We continued to work on the research proposal and made updates as our mentor pointed out some misconceptions we had in our research proposal.
This week no input was made but we switched our project focus and worked diligently to complete the research proposal
Goals
Find and read regarding SEDs
Rewrite proposal for Lithium capture using an ion-exchange column
Accomplished
11/22/2020 (2 hour) Meeting with Aurelio.
Goals
Review past papers and start coming up with an actual research plan
Potentially switching research project
Accomplished
11/15/2020 (1 hour) Meeting with Aurelio to work on research proposal
11/16/2020 (1 hour) Meeting with Aurelio to work on research proposal
11/19/2020 (3 hour) Reread primary source (7). Meeting with Aurelio to talk about a potential switch in project
11/20/2020 (1 hour) Read source (13)
Goals
Read the 8 papers recommended by Hongpeng and Dr. Chen
Get a good understanding of not only hydrothermal synthesis but also other direct recycling methodologies
Decide on a project/direction
Accomplished
11/09/2020 (3 hours) Project proposal work
11/10/2020 (1 hour) Meet with Dr. Chen to discuss research project. Meet with TA to discuss research.
11/12/2020 (4 hours) Read (8) and secondary source (6)
11/13/2020 (1 hour) Meeting with TA to narrow down focus to one specific field.
Goals
Read the paper recommended by mentor and more
Go back and revise previous papers, focus on understanding the experimental data and how they were collected
Explore into new topics in battery recycling
Accomplished
11/03/2020 (3 hours) Reading source (7) and learn more about X-ray diffractometry from secondary source (4).
11/04/2020 (3 hours) Reviewing band theory in crystals from secondary source (5).
11/06/2020 (2 hours) Discuss past papers and plan with Aurelio
Goals
Do more readings while not slacking with academic
Have a meeting with mentor and lab to narrow down research focus
Accomplished
10/28/2020 (1 hour) Read and partially annotate secondary source (3).
10/29/2020 (1 hour) Meeting with Hongpeng to discuss research interest.
10/31/2020 (1 hour) Skimmed over some papers and journals and completed HW 4 for ENG 20.
Goals
Meeting with mentor
Do more readings
Accomplished
10/19/2020 (5 hours): Read (6), annotate, and wrote script for research paper presentation. Meeting with Aurelio to discuss (6).
10/22/2020 (2 hours): Read blog posts from Battery University about contemporaries Lithium-ion batteries, C-rates, and articles pertaining battery technology (e.g. Tesla battery day).
10/23/2020 (3 hours): Meeting with research group, mentor and a guest to discuss their paper on Nanospiky Ni particles. Received a lot of help and guidance to better understand the research and more.
10/24/2020 (1 hours): Revise sources (1) and (2). Did parts of HW 3 for ENG 20.
Goals
Have a group meetings with mentor and with Aurelio
Gain a better understanding of Electrochemistry
Write a draft for the first blog
Using the reading guide to assess research papers pertaining voltammetry, hydrothermal synthesis of Li-ion battery and Marcus cross theory for electron transfer
Accomplished
10/12/2020 (3 hours): Met with Aurelio to plan, set goals for the week, and discuss further readings. ENG 20 class.
10/15/2020 (2.5 hours): Reviewed reading (4), focusing on the diffusion layer. Read and annotated (5), gained a better understanding of the hydrothermal treatment process as well as the data collection tools used.
10/16/2020 (3.5 hours): Meeting with Dr. Chen research group. Completing HW 2 for ENG 20.
Goals
Organize a schedule that will allots sufficient time for research/readings
Set up meetings with PI and mentor
Read into the basics of Electrochemistry in relations to articles (1) and (2)
Accomplished (11 hours)
10/05/2020 (3 hours): Developed a basic understanding of the structure of the electrode-electrolyte interface and variation of potentials governed by redox active species and mass transport mechanisms relevance to electrochemistry.
10/06/2020 (3 hour): Created team website. Attended first ENG 20 lecture.
10/08/2020 (2 hours): Reviewed Physics 2B and Chem 6CH materials, specifically capacitance, time constant of an electronic circuit, and Nernst equation.
10/09/2020 (3 hour): HW 1 for ENG 20. First meeting with mentor to discuss the readings
Goals
Complete the thermodynamic description of lithium intercalation through spinel manganese oxide for research proposal
Understand the structural properties that facilitate lithium intercalation in manganese oxide
Find a best activated carbon particle size from literatures that can maximize the porosity of the MnO2/activated carbon mixture
Accomplished
01/04/2021 (2 hours) Reviewed the Madelung constant for cubic crystal systems from a previous post. Read about the ionic description of LixMn2O4 spinel systems and how the drive of lithium intercalation through spinel manganese oxide is dependent on lithium concentration (Primary Source [3]).
01/06/2021 (5 hours) Read about the investigation on cathode materials based on manganese oxides and how the carbon additives, types of MnO2, and Nickle doping concentration affect the electrochemical behavior of the resulting cells (Primary Source [13]). Read about the Gibbs free energy change calculation for the reaction of lithium with manganese oxides and verifications of calculation by comparing it to the Gibbs free energy received from the charge-discharge potential of the reaction against a metallic lithium counter electrode (Primary Source [11]). Read about the Madelung derivations to find a general formula to compute the Madelung constant for spinel structures with metal valences of the pairs (2,3), or (3,2.5), or (4,2) taken tetrahedral and octahedral sites, respectively (Primary Source [7]).
01/07/2021 (1 hour) Met with Hongpeng to talk about anion position parameter, Madelung constant, Gibbs free energy, and visualization of the spinel structure using VESTA.
