My lab - NPRL

Overview:

The lithium ion (Li-ion) battery is the state of the art. It is the safest, most energy-dense product the auto industry can find that is not so expensive as to make battery electric vehicles (BEVs) unaffordable. Yet it comes at quite a cost, perhaps $1,000 per kilowatt-hour. A potent battery pack can cost more than some economy vehicles. 

 The goal of our group is to design and develop new materials for advanced energy storage and conversion applications.  The development of new materials to improve upon current capabilities is a key technological challenge of the 21^st century. Advances will allow smaller more powerful batteries as well as allowing a greater ability to harness more sustainable energy sources. Some of the research areas are:

1- Materials Design for Advanced Portable Power Sources

      Lithium ion batteries have become a key component of portable electronic devices as they offer high energy density, flexible lightweight design and a longer cycle life than other battery systems. More efficient batteries are required in the development of advanced transportation technologies in order to reduce the use of imported oil and the emission of greenhouse gas.  Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a critical enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy duty vehicles. New materials need to be designed to achieve higher energy/power densities, longer cycle lives and better reliability for such applications. The research focus is on synthesizing new multi-transition metal oxides with higher energy density, faster rate capability and better safety, as well as exploration of the exact ion transport mechanism and structural stability during the cycling of the battery such as metal oxide groups (SnO₂, Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄…) as anode and lithium metal phosphate groups ( LiFePO₄, LiMnPO₄…) as cathode.

2- Structure-Property-Processing Relations of Nano-scale Materials

Materials science emphasizes the study of the structure of materials and of processing-structure-property relations in materials. It is the physics and chemistry of real materials. To understand how the desired properties of a material can be modified, it is necessary to understand the relationships between structure and properties and how the structure can be changed and controlled by the various chemical, thermal, mechanical, or other processes to which a material is subjected during synthesis and in use. Such knowledge is still lacking in the design and development of nano-scale materials, which have generated tremendous interest in the last decade for energy related research areas.