Materials Discovery

Eco-remediation: Removing greenhouse gases and decontaminating water

At the Materials Discovery lab, our eco-remediation research focuses on four key areas: addressing global air quality, advanced materials for heating, cooling, and humidity control, water decontamination, and atmospheric water harvesting.

Our labs develop practical materials that address two of the world’s most urgent climate challenges: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and securing clean, reliable water resources. We design advanced materials for integration into technologies that capture or degrade airborne pollutants and greenhouse gases. This work addresses emissions that cannot be eliminated through current methods alone.

To help protect water resources, we develop materials that remove contaminants such as arsenic, chromium, and lead from drinking water and harvest fresh water directly from the air. These technologies can help strengthen resilience in communities facing water shortages, natural disasters, or aging infrastructure, while expanding access to clean water resources.

Energy generation and storage: Transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy

At the Materials Discovery lab, our energy generation and storage research focuses on four key areas: AEM electrode and membrane enhancements, ORR catalyst discovery, metal reclamation across feedstocks, and polymer electrolyte membrane OER discovery.

Our research focuses on developing safe, cost-effective materials that support the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Much of this work centers on green hydrogen, a clean fuel that can help power industries and transportation systems that are difficult to electrify. We’re improving the electrodes, membranes, and catalysts used in electrolyzers so hydrogen production can become more efficient, durable, and affordable at scale.

We’re also advancing materials used in fuel cells, which generate electricity from hydrogen while producing only water as a byproduct. These technologies have the potential to support cleaner vehicles and reliable backup power systems. We’re also developing improved methods to recover precious metals and minerals such as lithium, copper, and nickel from recycled products and industrial waste.

These efforts support a more resilient supply chain for batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other renewable energy technologies. By reducing cost and performance barriers for clean energy technologies, this research supports a more secure energy future.

An AI platform for breakthrough materials

The Materials Discovery Research Institute operates a fully digital, AI-native facility designed to accelerate materials discovery. By integrating data capture, automation, robotics, and advanced computing across every stage of the research process, the lab transforms traditional materials research into a rapid, real-time innovation engine.

Our researchers combine computational modeling, high-throughput experimentation, and data-driven insights to accelerate the path from idea to impact. This approach enables faster, more scalable discovery and development of advanced materials for clean energy, energy storage, and eco-remediation applications.

Built to address urgent global safety challenges, the lab helps researchers move beyond traditional trial-and-error methods and accelerate the discovery and deployment of materials that can contribute to a safer future.