Sustainable batteries for ubiquitous and large-scale energy storage Understanding Materials Behavior at Interfaces in Solid-State Batteries

Project: Research

Project Details

Description

progress in storage technologies that effectively address the intermittency of clean energy sources. Electrochemical energy storage methods based on batteries are appealing because they are not limited by the Carnot efficiency since batteries are not thermal machines and may store energy with very high performances. However, current battery technologies still require fundamental improvements to make them safer, more efficient, cheap, and long-lasting. To meet these expectations, fundamental understanding of processes taking place within batteries and foundational materials discovery that account for the needed multifunctional nature of compounds that are used for their fabrication must take place and novel interfacial diagnostics methods must be developed to reduce chemical, structural and morphological non-idealities. Despite decades of research, predicting materials behavior and the details of interfacial reactions in complex electrochemical environments as in batteries has remained a great challenge. Modern batteries must meet stringent technological demands imposing that battery materials be designed to satisfy numerous constraints simultaneously. This leaves little room to the traditional paradigm of trial-and-errorbased sequential materials optimization and requires novel and rational methods. This project will develop a detailed understanding of interfacial reactions in all-solid-state batteries including lithium metal and sulfur batteries strategies to prevent unwanted reactions between solid electrolytes (SEs) and electrode materials. A guiding principle in this work will be the detailed understanding of interfacial reaction mechanisms and the identification of fundamental materials traits that control behavior. These studies will be followed with the development of a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between the electrolyte and the anode, the roles of their structure and morphology and their impact on cell stability, with the aim of developing mitigation strategies. This project will help predict SEs that are more robust and possess superior transport properties and will serve as the basis for improved models that account for interfacial interactions. With this research, my group hopes to drive fundamental discoveries that will illuminate the path towards sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/02/2231/12/22

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