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Advantages of Nanostructured Energy Storage Devices
High surface area-to-volume ratios and short diffusion pathways for active ions make nanostructures very appealing for energy storage devices. Our group has been focused on understanding how architectures at various length scales impact the energy storage performances and, through our knowledge of lithium ion systems, apply to the next generation of energy storage devices such as sodium, magnesium, or potassium ion chemistries.
Sulfide Solid-State Electrolytes, Enhancement and Protection
Solid-state electrolytes (SSE) are nonflammable therefore are much safer than flammable organic liquid electrolytes. Particularly, Li10GeP2S12 or LGPS type of sulfide solid state electrolyte have high ionic conductivity (10-2~10-3 S/cm) that match conventional liquid electrolytes. However, LGPS is highly reactive with Li metal anodes and cathodes, which makes it crucial to use artificial solid electrolyte interphase (ASEI) as a protective layer to minimize Li/LGPS interfacial degradation reactions. In addition, we fabricate LGPS pellets at elevated temperature and pressure, which greatly densified the structure and enhanced their mechanical stability.
Architecture for High Performance Solid-State Batteries
A silicon wafer with deposited 500 nm SiO2 is sputtered with Ti-Cu-Ti-W-Al. The aluminum surface is electropolished, then covered with a hard SiO2 mask. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) is formed on the unmasked aluminum surface in a porous structure. The interior of the pores are then layered by ALD with other battery components in order to maximize the available surface area of the battery.
3D Nanopore Batteries
3D nanopore batteries are based on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) which has porous structure to contain electroactive parts of batteries. The nanopores can be seen from top-view of AAO, and the cross-section view of AAO shows the channels inside AAO templates.
Lithiated Vanadium Oxide (LVO) for Next Generation Solid-State Batteries (SSBs)
We developed a sputtering-based approach to fabricate LVO thin films for next generation batteries. While our prototype reached only one-fifth of its theoretical capacity, it demonstrated excellent efficiency even during rapid charging. This novel low temperature synthesis method shows promise for creating pre-lithiated cathodes and may be applicable to other alkali metal oxide systems.
Synthesis of High Purity Precursors for Solid-State Electrolytes
Lithium tert-butoxide (LiOtBu) is one of many critical precursors for multiple lithium based solid electrolytes. Due to supply chain issues and quality control issues, we have synthesized this chemical in-house.
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