Research

NREL's chemistry and nanoscience research applies our decades of expertise in materials discovery, fabrication, characterization, processing, device performance, and reliability.

This includes materials integration to improve the cost, performance, and lifetime of today's energy materials and bring tomorrow's materials to market.

Primary Research Areas

NREL's primary research in chemistry and nanoscience includes:

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

Photovoltaics

Solar Photochemistry

Quantum and Carbon Nanomaterials.

Crosscutting Research

We collaborate with other research areas across NREL, including:

Battery Materials Synthesis

Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing. 

The Chemistry and Nanoscience Center is part of the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science directorate, led by Associate Laboratory Director Bill Tumas.