(2do) New Classes of Materials and Automated Experimental Design into Energy Storage Research

My research explores new concepts with engineered disorder at the surface, in the bulk, or both, to find promising, practical solutions for reliable performance in energy storage systems. One of my research challenges was to enhance the energy density and cycle life of earth-abundant Mn-based cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. I solved this problem in two steps of creating a stable ion-conductive surface layer and developing cation-disordered rocksalt structure in bulk. In my newly invented Li_1.2Mn_0.7Nb_0.1O_1.8F_0.2 and Li_1.1Mn_0.8Ti_0.1O_1.9F_0.1, phase transformation occurs naturally during electrochemical cycling from a disordered α phase to more ordered δ and β’ phases with randomly distributed nanodomain orientations. This results in a remarkable specific energy of about 900 Wh/kg and stable cycling performance.

My future research will create new classes of materials, with carefully engineered disorder in crystal structure, focusing on the structural origin/nature of cation and anion disorder-to-order and how that can lead to significant performance improvements in electrochemical and hydrogen-based energy storage including batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. The three main thrust areas of my research in electrochemical energy storage will be 1) innovative materials design, discovery, and synthesis: exploring new methods and materials at multi-scale levels using earth-abundant raw materials. 2) energy storage system applications. 3) advanced characterization. My research vision of inventing new classes of materials and application systems, incorporating automated experimental design into energy storage research supported by large scale modeling, is highly innovative, with the potential to yield exciting advances in this field.

Teaching Interests

I have a highly diverse background in Chemical Engineering, which enables me to teach a wide variety of undergraduate- and graduate-level courses. I am interested in developing courses in energy materials, electrochemistry, thermodynamics, and battery technology.