CAREER: Organic Structure and Interphase Engineering for Fast-Charging, High-Temperature and Sustainable Batteries

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。快速充电、耐高温、可持续的蓄电池是储能装置在固定式储能、钻井工业和高温地区应用的关键。该项目致力于在快速充电和高温条件下开发用于有机可充电钾电池的先进有机材料、电极和电解液。这套材料代表了一种“超越锂”的化学，可用于与太阳能或风能等间歇性可再生能源相结合的电网规模存储应用。这些材料，包括有机聚合物、有机电解液和钾盐，在国内资源丰富，环境足迹较低。基础研究计划和互补的教育活动包括相互关联的部分：1)有机材料、电解液和有机电池和极端条件下的相间结构设计原理；2)涉及初中、高中、本科生和研究生的综合教育活动，重点是在科学和工程领域历史上代表性较低的群体。本项目的目标是开发有机可充电钾电池(RPBs)作为锂离子电池的替代品，并寻求以下方面的基本了解：1)RPB中有机结构与电化学性能之间的关系；2)高导电性一维(1D)/二维(2D)碳材料，如碳纳米管和石墨烯对有机电极的离子/电子传递和结构完整性的影响；以及3)固体电解液界面结构、组成和稳定性对电池循环寿命的影响。对有机电极材料在RPBs中的反应机理、一维/二维碳材料与有机电极材料之间通过π-π相互作用和杂原子效应的相互作用以及有机电极在RPBs中的界面化学进行了广泛的结构表征。该项目将提供有机材料、电极和界面的结构设计原则，以实现快速充电、高温和可持续电池的合理结构设计和性能优化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Fast-charging, high-temperature and sustainable batteries are critical for the applications of energy storage devices in stationary energy storage, well drilling industry, and high temperature regions. This project focuses on developing advanced organic materials, electrodes, and electrolytes for organic rechargeable potassium batteries under fast-charging and high-temperature conditions. This set of materials represents a “beyond lithium” chemistry for energy storage applications for grid-scale storage integrated with intermittent renewable energy such as solar or wind. The materials, including the organic polymers, organic electrolytes, and potassium salts, are plentiful domestically and have a lower environmental footprint. The fundamental research program and complementary educational activities include interrelated components: 1) principles of organic material, electrolyte, and interphase structure design for organic batteries and extreme conditions; 2) integrated educational activities involving middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate students with an emphasis on groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering. The objectives of this project are to develop organic rechargeable potassium batteries (RPBs) as alternatives to Li-ion batteries and to seek fundamental understanding of 1) the correlation between organic structure and electrochemical performance in RPBs; 2) the impact of highly conductive one-dimensional (1D)/two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials such as carbon nanotube and graphene to the ion/electron transport and structural integrity of organic electrodes; and 3) the impact of solid electrolyte interphase structure, composition and stability to the battery cycle life. Extensive structural characterizations will be performed to investigate reaction mechanisms of organic electrode materials in RPBs, the interplay between 1D/2D carbon materials and organic electrode materials by π-π interaction and heteroatom effect, as well as the interfacial chemistry of organic electrodes in RPBs. This project will afford structure design principles for organic materials, electrodes, and interphase to enable rational structure design and performance optimization of fast-charging, high-temperature, and sustainable batteries.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.