CAREER: Decoupling electrodeposition from corrosion for precise tuning of metal deposits in high energy batteries

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Electrochemical deposition of reactive metals is the central process in several important clean energy technologies, including high-energy batteries using metallic anodes. Understanding and engineering these electrochemical systems are critical to achieving the Nation’s goal of a zero-carbon emissions future, where grid-scale energy storage can facilitate renewable yet intermittent sources of green energy (e.g., solar, wind) and the transportation sector is increasingly electrified. The project’s objectives to understand and engineer metal electrodeposition for energy storage will generate broad impact for future technologies that benefit society, including electric vehicles, electric-powered flight, and grid-scale energy storage. The project’s education and outreach activities will promote scientific discoveries to the broader community by leveraging informal settings. Such informal settings have been shown to be particularly effective learning environments for underrepresented students in STEM, for whom equitable access to educational opportunities will be provided through the project’s activities. For example, the researcher's YouTube channel will disseminate the project’s results to the general public in an engaging way, raising awareness for the importance of energy research and exciting the future generation of young scientists and engineers. The project’s integrated research and educational plan will lead to energy-dense lithium metal batteries that bring the US closer to achieving decarbonization goals, expand the number of underrepresented students pursuing STEM, and enable a diverse and globally competitive US workforce.This fundamental research project will investigate the nanoscale mechanism of Li metal electrodeposition; the current understanding of which is complicated by the simultaneous formation of a surface corrosion film, the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). A deeper understanding of these processes will enable high-energy batteries capable of extreme fast charging. The objective is to bridge this gap in understanding by decoupling metal electrodeposition from SEI film formation to study each process independently. The project’s approach will use ultramicroelectrode geometries to enable ultrafast electrodeposition current densities that can outpace electrolyte decomposition rates. State-of-the-art cryogenic electron microscopy techniques will preserve and image the nanoscale interfaces that form. The project’s objectives are to (1) understand and tune electrodeposition morphologies decoupled from surface corrosion/SEI formation, (2) reveal the reaction kinetics of the SEI film, and (3) use these insights to engineer efficient high-energy batteries capable of fast charging. This approach is distinct from past work, which could not decouple these two processes and study them separately from each other. By providing the first images of how Li grows intrinsically without the influence of a corrosion film and quantifying the film’s reaction kinetics, the project’s results will provide significant insights into precisely tuning Li deposition morphology.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.