When it comes to environmentally sustainable energy technologies, Jasneet Kaur has big plans for building better energy systems using two-dimensional (2D) materials.

The Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering recently became a faculty affiliate of Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC), where she will be exploring alignments between her development of novel layered structures and 2D nanomaterials to improve clean energy technologies and the social and policy research specialties of other ESRC researchers.

“As part of my affiliation with ESRC, I aim to get familiar with the policies around environmental sustainability, plan education and outreach activities around sustainability themes, contribute to research projects and apply for research grants with colleagues from the centre,” says Kaur.

Kaur is the Director of Brock’s Sustainable Nano Engineered Materials Lab. In her current research, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), she is focused on discovering, engineering and characterizing novel materials that can be used as components in clean energy devices, such as batteries and green hydrogen systems, specifically as alternatives to expensive precious metals.

Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Jasneet Kaur recently became a faculty affiliate with the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre.

Currently Kaur’s group is studying the family of 2D materials known as MXenes (pronounced as “max-eens”) for building efficient clean energy technologies.

“MXenes are 2D carbide and nitride compounds, ultra-thin one-nanometer sheets that are 100,000 times thinner than a human hair,” she says. “The layered structures of MXenes offer a combination of intriguing properties — such as high electrical conductivity, functional tunability and thermal and electrochemical stability — which make them exciting and useful building blocks for a wide variety of applications, including environmental and energy applications.”

Kaur’s team is also doing exciting work on water electrolyzers, devices that can isolate hydrogen in water using electricity. A recent collaboration with researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University and the German Aerospace Centre has been highlighted in the top 10 per cent of papers published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels.

“Another interesting direction we are pursuing is on the development of sustainable components for water electrolyzer systems for green hydrogen generation,” she says. “Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis is considered as a promising fuel for reducing carbon emissions and can be used cleanly in many hard-to-decarbonize sectors.”

Kaur says the goals of her research group works “resonate strongly with the ESRC’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable innovation,” and she is looking forward to future collaborations, potential student supervisions and many new ideas and perspectives.

ESRC Director Julia Baird says she is thrilled to welcome Kaur as the ESRC’s newest affiliate member, especially with so many graduate students in the Centre interested in researching sustainable energy.

“With each new Affiliate, there are greater opportunities for students to build knowledge and engage in research on diverse topics with an environmental sustainability lens, and each affiliate opens up new collaborative opportunities among faculty,” says Baird. “As the ESRC grows and expands its breadth and diversity of expertise, our students, researchers and community partners all benefit.”

The ESRC is currently seeking applications from members of the Brock University Faculty Association interested in becoming affiliated core or participating faculty members with the Centre as well as post-doctoral fellows and individuals beyond Brock who are interested in being nominated to become Adjunct Faculty.

The deadline for applications and nominations is Wednesday, Dec. 10. Internal applicants can learn more on SharePoint. External candidates can express interest in seeking nomination by emailing [email protected]