Goals
Update the team research proposal
Find and fix all grammatical errors
Read more literatures
Accomplished
01/11/2021 (5 hours) Fixed the misconceptions in the research proposal. Included more details into how to evaluate the adsorbing capability of the lithium ion sieve. Bibtex the references. Adjusted formatting of proposal.
1/15/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
Goals
Complete the material list
Find a sufficient heating mechanism for the experiment
Accomplished
01/17/2021 (2 hours) Worked with Aurelio to create a list of materials to be used. Cleared out a space to do the experiment at Aurelio's apartment.
1/18/2021 (2 hours) Read review paper on lithium batteries (Secondary source [13]), the short-comings of LMO and other batteries are discussed and existing methods to improve their electrochemical performance are summarized.
01/22/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
Goals
Get the material list verified by mentor and PI
Accomplished
01/17/2021 (2 hours) Worked with Aurelio to fix the material list and find a sufficient heating mechanism using Arduino to regulate/control the temperature.
01/29/2021 (2 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting
Goals
Awaiting for approval of material list and set up
Accomplished
02/05/2021 (2 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting
02/06/2021 (2 hour) Read primary source [14]. Formulate addition experimental steps to further analyze and figure out how to determine whether the hydrogen content in MnO2 will make a different in adsorption capability.
Goals
Awaiting for approval of research procedure and clear off questions about the lab
Accomplished
02/08/2021 (2 hours) Worked with Aurelio to come up with detail procedure based on current understanding of the lab situation
Goals
Get some progress
Accomplished
02/19/2021 (1 hours) Meeting with Dr. Chen and Hongpeng to finalize the materials list and procedure
Goals
Get Materials
Accomplished
02/25/2021 (2 hours) Lab tour and received materials from Hongpeng.
Goals
Run the experiment
Accomplished
03/02/2021 (8 hours) Ran the experiment twice. The set up was simple but there were a lot of improvisations we did with materials found in the garage. For safety, during the experiment we had nitrile gloves and masks on, and once all the chemicals are in the solution, we set a large plastic bag on top of everything to lower the possibility of accidental contamination (which happened in the first run).
Goals
Run the experiment another two times and wait for updates from Hongpeng regarding the ICP-MS measurements.
Accomplished
03/07/2021 (8 hours) Ran the experiment once with a different carbon black type. The set up was the same as the last one but after the 6 hours time mark, we used a standard brita filter to try to remove the carbon black and excess chloride from the solution. Whether the desired LiMn2O4 products will also be filtered we were not sure and so solution samples after filtration was collected for further analysis.
03/09/2021 (8 hours) Ran the experiment once more with another different carbon black type. Same set up but we resorted back to use a cloth piece for filtration to better collect powder samples. Different materials for filtration that we got from Home Depot were tested but the pillowcase from the first trial seems to work best because it is really thick while still allowing water to go through (not water resistant).
Goals
Waiting for the sample to be analyzed
Accomplished
04/02/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
Goals
Do some simple experiments
Wait for sample to be analyzed
Review selectrodialysis from previous papers to prepare for presentation
Accomplished
04/09/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
04/11/2021 (4 hours) Review papers on selectrodialysis and conduct simple experiments to measure the potential differences of different materials and objects found at home. Test the solubility of a small amount of MnO2 in water at elevated temperature to see if it will make a different upon addition of proportional LiCl (conclude: MnO2 is not soluble even at warm-hot temperature and intercalation of lithium can occurs without dissolving the MnO2).
Goals
Rerun the trials with carbon black and ketjen black due to ununiform trend
Attend GEAR meeting and meeting with Ved
Accomplished
04/12/2021 (0.1 hours) Meeting with Ved to make sure everything is going to according to plan
04/14/2021 (2 hours) GEAR poster presentation.
04/02/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
Goals
Rerun the trials with carbon black and ketjen black due to ununiform trend
Accomplished
04/20/2021 (0.5 hours) Meeting with Hongpeng to get filters and materials.
04/23/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
04/24/2021 (6 hours) Rerun the trial with carbon black.
Goals
Work on GEAR poster's information
Accomplished
04/26/2021 (1 hours) Fix peer reviewed poster's information
04/30/2021 (1.5 hours) Attended Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
05/01/2021 (1 hours) Planned for lab presentation, read paper on microwave-induced Ni doping on spinel lithium manganite.
Goals
Work on GEAR poster's information and prepared for presentation in Dr. Chen's lab
Accomplished
05/03/2021 (1 hours) Work on results and discussion parts of poster
05/05/2021 (2 hours) Worked on making the poster with Aurelio
Goals
Prepared for presentation in Dr. Chen's lab
Accomplished
05/11/2021 (0.2 hours) Meeting with Ved.
05/11/2021 (4 hours) Working on the presentation with Aurelio
05/13/2021 (4 hours) Working on the presentation with Aurelio
05/14/2021 (2 hours) Dr. Chen's lab meeting.
Goals
Making the poster, analyze ICP-MS data and complete results and discussion.
Accomplished
05/17/2021 (2 hours) Working on the poster to turn in for peer review
05/20/2021 (3 hours) Working on the poster with Aurelio
05/21/2021 (5 hours) Plot ICP-MS data using MATLAB
05/22/2021 (4 hours) Working on the poster with Aurelio
Goals
Making the poster, make sense of the trend of data collected
Accomplished
05/25/2021 (5 hours) Working on the poster with Aurelio
05/27/2021 (3 hours) Fitting the ICP-MS data to figure out reaction order
05/28/2021 (4 hours) Personal meeting with Dr. Chen, attended the lab meeting, personal meeting with Hongpeng, worked with Aurelio to finalize the poster