ofessors Cong Trinh and Feng-Yuan Zhang have each received Chancellor’s Innovation Fund awards for projects involving the biomanufacturing of natural butyl acetate and the development of a new electrode technology and manufacturing approach.
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund was developed in 2023 to strengthen East Tennessee’s entrepreneurial network and support University of Tennessee faculty who want to bring their technology to market.
The recipients, who were honored at an award ceremony on April 7, were chosen through a rigorous process that included a pitch competition during which they described the benefits of their technology and how the funding would help them commercialize the ideas. The winning projects each receive up to $50,000 in funding.
Trinh, the Ferguson Fellow and Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is working on his project with Mounir Izallalen, the co-founder and CEO of OceanFlex, Inc.
The project focuses on biomanufacturing of natural butyl acetate, a fragrant organic compound that is commonly found in fruits such as strawberries, applies, and pears. The molecule is also an important ingredient used across industries that shape everyday products, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food and flavors, coatings in automobiles and construction, and solvents in microelectronics. Trinh’s group is developing a transformative technology to produce natural butyl acetate from renewable feedstocks via fermentation at scale in an efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective manner.
“I am truly honored to receive this Chancellor’s Innovation Fund award and am thrilled by the opportunity to advance our technology toward commercialization,” Trinh said. “I appreciate the Chancellor’s Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development and the University of Tennessee Research Foundation for creating this program and providing resources that help faculty translate their fundamental research into real-world commercialization opportunities.”
Transforming electrode manufacturing
Zhang, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is a co-principal investigator on a project with Matthew Mench, Chancellor’s Professor, Condra Chair, and Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the college
The project focuses on developing a new electrode technology and manufacturing approach that can significantly reduce the cost of electrochemical systems such as electrolyzers, which is a device that uses the process of water electrolysis and electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. These electrodes are used for applications like clean fuel production, critical material recovery, and nuclear energy process.
The current high-cost process for manufacturing electrodes must become more efficient to provide the clean fuel supply to meet the projected growth in America’s energy demand.
Zhang’s group has developed an innovative advanced electrode platform based on a new electrodeposition method that cuts the number of fabrication steps from 10 or more to just three while improving electrode performance. Compared with conventional electrodes, the approach reduces manufacturing complexity by about 70 percent while also reducing both capital and operating costs.
The process results in electrolyzers that last longer, produce clean fuel with greater energy efficiency, and reduce the use of rare precious metals by 90 percent.
“Receiving the Chancellor’s Innovation award is a strong validation of both our research and our commercialization efforts. What makes this award especially meaningful is that the evaluation includes feedback from industry and entrepreneurial experts, so it confirms that our technology has real potential beyond the laboratory,” Zhang said. “The award also provides critical support that will allow us to scale up the technology and move it closer to practical use. More importantly, it gives us momentum and marks an important step toward translating our research into real-world impact.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])