Richard Lunt, an assistant professor in the Michigan State University College of Engineering, has been awarded the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Award in Environmental Chemistry.
A faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Lunt is one of eight recipients nationwide to receive the award. The highly competitive $120,000 grant adds a postdoctoral researcher to Lunt’s research team for two years.
The award will advance the development of a new type of solar concentrator that creates solar energy while allowing people to see through the window. This transparent luminescent solar concentrator can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface.
Lunt said more work is needed to improve the concentrator’s energy-producing efficiency.
Lunt’s research was featured on the cover of a recent issue of the journal Advanced Optical Materials.
Other members of the research team include Yimu Zhao, a doctoral student in chemical engineering and materials science; Benjamin Levine, assistant professor of chemistry; and Garrett Meek, doctoral student in chemistry.