2019 Van Horn Distinguished Lectures: 1: electrochemical energy storage
Channel: bhadeshia123
Date: 2019-06-27

2019 Van Horn Distinguished Lectures: Part 1 - materials issues for the growing electrochemical energy storage market

The Kent R. van Horn Lectureship is an endowed Lectureship at the Case Western Reserve University and dates from 1974. It honours Kent R. van Horn, an alum, who had a distinguished career as a metallurgist, director of research, and ultimately corporate vice-president of Alcoa. Three lectures on varied topics are to be delivered over three successive days. The 2019  lectures were delivered by Gerbrand Ceder, who is the Chancellor's Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at University of California, Berkeley. He is notable for his pioneering research in high-throughput computational materials design, and in the development of novel lithium-ion battery technologies.

Abstract: Energy storage has become an important societal need, spanning applications in portable electronics, transportation, and electricity generation and distribution. Li-ion batteries, developed in the 1980’ies and commercialized since 1991, have become the dominant electrochemical energy storage technology. I will discuss today’s implementation of Li-ion technology, and how basic physics of cathode materials leads to potential constraints on mineral resources. Several novel technologies have the potential to improve upon the energy density of today’s Li-ion batteries. This includes novel fluorinated disordered rocksalt cathodes (DRX) in which well-defined Li diffusion channels are replaced by statistical percolation of lithium transport, and which have been shown to have very high energy density and excellent high voltage stability. As these materials do not use of Co and Ni they offer potential low-cost and less resource-constrained alternatives to today’s NMC cathodes. Major excitement surrounds solid-state lithium batteries as they are likely to be safe and may enable the use of metallic lithium anodes, but serious challenges remain with regards to the long-term interfacial stability of many of the materials used, and their manufacturability. Finally, I will give a brief update on the status of cathode and electrolyte research for divalent intercalation systems.

These videos are reproduced courtesy of the Materials Science and Engineering Department of Case Western Reserve University.

http://engineering.case.edu/materials-science-and-engineering
http://www.phase-trans.msm.cam.ac.uk