PNNL featured experts are available to provide scientific and technical expertise to the news media. To arrange an interview with a PNNL expert, contact the PNNL News & Media team. To search the entire database, visit Featured Experts.
Arun Devaraj, PhD
Materials Scientist
Arun Devaraj, PhD
Materials Scientist
Biography
Arun Devaraj has experienced steel production up close and personal.
His first job after earning a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering and material science was in a steel mill in India. His work was mostly in a laboratory setting, examining steel for defects and its sources, but he was close to the nearby cauldron of molten steel.
More than a decade later, Devaraj continues to look for imperfections in metal. The goal is to find metals that can endure the rigors of assisting in the next advances in energy technologies.
“We know how to safely transport gasoline and other fuels,” said Devaraj. “We’re searching for alternatives to those fossil fuels. One of those possibilities is hydrogen. To do that, we need to create new mechanisms for storing and transporting hydrogen. Our research would essentially allow us to figure out how to design materials that can do that.”
A DOE Early Career Research Program awardee, Devaraj is using the award funds to explore how hydrogen, combined with stress and oxidation, could put high-strength steels that are widely used in the nuclear and automotive industries at risk of failure.
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society selected Devaraj in 2020 as one of two recipients of the Young Leaders Professional Development Award, a recognition of his achievements and an opportunity to further his involvement with the professional organization.
Devaraj, who holds a joint appointment with the Colorado School of Mines, is an expert in atom probe tomography. The instrument at PNNL has led to his discoveries about the durability of lithium ion battery cathodes and how to make strong, lightweight material for automobiles.
“I’m trying to reveal exactly at the atomic scale how metals would fail under various extreme environments,” Devaraj said, “and what would it take to change that.”