Corrosion is the deterioration of metal or metal alloy by destructive chemical reactions with the environment. Corrosion science is the study of chemical and metallurgical processes that occur during corrosion. In turn, corrosion engineering is the design and application of methods to control and prevent corrosion. Our lab is focused on developing methods to prevent corrosion and reduce the cost of corrosion in our society.

Electroplating is a process that uses electric current to reduce dissolved metal cations to form a coherent metal coating on a substrate. An electroplating system consists of a cathode (e.g. a part to be coated), an electrolyte (a metal salt solution), and an anode (e.g. a target metal or an inert conductive material). Our lab applies electroplating technology to develop electrode materials for fuel cells, batteries, and electrolysis cells as well as electronic devices such as memory chips, printed circuit boards, and flat-screen displays.