The Department of Materials Science and Engineering will host Matthew McDowell from the Georgia Institute of Technology on Wednesday, March 12th. His talk, “Materials and Interfaces in Solid-State Batteries,” will be at 3pm in Maryland Hall Room 110.
Abstract: Materials and Interfaces in Solid-State Batteries
The advent of lithium-ion batteries has brought about a revolution in portable energy storage, spurring the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market. However, further advances in energy storage technologies are needed for electric trucks and planes, as well as for grid storage. Here, I will discuss my group’s research on solid-state batteries, which is a rapidly developing technology that could feature higher energy density and improved safety compared to lithium-ion batteries. The presence of solid-solid electrochemical interfaces within solid-state batteries, rather than conventional liquid-solid interfaces, causes different fundamental phenomena to govern behavior of these batteries. Using operando X-ray tomography, cryo-FIB, and finite-element modeling, we show that solid-state lithium metal batteries without excess lithium are intrinsically limited by current concentrations at the end of stripping. We furthermore visualize the formation of voids during lithium stripping and dendrite growth during plating. Next, alloy anodes are shown to exhibit improved interfacial stability and enhanced cyclability in solid-state batteries compared to Li-ion batteries. The influence of stack pressure on alloy anode evolution is investigated, and we show that anode morphology changes during charge/discharge are highly pressure dependent. Finally, I will briefly discuss other energy storage innovations, including battery materials with improved sustainability and new battery concepts for ultrahigh energy density. Taken together, knowledge of transformation mechanisms in materials is key for engineering them for improved performance, with new materials holding great promise for future battery technologies.
Bio: Matthew McDowell
Matthew McDowell is an Associate Professor and the Carter N. Paden, Jr. Distinguished Chair for Innovation in Materials Science and Metals Processing at Georgia Tech, with appointments in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research is focused on understanding and engineering materials for energy storage. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2013 and was a postdoc at Caltech from 2013 until 2015. He is the Co-Director of the Georgia Tech Advanced Battery Center (GTABC) and an Associate Editor of ACS Nano. McDowell has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), Sloan Fellowship, the ECS Battery Division Early Career Award, and Georgia Tech’s Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research award.