Elucidating the Interactions between Mechanical and (Electro)-Chemical Properties of Battery Materials

ZOOM:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89236785442 

Elucidating the Interactions between Mechanical and (Electro)-Chemical Properties of Battery Materials

The reality of the sustainable energy policy requires higher energy density batteries for electrification of the transportation and more cost-effective batteries made of earth-abundant materials  for large-scale energy storage applications.  Diversification of battery chemistries is the key strategy to achieve the goal.  There are growing interest in beyond Li-ion battery technologies such as all-solid-state batteries, metal-air batteries and metal-ion batteries.  However, many of these battery chemistries are far away from the commercialization due to their unsatisfactory practical electrochemical performance. Lifetime and performance of the batteries depends on the (electro)-chemo-mechanical instabilities in the materials during battery operation. Elucidating the coupling between electrochemistry and mechanics of electrodes beyond Li-ion batteries is critical to design materials suitable for battery chemistries. In this talk, I will address provide examples for (electro)-chemo-mechanical instabilities in different battery chemistries.

Na-ion batteries have attracted attention in the search for cost-effective batteries with a minimum sacrifice on the performance for large-scale energy storage applications. However, the physical and chemical properties of Na is intrinsically different than Li-ions.  Lack of insight into the influence of alkali ions on the interfacial dynamics and mechanical degradations of electrodes limits the design of novel materials.  For high energy demanding applications such as electrical planes and vehicles, Li-O₂ batteries are promising candidates because their theoretical energy density is almost ten times higher than the Li-ion batteries. However, they suffer from severe interfacial instabilities associated with sluggish kinetics of the redox reactions and the insulating nature of the reduced oxygen species on the cathode surface. Solid electrolytes offer a promising way to increase the energy density by allowing the utilization of Li metal as an anode material for electrical vehicle applications. Despite the growing interest in solid electrolyte-based Li metal batteries, the utilization of the technology is still hindered by solid-solid interactions and chemo-mechanical instabilities in all-solid-state batteries.

In this presentation, I will first describe in situ curvature and digital image correlation measurement techniques to probe the electro-chemo-mechanical responses of battery materials. Second, I will present the effects of larger charge carrier ions (Na-ion and K-ion) on the chemo-mechanical behavior of battery electrodes^1,2.  Third, I will present the role of electrolyte chemistry on the reaction dynamics on the Li-O₂ battery cathodes. In particular, I will discuss the linkage between mechanical deformations and electrochemical behavior in the Li-O₂ battery cathodes³. Last, I will present the coupling between overpotentials and interfacial deformations in all-solid-state batteries⁴.

References:

1. B. Ozdogru & Ö. Ö. Çapraz et al., ACS Nano Letters, 21, 18, 7579–7586, 2021.
2. B. Ozdogru & Ö. Ö. Çapraz et al., Electrochemical Science Advances, e2100106, 2021
3. H. Dykes & Ö. Ö. Çapraz et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 168, 110551, 2021.
4. B. Ozdogru & Ö. Ö. Çapraz et al., ACS Applied Energy Materials, In Press, 2022.

Biography

Dr. Çapraz received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering with a Mechanical Engineering minor from Iowa State University in 2014. He was a post-doctoral researcher in the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign until 2018. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University since Fall 2018. His research focuses on electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, in situ chemo-mechanical characterization techniques, and advanced materials. His research group is investigating chemical and mechanical failure modes in all-solid-state batteries, Li-air batteries, alkali metal-ion batteries, and pseudo capacitors. His research has been supported by various agencies such as National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, Binational Science Foundation, NASA, Air Force, and Lee Wentz Foundation. He received prestigious NSF CAREER award and BSF Young Investigator Start-up award.