Dr. Chongze Hu, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, received a $635,000 Department of Energy Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Award for his research project titled “Computational-Guided and Data-Driven Discovery of High-Entropy Two-Dimensional MXenes.”
Hu’s project aims to develop an advanced scientific computational framework by integrating high-throughput first-principles calculations, advanced machine learning techniques, and other data-driven methods to predict the stability and synthesizability of high-entropy two-dimensional MXenes, an emerging class of 2D materials.
“This is my first research grant, and it will provide opportunities and support for my students and their research,” Hu said. “This is a very significant award for our group.”
Hu and his lab group will collaborate with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which will provide world-class facilities to support the rapid development of this framework, conduct high-throughput calculations and train machine learning models.
MXene materials have applications in many fields including aerospace materials, energy storage and conversion, electromagnetic interference shielding and many others due to their high strength, heat resistance and conductivity.
The EPSCoR program, founded in 1979, aims to foster research excellence and strengthen the nation’s research capability by encouraging science and technology research.