Xavier-UChicago Partnership for Research and Education in Materials for Energy Storage and Sensing

该奖项由2021年美国救援计划法案提供全部或部分资金（公法117-2）.非技术摘要路易斯安那州泽维尔大学（泽维尔），主要是本科和历史上的黑人大学，有着丰富的历史，毕业的美国黑人学生谁追求的职业生涯在研究生教育对职业生涯在医疗保健和研究为基础的职业生涯在科学，技术，工程，数学（Mathematics）利用STEM教育的良好声誉，该材料研究和教育合作伙伴关系（PREM）种子项目支持芝加哥大学（U芝加哥）和泽维尔大学之间的合作伙伴关系，该项目旨在通过有针对性的干预措施增加材料科学和工程领域研究型职业的多样性，这些干预措施侧重于让代表性不足的少数民族学生在本科教育早期参与研究。这种伙伴关系还致力于通过与UChicago教师的战略合作，增加本科生参与材料科学和工程领域的尖端储能相关研究。此外，这个PREM种子项目用于通知学生招聘，保留和学位获得的努力，根据一个持久的泽维尔UChicago PREM旅程。由UChicago MRSEC和材料和界面中心促进高能量存储和传感（MICHESS）在泽维尔，实验室到实验室的合作伙伴关系泽维尔和UChicago教师之间的有意围绕长期研究合作组织在一个跨学科的研究小组（IRG），开发材料用于改进储能应用。该IRG的总体目标是通过了解电极-电解质界面处锂阳离子传输导致的潜在界面相互作用，开发支持具有高能量密度的更安全锂电池的材料。Xavier-UChicago合作伙伴关系包括两个主题相关的研究项目，通过专注于（1）开发具有高机械强度和竞争性锂电导率的坚固固体电解质和（2）研究锂阳离子嵌入过程中电极表面的有害锂化机制，直接解决这一总体目标。这些努力有可能导致有意义的贡献，对理解关键的界面相互作用，确定和/或限制的性能的能量存储设备。此外，这种合作研究的奋进，专注于材料界面的互动，也支持泽维尔UChicago合作伙伴关系的重要教育和多样性目标。主要的教育工作是通过指导研究机会增加获得材料科学和工程基础培训的机会，这些机会在本科教育的早期招募有才华的URM学生，并通过学位获得留住这些学生。通过有意扩大URM学生的参与，这种伙伴关系支持PREM途径，促进有才华的URM学生从本科到研究生院，并最终进入材料科学和工程的研究型职业生涯。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Non -Technical SummaryXavier University of Louisiana (Xavier), a primarily undergraduate and historically black university, has a rich history of graduating Black American students who pursue careers in postgraduate education towards careers in healthcare and research-based careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Leveraging this strong reputation for STEM education, this Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) Seed project supports a partnership between the University of Chicago (UChicago) and Xavier which seeks to increase diversity in research-based careers in materials science and engineering through targeted interventions that focus on engaging underrepresented minority students in research early in their undergraduate education. This partnership also endeavors to increase undergraduate student involvement in cutting-edge energy storage related research in materials science and engineering through strategic collaborations with UChicago faculty. Furthermore, this PREM Seed project is used to inform student recruitment, retention, and degree attainment efforts pursuant to a lasting Xavier-UChicago PREM journey. Technical SummaryFacilitated by the UChicago MRSEC and the Materials and Interfaces Center for High Energy Storage and Sensing (MICHESS) at Xavier, lab-to-lab partnerships between Xavier and UChicago faculty are intentionally organized around long-term research collaborations within an interdisciplinary research group (IRG) that develops materials for improved energy storage applications. The overall goal of this IRG is to develop materials that support safer lithium batteries with high energy density through an understanding of the underlying interfacial interactions that occur as a result of lithium cation transport at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The Xavier-UChicago partnership encompasses two thematically related research projects that directly address this overall objective by focusing on (1) developing robust solid electrolytes with high mechanical strength and competitive lithium conductivity and (2) investigating detrimental lithiation mechanisms at electrode surfaces during lithium cation intercalation. These efforts have the potential to lead to meaningful contributions towards understanding the critical interfacial interactions that determine and/or limit the performance of energy storage devices. Further, this collaborative research endeavor, focused on interactions at material interfaces, also supports significant educational and diversity goals of the Xavier-UChicago partnership. The primary educational effort is to increase access to foundational training in materials science and engineering through mentored research opportunities that recruit talented URM students early in their undergraduate education and retain those students through degree attainment. Through intentional efforts to broaden the participation of URM students, this partnership supports the PREM pathway by facilitating a pipeline for talented URM students from undergraduate into graduate school and eventually into research-based careers in materials science and engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.