Accomplishments
-
Scientific Sprints: Speed Through Collaboration
As an innovative twist on traditional project management, JCESR conducts “Sprints,” small teams of dedicated researchers formed to solve a select research challenge within 1-6 months. Using the Sprint approach, JCESR takes a single question from our catalog of prioritized scientific challenges and dedicates a small, multidisciplinary team of 5-15 members to answer it. Read More
-
The Electrochemical Discovery Laboratory
The Electrochemical Discovery Laboratory (EDL) — a key JCESR discovery tool located at Argonne — synthesizes high-quality materials for testing in beyond-lithium-ion batteries and characterizes their properties with state-of-the-art analytical techniques. Read More
-
The Electrolyte Genome Project
Traditional chemistry relies on intuition and experience to select a few materials that might work well for new electrolytes. The Electrolyte Genome streamlines this process by evaluating thousands of materials by simulation on the computer and choosing the most promising few for synthesis in the laboratory. Read More
-
Water as a Catalyst – Improving how Batteries Function
Anyone who has ever dropped a cell phone in the sink will tell you that electrical devices and water do not go together. However, a new study has shown that conventional wisdom may not hold on the molecular scale in some beyond-lithium-ion batteries. Read More
-
Techno-Economic Modeling -- Building New Battery Systems on the Computer
JCESR is applying techno-economic models to project the performance and cost of a wide array of promising new battery systems before they are prototyped. The results from techno-economic modeling establish performance “floors” for discovery science teams looking for new anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes for a beyond lithium-ion battery, identifying those with the potential to meet JCESR’s goal and rejecting those unlikely to be effective. Read More
-
Fitting the Lithium-Sulfur Battery with a New Membrane
The lithium-sulfur battery has higher energy storage capacity and lower cost than lithium ion. But there is a serious stumbling block. Polysulfides form in the cathode during battery cycling and pass through the membrane to contaminate the lithium metal anode. This results in a rapid decline in performance. JCESR researchers appear to have found a solution to the problem – the “polymer of intrinsic microporosity” (PIM). Read More
Latest Updates
See All-
Better Batteries Hold Promise for a Sustainable Future
Better batteries for electric cars and cellphones and better batteries for industrial use that can store excess power generated by wind and solar farms and then supply it to the grid at times of peak demand are greatly needed. The ability to efficiently store … Read More
-
Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
Sources of resistive losses were experimentally minimized for a nonaqueous flow cell for various active species concentrations, electrolyte compositions, flow rates, separators, and electrode thicknesses. Read More
-
Annulated Dialkoxybenzenes as Catholyte Materials for Non-aqueous Redox Flow Batteries: Achieving High Chemical Stability Through Bicyclic Substitution
9,10-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8- octahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanenoanthracene (BODMA) was developed for use as the catholyte in non-aqueous redox flow batteries. The bicyclic scaffolds prevent the ring-addition reaction, showing superior chemical stability in the charged state. A hybrid flow cell using this catholyte is operated for 150 charge-discharge cycles with a … Read More
-
Improving Continuum Models to Define Practical Limits for Molecular Models of Electrified Interfaces
Scientific Achievement We develop a self-consistent methodology for modeling biased interfaces that combines (i) continuum theory and (ii) ab initio molecular dynamics, to explore the structure of the electric double layer under various electrochemical conditions, including effects of electron transfer and non-electrostatic interactions (e.g. Read More
-
Predicting the Potentials, Solubilities and Stabilities of Metal-Acetylacetonates for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries Using Density Functional Theory Calculations
Density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate key materials properties that were correlated with experimentally determined parameters that define the performance of redox flow battery (RFB) active materials. These include standard potentials, solubilities, and importantly stabilities. The correlations are for metal-acetylacetonate (acac) complexes, a … Read More
