DMREF: Collaborative Research: Next-Generation Nanostructured Polymer Electrolytes by Molecular Design

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Thomas Miller and Zhen-Gang Wang of the California Institute of Technology, Nitash Balsara of the University of California - Berkeley, and Geoffrey Coates of Cornell University are supported by an award from the Chemistry Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program in the Chemistry division for a collaborative research effort aimed at advancing the development and discovery of high-performance, non-flammable, solid polymer electrolytes for rechargeable lithium batteries. The project integrates expertise in theory and simulation of materials, materials synthesis, and the characterization of polymer electrolyte materials. The project involves a tightly coupled research approach in which state-of-the-art theoretical and coarse-graining methods drive the screening and design of new polymer electrolytes, as well as the detailed understanding of ion diffusion mechanisms; promising polymer electrolyte candidates are synthesized in the laboratory, and their ion transport characteristics are measured and tested in full cells. This research effort is providing fundamental and essential knowledge to enable the development of battery technologies that are critical for transportation and other large-scale energy storage applications. The development and deployment of safe, low-cost, high-performance batteries is of great societal need for affordable and reliable energy storage. A key strength of the research effort is the tight integration and synergy between simulation, theory, synthesis, characterization, and cell assembly. Guidance from experimentally verified theoretical constructs allows the focused design of new polymer electrolytes. Synthesis of these materials, preselected using theory, allows for more rapid production of materials with superior properties. Measurement of material properties is then used to validate and further guide theory and modeling. Pursuit of this integrated research effort will lead to a significant progress towards the goal of rational materials design for polymer systems.