Scientific Achievement
Established in situ Electrochemical Discovery Lab (EDL) for systematic studies of wet and dry interfaces for materials-by-design and electrolytes-by-design at atomic and molecular levels
Significance and Importance
- Systematic synthesis and characterization of high purity electrolytes, electrodes and interfaces under controlled conditions reveals electrochemical trends in activity, selectivity and stability
- Interactive collaboration with theory and simulation in Electrolyte Genome and Materials Project
- Spans single crystal model systems and practical battery materials and phenomena
Accomplishments
- Synthesis of high purity ether-based electrolytes with water content less than 1 ppm
- Discovered that 10 ppm of water catalyze the lithium peroxide reaction, suggesting that trace amounts of water are key players in other battery chemistries
Work performed at Argonne National Laboratory (JCESR managing partner) V. Stamenkovic, S. H. Chang, J, Connell, B. Genorio, J. Staszak-Jirkovsky and D. Strmcnik
