Chemistry Colloquium - Sarah Tolbert, UCLA

At this Chemistry Colloquium, Dr. Sarah Tolbert from University of California, Los Angeles will present a talk titled, "Exploiting the Power of Materials Chemistry to Improve Energy Materials – From Nanostructured Batteries to Conducting Polymers". The host is Dr. Chris Grieco.

Abstract

Control of nanoscale structure is key to improving functionality in many new energy materials.  We will begin with nanostructured electrode materials that enable fast charging for electrochemical energy storage, and in the process, we will attempt to help refine our understanding of the distinction between a pseudocapacitor and a fast charging battery.  We will specifically examine how a combination of short ionic diffusion lengths in nanoporous materials and a lack of first-order phase transitions can work together to reduce the diffusion constraints that limit charge/discharge speed.  Charge/discharge kinetics can also be facilitated by adding electronic conductivity, and to improve that, we explore how to produce high conductivity doped conjugated polymers, and then to use those polymers as binder for fast charging cathode electrodes.  Finally, we consider high capacity anode materials, and show how nanoporous architecture can stabilize these materials against capacity fade.  Here, operando transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) is key to understanding the role of nanoscale structure.  In all cases, we aim to understand how materials performance can be improved through control of static and dynamic structure.