is most deserving of this outstanding recognition from the DOE.'

Provided by Wayne State University