Mechanistic investigations of heterogeneous catalysis, carbon capture, and environmental separations via combined synthetic, kinetic, and theoretical techniques; improving efficiencies for conversions of conventional feedstocks to fuels and chemicals and developing renewable alternatives to fuels and chemicals

Fundamental processes controlling the ocean-atmosphere distribution of climatically important chemicals, particularly carbon dioxide, and how these have changed through time; global carbon cycle, ocean biogeochemical dynamics, the impact of climate change on ocean biology and biogeochemistry, use of chemical tracers to study ocean circulation, paleoceanography

Mechanisms of light harvesting and light-induced charge separation; photosynthesis; organic semiconductors; bioinspiration (learning from novelties in nature), chemistry powered by light, quantum effects in molecular-level function

Interfacial modifiers in organic photovoltaics; interface chemistry; surface modification of polymer or inorganic conductor or semiconductor surfaces as a means to enhance performance of devices as diverse as diodes, organic transistors, or biosensors; strong interfaces between implant or tissue scaffold surfaces and biomolecules in the context of enhancing tissue integration with a prosthetic device

Simulations of materials, interfaces, and processes in photo- and electro-catalysis

Behavioral interventions; reasoning, judgment, and decision-making, and issues related to behavioral economics, with an emphasis on descriptive studies of how people make judgments and decisions in situations of conflict and uncertainty

Earth’s environmental history; interactions among climate, ocean biogeochemistry, and atmospheric carbon dioxide; the global nitrogen cycle, today and in the past

Mathematical methods for the localized analysis of scalar and vectorial satellite data, monitoring of ice sheets from time-variable gravity, statistical analysis of multivariate multidimensional stochastic fields, inverse modeling for global and exploration seismology, and design of autonomously floating multi-sensor oceanic platforms.

Energy-efficient software in cloud computing and large-scale computing

Game-theoretic models of energy and emissions markets, with emphasis on policy implications; economics of exhaustible resources, including modeling of shifts in energy markets toward intermittent alternative sources such as solar and wind technologies; dynamic models to help design incentives for greener fuel production; financialization of energy and commodities markets; risk quantification of electricity grids under increased stochasticity from renewables penetration.

Urban environments, hydrology and meteorology; extreme floods, including the impact of urban environments, environmental sensor systems

Global energy system response to global and local environmental and security constraints; carbon dioxide capture from fossil fuels and storage in geological formations; nuclear power; energy efficiency in buildings; advanced technologies in developing countries

The Sood Lab builds novel experimental platforms to visualize dynamical processes in materials and devices, for understanding and controlling the flow of charge (electrons), energy (heat), and matter (ions) at nanometer length scales and picosecond timescales. Key applications of interest include energy-efficiency computing, thermal management, energy harvesting, energy storage, and next-generation photovoltaics and optoelectronics.

Green methods for achieving efficient chemical syntheses by approximating the efficiency with which nature creates architecturally complex, biologically active natural products

Modeling and experiments related to inertial confinement fusion and high energy density physics

Research in our lab aims to integrate diverse fields, including organic chemistry, photochemistry, inorganic materials, and polymer chemistry, to pioneer fresh advancements in materials science and synthesis. One major aspect of our research is finding solutions for a more sustainable plastics economy. This work involves the application of innovative catalytic methods to formulate previously unexplored strategies for polymerization. Central to this approach is the discovery of novel monomers that unlock access to unprecedented materials, facilitating an in-depth exploration of their potential applications.

While techniques for producing high volume commercial plastics like polyethylene and polystyrene have attained a high level of sophistication, our lab also recognizes the pressing need to address the inadequate strategies for managing these materials at the end of their lifecycle. Another pivotal focus of our work lies in recycling commercial plastics to commodity chemicals, forging a pathway for valorization of plastic waste. Additionally, developing strategies for chemical recycling to monomer, to access a truly cyclic plastic economy, is a major focus of catalyst and material development. Our primary approach uses a light-to-heat conversion strategy, known as photothermal conversion, to produce intense thermal gradients capable of depolymerizing commercial plastics. We are studying photothermal conversion agents and catalysts to promote such a transformation to be applied to post-consumer waste.

In addition to our work in sustainable polymer chemistry, we are interested in exploring photothermal conversion as a general strategy for organic synthesis. Photon-mediated chemical processes offer a pathway to create complex, biologically significant compounds, a critical pursuit within the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry. Yet, numerous reactions essential to synthesis often rely on the application of intense heat to activate chemical bonds. We aim to use photothermal conversion to overcome energy intensive and inefficient aspects tied to conventional bulk heating methods.

Erosion/corrosion in water flows for cooling in fusion reactors; fluid dynamics of lithium for protecting inner walls of fusion reactors; microfluidic studies relevant to water purification; electrokinetic effects relevant to energy storage devices

Materials, Processing, and Devices for Microelectronics and Macroelectronics.

The continual scaling of VLSI devices to smaller dimensions, higher performance, and higher integration levels over the last thirty years has directly enabled the “information society.” Scaling has reduced the cost of intelligence (that is, electronic circuits) by some six orders of magnitude, while performance has continuously increased. Continued growth of the information economy depends on the further scaling of silicon-based electronic devices to the 0.1 micron (nanoscale) level and beyond.

Our group works to achieve this goal through the science and technology of silicon-based heterojunctions and three-dimensional integration for VLSI. The work involves the growth of novel materials on a near-atomic scale, materials processing, and finally their application into electronic devices such as heterojunction transistors, FET’s, quantum devices, and also optoelectronic devices such as infrared detectors and emitters. Specific focuses in our lab include rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition, silicon-germanium and silicon-germanium-carbon alloys, silicon-on-insulator, and heterojunction devices.

On the other extreme, many electronic information processing systems as a whole are limited on both a fundamental and practical economic level by the human-machine interface. For example, the ability to deliver high-quality video is often limited by the display. In this area it is generally desirable to make products big (for example, the display), as opposed to making them small, as in traditional microelectronics; hence the label “macroelectronics” has emerged.

Because low cost over a large area is a requirement for widespread impact in the future in this field, materials and technologies very different from VLSI are necessary. For example, polycrystalline and amorphous materials, instead of single crystals, and low-cost alternatives to conventional photolithography and etching are highly desirable. To this end, our lab focuses on organic and polymeric semiconductors because of their ease of deposition over large areas (and applications to organic LED’s and FET’s) as well as on amorphous and polycrystalline silicon for TFT’s. Coupled with these materials are efforts to pattern them and fabricate devices using large-area printing technologies such as ink-jet printing, as well as work to fabricate systems such as flat panel displays on unconventional flexible and lightweight substrates.

Carbon capture technology planning through use of large-scale simulations of reacting multiphase flows on large computational platforms; plasma-assisted catalytic reactors for energy-efficient synthesis of chemicals

Studies how people think about their own minds and the minds of other people using a combination of behavioral, machine learning, and neuroimaging methods

Numerical simulations and inversions of acoustic, elastic and poroelastic waves, with applications ranging from medical imaging and nondestructive testing to exploration geophysics to earthquake seismology.

Statistical modeling to examine evidence for global warming in local weather data

Understanding changes to the oceans and atmosphere, including the monsoons, El Niño, and the impact of climate on tropical cyclones, weather extremes, and global patterns of rainfall and drought. Climate modeling. Climate variability, change and predictability.

Environmental sensors and computation platforms (low-power circuits and systems)