CAREER: Tuning Interface Atomic Structure and Composition for Fast Ion Conduction

非技术描述：陶瓷材料是当前和未来能源转换和存储技术的关键部件，如燃料电池、电池和用于产生氢气和处理二氧化碳的设备。提高这些技术依赖于理解和提高关键陶瓷材料的离子电导率。这项研究产生的新知识将产生高性能工程材料的设计规则，并使陶瓷在能量转换、能量存储和化学转换应用方面前所未有。该项目结合了最先进的纳米材料制造方法和先进的电子显微镜表征来解释陶瓷材料在原子水平上的行为。这项研究被整合到一项新颖的推广和教育活动中，该活动使高中学生和教师参与到丰富的科学和技术活动中，旨在培养不同类型的学生进入科学和工程领域。新的“影像和记录的科学、技术和艺术”（STAIR）外展活动使来自当地低收入地区代表性不足群体的高中教师和学生在进行艺术创作的同时学习影像物理和技术。STAIR利用一般知识来参与和教育成像硬件（相机，显微镜），物理（光学，颜色，辐射），艺术（摄影，摄像）和技术（虚拟现实，计算机视觉）。该项目资助的材料科学研究生将接受先进纳米材料合成和表征方面的培训，为他们在制造业、清洁能源和半导体领域的研发工作做好准备。技术细节：本研究阐明了离子导电陶瓷材料中原子结构、化学成分和氧阴离子电导率之间的联系。研究了基于脉冲激光沉积的纳米加工技术合成的多层薄膜和双晶模型中的二维缺陷（界面）。这样的界面对各种工程材料的电学和电化学性能至关重要，而不仅仅是电陶瓷。结合使用先进的透射电子显微镜（TEM）成像和光谱技术的实验，能够直接成像和识别原子，并模拟阴离子扩散，回答围绕界面附近移动离子行为的基本问题。这项研究试图推进离子导电陶瓷导电性的基本理论，揭示原子水平的界面质量传输机制，并最终解释如何最佳地设计材料以获得最佳的电性能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Ceramic materials are key components in current and future energy conversion and storage technologies, such as fuel cells, batteries, and devices used to produce hydrogen gas and process carbon dioxide. Improving these technologies relies on understanding and enhancing the ionic conductivity of crucial ceramic materials. New knowledge produced by this research will yield design rules for high-performance engineering materials, and enable unprecedented ceramics for energy conversion, energy storage, and chemical conversion applications. This project combines state-of-the-art nanomaterials fabrication methods, and advanced electron microscopy characterization to explain the behavior of ceramic materials at the atomic level. The research is integrated into a novel outreach and education activity which engages high school students and teachers in activities rich in science and technology, and designed to develop a pipeline of diverse students into science and engineering fields. The new “Science, Technology and Art of Imaging and Recording” (STAIR) outreach activity is bringing high school teachers and students from underrepresented groups in local low-income areas to learn about imaging physics and technology while making art. STAIR leverages general knowledge to engage and educate about imaging hardware (cameras, microscopes), physics (optics, colors, radiation), art (photography, videography), and technology (virtual reality, computer vision). Materials science graduate students funded by this project are trained in advanced nanomaterials synthesis and characterization, preparing them for employment in manufacturing, and research and development in clean energy and semiconductors.TECHNICAL DETAILS: This research elucidates the links between atomic structure, chemical composition, and oxygen anion conductivity across material defects in ion-conducting ceramic materials. Two-dimensional defects (interfaces) are investigated in model multilayer thin films and bicrystals synthesized by state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques based on pulsed laser deposition. Such interfaces are key to the electrical and electrochemical performance of a wide variety of engineering materials, not just electroceramics. A combination of experiments using advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and spectroscopy techniques capable of directly imaging and identifying atoms, and simulations of anion diffusivity, answer fundamental questions surrounding the behavior of mobile ions near interfaces. This research is attempting to advance fundamental theories of electrical conductivity in ionically-conducting ceramics, uncover atomic-level mechanisms of mass transport across interfaces, and ultimately explain how to best design materials for optimal electrical performance.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.