CAREER: Understanding Surface Redox Activity of Atomically-Flat Electroceramics

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NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Oxide electroceramics are crucial in energy and conversion technologies such as batteries and fuel cells. Examples of their applications include electrodes for lithium-ion batteries and electrocatalysts for solid-oxide fuel cells. Increasing, the performance of these electroceramics is limited by the characteristics of their surface. This project aims to identify the relationship between the surface atomic structure and the processes involved in the electrochemistry. Advancements in this area support a more energy sufficient economy. An integrated educational plan provides research opportunities to underrepresented high school and undergraduate students, as well as community outreach to Grade 7-12 students that builds on the Magic School Bus concept. Specifically, this project supports the development of three-dimensional slideshows featuring images of everyday objects at the nanoscale, highlighting the importance of ceramic materials and research to take students on "A Journey to the Inside of Materials". TECHNICAL DETAILS: Transition-metal and rare-earth electroceramics based on the perovskite and fluorite crystal structures exhibit significant reactivity with molecules such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and water, and are used extensively as electrocatalysts at both room and elevated temperatures. This project addresses the complex relationships between the redox activity and the surface structure using atomically-flat electroceramic surfaces primarily with controlled crystal termination, step density and extended defects. Ultra-thin overlayers deposited via physical-vapor deposition further enable precise compositional and structure control. The crystallographic and electronic structure of these atomically-controlled surfaces are characterized using synchrotron surface X-ray diffraction and surface-sensitive X-ray spectroscopy under a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Community outreach/education - A Journey to the Inside of Materials - emphasizing the magnificence and functionality of ceramic material involves curating three-dimensional slideshows featuring images of everyday objects at the nanoscale, and projecting them via the unique visualization facility at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.