(4pb) Sarah Adaryan

The rising concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is a major driver of climate change, leading to global warming, ocean acidification, and ecosystem disruption. Mitigating CO2 emissions through carbon capture, conversion, and storage is a promising approach, aiming to capture CO2 and either store it underground or convert it into valuable products. However, significant challenges remain. Traditional CO2 reduction electrolyzers, which use liquid-based electrolytes, require costly post processing purification, while porous solid electrolyte reactors, though addressing this issue, suffer from poor stability. Additionally, integrating CO2 capture with conversion processes and optimizing their efficiency is a complex task. My future research will address these challenges through the following key areas:

• Enhance CO2 Reactor Design: Develop advanced solid-state electrolytes and integrate them with anion and cation exchange membranes to optimize ion transport, enhance reactor design, simplify assembly, and boost overall performance.
• Scale Up and Industrial Integration: Expand solid-state electrolyzers to meet industrial standards, addressing challenges in scalability, durability, and production processes.
• Integrate CO2 Capture and Conversion: Create systems that seamlessly combine CO2 captur with conversion processes, optimizing efficiency with advanced membrane technologies.
• Optimize with Computational Modeling: Use computational modeling to analyze ion transfer and electrolyte-catalyst interactions, refining system design and performance.

Research Experience

My research journey began during my doctoral studies, where I focused on computational modeling of electrochemical energy storage systems at the University of Houston. During this time, I explored ion transfer and diffusion in the micro and nanostructures of electrode materials, laying a strong foundation in computational and experimental techniques. Following my PhD, I transitioned to postdoctoral research at Rice University, where I developed a free-standing porous solid electrolyte for solid-state CO2 reduction electrolysis, leading to a provisional patent. Additionally, I pioneered the use of organic electrochemical transistors for the detection of hydrocarbons and trace organic molecules, including pollutants like perfluorooctanoic acid, in seawater. These experiences have equipped me with significant expertise in the synthesis and characterization of functional materials, electrochemical system design, and the integration of computational tools to optimize performance.

Teaching Interests

While I am able to teach all fundamental Engineering courses, my expertise and research focus particularly on Energy and Mass Balances, Mass Transfer, and Thermodynamics. During my doctorate, I served as a teaching assistant for a graduate-level Materials for Energy Storage course, where I led multiple lectures and designed homework and test questions. In addition to core Chemical Engineering courses, I aim to develop special topics courses that align with my research interests in electrochemistry and its applications in energy conversion, including fuel cells, CO2 conversion, batteries, and supercapacitors, as well as in Analysis of Transport Phenomena specially Electrochemical Transport.